I just started using a refractometer lately which has been a hell of a lot easier. I also just switched over to Beersmith which I hope will also make things easier eventually.
I made a blonde ale yesterday that was supposed to have an SG of 1.045. Now, because my post mash gravity was so low and I ended up with too much liquid (still calibrating) I did a 1.5 hour boil. When the boil was done, I had 5.5 gallons which is what I was shooting for. I took about 5 or 6 drops into the pipette at flame out and set it aside for 10 minutes while I whirlpooled and chilled my wort. I then dripped it onto the refractometer, carefully covering the entire lenses and checked the gravity. It was 1.049, four points higher, no big deal, right? After my kettle was empty i started to wonder about the sample. It has tiny hop and grain particles in it and I wondered if that affected the brix reading. I poured the 10 or so ounces at the bottom of my kettle into a pint glass. I use a hop bag so it wasn't really sludgey. I put it into the refrigerator to let everything drop out. Then I took it out and brought it up to room temp and took another reading. It was substantially higher at 1.055. Thinking this had to be wrong, I went and got my hydrometer to confirm. The hydrometer floated at 1.055 exactly. I can't imagine how this could be. The grain bill is identical to Brulosopher's Best Blonde so I don't see how I could have ended up with such a high gravity. If I had 4 gallons, sure, but I finished with 5.5. After racking my brain I wondered if maybe because those 10 ounces were from the center of the whirlpool, maybe there were more sugars concentrated at the bottom? I don't even think that's how it works but I have no other explanations here. Do I call it 1.039 or is it truly 1.055? I had already pitched the yeast at this point so I couldn't go back to sampling the fermenter.
Submitted August 16, 2017 at 10:13PM by R2theAY http://ift.tt/2wQDdMz Homebrewing
No comments:
Post a Comment