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High Original Gravity

S

SAHomeBrew

Has anybody else ever had this problem;

I brewed an IPA for the first time about week and a half ago, my first time for this recipe. Everything was fine until I to the original gravity reading.

1.120!?

Yes I said 1.120, I took 3 samples just to make sure I wasn't crazy.

Final came out the other day as 1.017 (fine right on target) and the sample tasted ok, no strange or odd flavors, color is good for an IPA (amber).

The yeast started fine after about 12 - 18 hours so I don't see the 1.120 being right.

Any ideas on the wacky reading? temp was about 80-85 at the time. (yes I corrected for temp) I usually put it in my chiller for about 2 -3 hours before pitching.

Any ideas?

 
I can think of some possibilities:

Did you take the measurement in the hydrometer container?  These plastic tubes are not large enough to get an accurate reading, so often the hydometer gets electro-statically stuck to the wall.  Better to use a separate vessel specifically designed for this.

Another possibility is the presence of gas in the sample which can also throw the reading off.

Finally, many cheap hydrometers are not all that accurate, so you might want to do a test with a premeasured sample of sugar and water to make sure you have a good instrument.

Cheers!
Brad
 
Is there any chance that you didn't mix everything up properly?

If the wort isn't mixed properly and the extract is lying near the bottom of the fermenter (assuming you're not AG) and the water is near the top then when you tap off a sample you'll get a high reading.

It's amazing sometimes how hard you have to mix everything!

Trev
 
My guess is that you didn't mix it up properly. MyOG readings were effectively worthless for my first four or five brews because I was making the same mistake. Also, I've heard of a couple of newbies who mistakenly took the gravity of their partial boil before they mixed the wort from the kettle with water to make five gallons. If that's the case, your OG reading will be way high.
 
My guess is that you didn't mix it up properly. MyOG readings were effectively worthless for my first four or five brews because I was making the same mistake. Also, I've heard of a couple of newbies who mistakenly took the gravity of their partial boil before they mixed the wort from the kettle with water to make five gallons. If that's the case, your OG reading will be way high.

You are assuming that I'm a newbie. Don't know why but ok, unless the phrase "for the first time" is your indicator. What it means is it was a new recipe to me.

As it turns out it was a mathmatical error. I changed the recipe from DME to liquid, and... I don't know carried the one to far lol :D and put too much in, by about 3-4 #.
I'm going to keep the recipe the way it is and beef-up the hops, because it turns out it has a really good flavor, but the hops flavor is lacking (because of such a high ABV).

Guess thats what you get for being in a hurry.
 
I'll bet the hydro was stuck on the sides of the tube.
It takes one helluva lot of sugars to get a gravity of 1120.
 
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