Original gravity somewhat unexpectedly high - any thoughts?

Discussion on brewing beer from malt extract, hops, and yeast.
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cheredenine

Original gravity somewhat unexpectedly high - any thoughts?

Post by cheredenine » Fri Oct 28, 2011 5:13 pm

Hello all

Doing a brew - just letting finish wort stabilise in temperature before adding the yeast and thought i'd take a reading of the original gravity. Took off a sample, checked the temperature and used my hydrometer to get the reading. Temperature 32.5 centigrade and hydrometer reading of 1.082; adjusted via for the difference in temperature between sample and hydrometer's calibration to 1.085 . Bit odd as i was expecting 1.050 based on receipe created in BeerSmith!

Any clues whats gone on here? Receipe as folows for 5 gallons total liquid:

2x 1.5kg tins of amber malt extract
500g Dark spraymalt
500g Crystal malt
150g Roasted barley
150g Black malt
1tsp Gypsum (60min boil)
60g Northern Brewer hops (60min boil)
10g (ish) Chinook hops (10min boil)
1/2 tsp Irish moss (10min boil)
Tesco Ashbeck mineral water used as brewing liquor

Haven't done anything differetn in terms of technique or process to previous brews, so odd hydrometer reading has me confused!

Zephiacus

Re: Original gravity somewhat unexpectedly high - any though

Post by Zephiacus » Fri Oct 28, 2011 5:23 pm

Have you double checked your hydrometer in water to make sure it reads '1'. I popped all this through beersmith and beerengine and you definitely shouldn't have a SG that high. I'd double check your readings when its cooled down...

cheredenine

Re: Original gravity somewhat unexpectedly high - any though

Post by cheredenine » Fri Oct 28, 2011 5:23 pm

Never mind - i was being daft.

I hadn't stirred the brew after adding all the liquids to the FV. I also hadn't thought that the denser wort out of the stock pot might sit at the bottom of the FV (where the tap is ) and give me a confusingly high reading. Now i've stirred it a bit I've got a much more accurate corrected reading of 1.053. Phew!

Off to pitch yeast now...

Edit: thanks for the swift reply, too!

Scroogemonster

Re: Original gravity somewhat unexpectedly high - any though

Post by Scroogemonster » Fri Oct 28, 2011 7:05 pm

Don't pitch above 25-26 degC, you'll kill your yeast (I speak from experience :shock: )
Regards
Kevin

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