I brewed the 5Gal Rye Rebel Porter [extract kit] today, and the OG came up low. The box lists that the target should be 1.062, and I measured (with a three-stage hydrometer) the actual to be 1.054 (8 thousandths lower).
As this is only my second brewing, how much of an impact to the final ABV would a .008 hit be? Also, is there any suggestion to why this would happen? Is there a post-process correction I can make to the wort before primary fermentation begins?
Thanks all!!
-MD
Assuming you didn’t leave any of the LME in the bottle, and didn’t forget to steep the specialty grains 
Also assuming you read the hydrometer correctly(can sometimes be a little tough,especially if you need reading glasses like me). And you took the reading at 60* or compensated accordingly.
If above assumptions are good, then the most likely cause of an extract OG being lower than expected is having a larger volume than expected. For example, if your 5 gallon batch OG is 1.062, then adding enough water to that batch to make it 5.74 gallons would give you an OG of 1.054 by diluting the sugars.
Also remember that OGs from the recipes coming with the kit are estimates, and “your results may vary”. Don’t worry, it’ll probably taste just the way you expect. :cheers:
The above comment is one possibility. here’s the other possibility:
If you added water to reach your volume, the problem is that your ‘top off water’ wasn’t mixed thoroughly enough with the wort - causing a diluted hydrometer sample. and a false reading. This will NOT harm your beer, fermentation will mix the water and wort for you. (it’s actually very hard to mix the water and wort 100%. it happens all the time)
If you ended with exactly 5 gallons and used all the extract. your OG was 1.062 (because extract has a set amount of sugar, and sugar doesn’t boil off). This is a very common problem with new extract brewers. I wouldn’t worry about it.
James,
Correct on all accounts. Sorry for lacking details in my description. I emptied the LME bottle as much as I could, soaking it in a warm water bath to make it easier to work with. I also steeped the grains for the specified amount of time, as this occurred as it hit the target temp. I read the hydrometer at the bottom of the meniscus, though even reading the top would only account for a fraction of the .008 discrepancy. I also compensated for wort temp when taking this reading, which only altered the value by 0.0005. Other than that I did a 2.5Gal, and filled the carboy to 5Gal (per the directions). I would expect to be much closer to the projected OG.
S.Scoggin,
That’s some pretty good information as well! I hadn’t thought of that, but I did aerate the wort fairly well. I would estimate somewhere in the order of 30-60 seconds of rocking the carboy in a circular motion rather vigorously. You do have me questioning myself, though. I’ll have to revisit my aerating technique next brew cycle. Any suggestions?
Thank you both for your experienced advice!
[quote=“Keplin”]James,
Correct on all accounts. Sorry for lacking details in my description. I emptied the LME bottle as much as I could, soaking it in a warm water bath to make it easier to work with. I also steeped the grains for the specified amount of time, as this occurred as it hit the target temp. I read the hydrometer at the bottom of the meniscus, though even reading the top would only account for a fraction of the .008 discrepancy. I also compensated for wort temp when taking this reading, which only altered the value by 0.0005. Other than that I did a 2.5Gal, and filled the carboy to 5Gal (per the directions). I would expect to be much closer to the projected OG.
When I extract brewed, I would add hot water to the LME container to melt the remainder of the extract and pour that into the boil kettle. It’s only a fraction of the sugars, but I paid for it.
S.Scoggin,
That’s some pretty good information as well! I hadn’t thought of that, but I did aerate the wort fairly well. I would estimate somewhere in the order of 30-60 seconds of rocking the carboy in a circular motion rather vigorously. You do have me questioning myself, though. I’ll have to revisit my aerating technique next brew cycle. Any suggestions?
[color=#0000FF]It is just difficult to get a homogenized solution. No mater how much you shake it. In the end it will not matter. The yeast will find the sugars and convert them to alcohol. You could buy a wine de-gaser
http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/whip-wine-degasser.html
. But you are still not guaranteed complete mixing.
Don’t worry about it IMO. [/color]
Thank you both for your experienced advice!
