Surely this can't happen...

[Jules T]

I've been brewing a winter warmer which I checked four days ago and had an SG of 1008. Just checked today expecting it to be the same and ready to bottle and to my supprise the SG is 1012.

I started the brew on 28th feb so I'm wondering if I may have left it too long. Any ideas what may have happened?

[crafty john]

Temperature maybe, or dodgy hydrometer? it sounds as though it's finished though.

[Dave S]

I've been brewing a winter warmer which I checked four days ago and had an SG of 1008. Just checked today expecting it to be the same and ready to bottle and to my supprise the SG is 1012.

I started the brew on 28th feb so I'm wondering if I may have left it too long. Any ideas what may have happened?

That's impossible, therefore it isn't happening

[Morten]

Did you shake/stir out the CO2?

[Dunk]

I would say check carefully for bubbles stuck to the hydrometer too. If there is sediment in the sample that could possibly affect the reading too.

[jonnyt]

You must have discovered Anti Yeast. It` turns Alcohol back into sugar

The other posts are correct in what they state

[jmc]

Temperature maybe, or dodgy hydrometer? it sounds as though it's finished though.

+1

My guess is colder and therefore reading more dense

[Hogarth]

As the others have said, it's most likely a measurement error rather than your beer going weird. It's worth reading these notes from Stevenson Reeves about how to use a hydrometer correctly.

[Jules T]

You must have discovered Anti Yeast. It` turns Alcohol back into sugar

LOL. I think I would be hounded out of this forum if that was the case!

Yes, could be temperature as my utility could be 10 degrees cooler as we are at about freezing now and it was around 15 degrees outside 4 days ago

[guypettigrew]

You must have discovered Anti Yeast. It` turns Alcohol back into sugar

Genius!!!

Wonderful stuff, anti-yeast.

I've also discovered anti-gravity.

It's the stuff in the boil which ensures you have less gravity after running the wort off and diluting back to your intended volume than you had before the boil.

Not sure what it is, but I wish I could get rid of it!

Guy

[Pinto]

You must have discovered Anti Yeast. It` turns Alcohol back into sugar

Sounds like a mutation of the Anheuser-Busch strain - if it was the parent (bud) strain, It would turn unfermented wort sugars into rat urine

[DeGarre]

I've been brewing a winter warmer which I checked four days ago and had an SG of 1008. Just checked today expecting it to be the same and ready to bottle and to my supprise the SG is 1012.

I started the brew on 28th feb so I'm wondering if I may have left it too long. Any ideas what may have happened?

Sometimes with a refractometer if the sample is cloudy because the yeast is still working the numbers can jump around a bit until the beer drops bright.