Lower original gravity than expected

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by sderenne, May 10, 2015.

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  1. sderenne

    sderenne Initiate (0) Jul 20, 2013 California

    I brewed my first beer again in 15 years yesterday everything went ok. I tried a extract Pliny clone.I probably should have started with a more simple brew but hey its what I like. After cooling the wort down to 80 degrees(I had a very hard time getting it any cooler) I took a gravity reading I used a sanitized turkey baster to draw off enough for the tube. It came in right at 1.060 the recipe predicts a 1.070-1.074. Even after cooling to 60 degrees it still read close to 1.060. I am thinking possibly my reading was low because my wort was not stirred enough? I had been cooling it covered in sink in ice bath and maybe the top of my wort was lighter than the bottom? I did have a hard time getting the LME out of the metal bag it was very thick. Maybe warming the extract in hot water first would help get it all out? I still feel this beer will be good. It is really fermenting well in my kegerator/fermenter at 68 degrees.
     
    #1 sderenne, May 10, 2015
  2. PapaGoose03

    PapaGoose03 Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,057) May 30, 2005 Michigan
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah

    Did you add some top-off water just before your 60 degree gravity reading? If so, it's likely that water was not well mixed into your wort, so you'd be getting a watery reading (lower than expected). Or, do you have too much liquid from what you planned to be an excess full boil? If you start with excess water with a plan for some boil-off to end up at 5-gallons (or whatever your recipe is written for) and you don't boil all of it away, then your gravity will be too high.

    Not getting all of the LME from the bag would be a slight factor in a low reading, but you probably didn't likely leave enough behind for that big of a difference. In the future, dunk your bag (or can) into hot water to help it flow more freely from the container.
     
    #2 PapaGoose03, May 11, 2015
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  3. pweis909

    pweis909 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,250) Aug 13, 2005 Wisconsin
    Pooh-Bah

    If you boiled the full volume, it would have been well mixed. If you boiled a partial volume and diluted to make the final volume, it likely was not well mixed when you took your sample.
     
    #3 pweis909, May 13, 2015
  4. CDennyRun

    CDennyRun Initiate (0) Mar 2, 2014 Washington

    When I brewed extract, I would use hot water to rinse out the bag to make sure I got everything. With extract brewing, every little bit counts!
     
    #4 CDennyRun, May 13, 2015
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