RobR3 Posted May 7, 2011 Share Posted May 7, 2011 Hi, I am brewing a Coopers Canadian Blonde and it is day 6. My OG was 1030, I checked today and it is 1068. I checked it twice to make sure. I was interstate for a couple of days and temperature dropped to around 18-20C i think. I have raised temperature to 22c for last 3 days and I also gave brew a good stir 3 days ago to activate/reactivate yeast. Have I totally made a mess of this and should tip out and start again, or is brew worth perservering with? For what it is worth, smell is very good, brew is light straw colour and quite cloudy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muddy Waters Posted May 7, 2011 Share Posted May 7, 2011 I'm not aware of anything that can raise the gravity. Maybe infection??? How does it taste (It should taste ok if the smell is good). The temp drop to 18-20C brings it into the ideal temp range for an ale - so that isn't your problem. 1068 sounds way too high unless you have tweaked the recipe and added heaps of fermentables. I think the problem is in your readings. What does your hydrometer read in water at 20C - It should read 1.000 Whatever you do - don't tip it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobR3 Posted May 7, 2011 Author Share Posted May 7, 2011 Thanks Muddy. I brewed just according to directions, nothing added or left out. I just tested my hydrometer and it looks OK. Tastes fine, a little bitter but that will be sorted with a bit of time. I'll leave it a couple of days and see what happens. Thanks again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biermoasta Posted May 7, 2011 Share Posted May 7, 2011 The OG of 1.030 seems low to me. What was the recipe? If it was made with BE1 or BE2 the OG should be around 1.040-1.045 I think. What temperature was the OG taken at? Have you made sure there are no bubbles affecting the reading? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muddy Waters Posted May 7, 2011 Share Posted May 7, 2011 Yeah, the OG is a bit low. I misread and thought it was 1030 at day 6 [pinched] . How long are you leaving your sample in the tube Rob? It is sometimes good to leave it a while and come back and check. Like Biermoasta said you can get a misread if there are bubbles present although this is likely to give you a high reading. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobR3 Posted May 7, 2011 Author Share Posted May 7, 2011 OK, this is just my second brew. My first was a Coopers Lager that came with the kit. This also had an OG of 1030. I take the OG reading before adding yeast.Both OGs the same and temperature of both was around 24C, well within the range recommended on the pack. I am just following the pack instructions, trying to keep things very simple until I get a bit of experience. The first brew turned out really well, very clear, good flavour and very little sediment. Maybe my hydrometer is faulty, may try and get hold of another to check readings. I do not wait too long to get readings, maybe 1-2 minutes. Just enough time to let the head settle a bit. i do make sure i give the float a couple of tap downs to make sure it isnt stuck or not floating properly. How long do you think I should take? many thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muddy Waters Posted May 7, 2011 Share Posted May 7, 2011 The OG is too low for the Coopers Lager as well. What was your FG for that one? A couple of minutes should be fine to get a reading but maybe just leave it for 30 mins or even a few hours and just observe if there is any change. I'm putting my bet on a hydrometer problem or possibly a misreading. Any chance of posting a pic of the hydrometer ina the sample that is clear enough for us to see the reading? If you can get your hands on another hydrometer it would be helpful too. Going off what you said about the taste it doesn't sound like you have a problem with the beer. It'd be best to have your temps a bit lower but as you say you can work on the fine details later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kearnage Posted May 7, 2011 Share Posted May 7, 2011 When you take a reading do you discard the first runnings from the tap? If not you may get an artificially high reading from crud that has sedimented out. Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeonardC2 Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 I usually don't get trub,etc in my hydro samples,since the tap is designed to sit above the yeast cake at bottling time. And the #1 mistake I see all new HB'rs make is not mixing the wort & top off water very thoroughly to make sure the 2 are mixed well. Plus make sure you put the brew kettle of wort in an ice bath to get it down to 70F before adding to water in the FV. What they're also trying to explain is to "spin" the hydrometerwhile it's in the sample to get the bubbles off the bottom of the hydrometer,so it won't cause a false reading. Study the markings on the hydrometer to familiarize yourself with the graduations. That should help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobR3 Posted May 10, 2011 Author Share Posted May 10, 2011 Thanks everyone. I had a faulty hydrometer. Everything looking good, and thanks for the tips. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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