Measured OG a bit later

L

Luxembourgish_Homebrewer

New Member
Trial Member
Joined
May 12, 2015
Messages
7
Reaction score
0
Points
0
Hello,

I hope I'm posting this in the right place!

I brewed my beer last saturday and I completely forgot to measure the OG with my hydrometer. I realised it 4 hours later and decided to measure it but there was already Co2 in it so I got as OG 1.080.

So now my question: Is the measurement completely false or can I keep the 1.080? Or 1.070 because of the Co2?

Thanks for any advice! :D

Sry for my not so perfect english, hope you understand what I mean. :?
 
Shouldn't make enough of a difference to matter. Where in Luxemburg? I used to live on the Mosel in Germany.
 
Hello, thank you for the fast reply! I was worried because in went from an OG of 1.080 to 1.025 in 4 days, crazy isn't it? I just wanted 4,5% Vol.
Never mind, thanks!

By the way, I live in the northern part, near the lake of upper sure :)
 
Chances are that the 1.080 reading is effected by the CO2 in the sample.
 
Im not understanding what you mean, there is no co2 in the original gravity and even if fermenting the co2 is pushed out of the airlock and not fused in the wort so no change in the reading
 
The CO2 in solution will nucleate on the hydrometer, causing it to rise. Unless I read the OP wrong, the Hydrometer reading was after fermentation had started.
 
Ozarks Mountian Brew said:
Im not understanding what you mean, there is no co2 in the original gravity and even if fermenting the co2 is pushed out of the airlock and not fused in the wort so no change in the reading
Click to expand...


Well as said, I realised it after the fermentation started and there was already Co2 escaping through the airlock and as I took the sample, there were bubbles in it which I guess, pushed the hydrometer higher.

So my question if it makes a big difference or is the difference not that big?
 
If the hydrometer reading is suspect, then it is worthless. If you know that CO2 bubbles were pushing the hydrometer up, then you can assume that your actual gravity is lower, but how much lower is a guess. Four hours into fermentation, the yeast is still in the growth faze, and so not much alcohol has been produced yet. Therefore the hydrometer reading should be close, or possibly a bit low. If you were expecting an OG of around 1.080, and you gave the hydrometer a good spin to shed the CO2 bubbles, then your reading is probably close . If you were expecting a 1.040 wort, and got 1.080, then something is wrong, either your hydrometer reading, your recipe, or you forgot to add some water.
What O.G were you expecting, and were your volumes accurate? For instance, if you planned to do 5 gallons and ended up with four gallons of wort, then your O.G would be high.
 
GernBlanston said:
If the hydrometer reading is suspect, then it is worthless. If you know that CO2 bubbles were pushing the hydrometer up, then you can assume that your actual gravity is lower, but how much lower is a guess. Four hours into fermentation, the yeast is still in the growth faze, and so not much alcohol has been produced yet. Therefore the hydrometer reading should be close, or possibly a bit low. If you were expecting an OG of around 1.080, and you gave the hydrometer a good spin to shed the CO2 bubbles, then your reading is probably close . If you were expecting a 1.040 wort, and got 1.080, then something is wrong, either your hydrometer reading, your recipe, or you forgot to add some water.
What O.G were you expecting, and were your volumes accurate? For instance, if you planned to do 5 gallons and ended up with four gallons of wort, then your O.G would be high.
Click to expand...


Well I wanted to have 5.85 gallons and ended up with 5.85 gallons... I have to admit that I never understood how to calculate how much O.G. to expect but I expected an O.G. between 1.065 and 1.080
The only thing which made it suspicious to me is that the beer went from Saturday to Thursday from 1.080 to 1.025. Is this actually possible? I think I will just guess that my O.G. is 1.070?
 
It's possible, welcome to the wonderful world of our friends the yeasties!
Use the 1.080 in your notes with an explanation to yourself to remember what happened. Then go on to the next batch. Do keep notes. That way you will remember to not make the same mistake twice.
 
Well, I will have to work with the 1.080 then, thank you!

Well those hippies are going to make me crazy, never thought they would ferment that fast!! :D I will remember this for next time :) Thank you for all your help!
 
First, the drop you mention is completely within reason. Primary fermentation usually takes about a week, more for lagers, more for really big beers. The gas bubbles adhering to your hydrometer would result in a higher reading but you can knock them off by spinning the hydrometer. I'd guess if anything your 1.080 was a bit low, maybe a couple of points, because 4 hours just isn't enough for the yeast to really get going. As mentioned below, RDWHAHB, take good notes and learn from the error.
 
Luxembourgish_Homebrewer said:
I have to admit that I never understood how to calculate how much O.G. to expect
Click to expand...


Try out the recipe builder on this site. It will do the calculations for you.

Nosybear will give you some sort of formula, or algorithm, or some long winded and complicated math strategery, but the recipe builder is the easiest. If you enter the volumes accurately it will get you close enough.
 
Thanks to both of you for taking the time to explain it to me! I already took a look at the application, I need a bit to understand it but it should make it.

And yes, my Notebook is full of informations, and my beer tastes better and better after each try, so I think it's good haha :D
 
oh sorry my bad, thought you took a sample in its own container but I guess you measured in the actual carboy, the above makes since now :oops:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Copyright © 2007-2024 Brewer's Friend, Inc. - Send Feedback - Terms - RSS Feed - Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information

Back
Top