I'm Having an Ale!

[Mozart]

Brand new homebrewer here, and I'm about to be a proud parent!

Despite all of the rookie mistakes I made with my first solo batch (none of them huge, but a few of them), I took my first SG reading yesterday in preparation for bottling tomorrow. I read 1.015 while the recipe called for a FG of 1.014. I'll measure again before bottling to be sure fermentation is complete, but I'm encouraged.

Of course I tasted the warm and uncarbonated liquid I used to take my reading, and no off flavors! At least not that I could tell. Yeah, it tasted a bit 'bland', but fairly well-balanced to my still uneducated palette -- and what should I expect from warm uncarbonated beer?

The one question I have is... when I took my OG reading, I came up light (1.048 vs. 1.054 expected). In hindsight, I initially expected it was either due to my inexperience with a hydrometer (didn't spin to chase off bubbles, didn't adjust for temperature, might not have had thoroughly mixed wort as I partial boil). Given that this was an extract recipe with steeping grains, is it reasonable for me to logically assume that since my FG is so close to recipe expectations (assuming it doesn't change) that my OG must have been close to recipe expectations despite my measurement?

If I was light on OG, it would logically follow that all other things being equal I should be light on FG as well, yes?

Prost!

 

[RM-MN]

If you brewed an extract kit and measured your water correctly you can be sure your OG was what the kit called for. The normal thing to happen is to measure less than what is specified because the sugar laden wort is so dense that when you add water to top off it doesn't mix well. Congratulations on making beer.

 

[strambo]

Congrats on your 1st beer!

Measuring OG with warm wort and not temp-adjusting will result in a lower reading, that plus the not thoroughly mixed top-off water are the low OG reading culprits (or final volume slightly off).

http://www.brewersfriend.com/hydrometer-temp/

This link can be used to adjust for temps. If your wort was at 90 deg when you took the reading, the true OG was around 1.052.

The best things you can do for your beer (that are easy) are to pitch enough yeast and control ferm temps. I control my ferm temps low-tech by sticking my primary (bucket) in an 18 gal plastic tub with water filled to the beer level in the bucket. In the winter, I get a steady 62-66 deg. with just the water. In the summer I have to swap out ice bottles 1x per day to keep the temps under 68.

 

[Johnnyhitch1]

If you brewed an extract kit and measured your water correctly you can be sure your OG was what the kit called for. The normal thing to happen is to measure less than what is specified because the sugar laden wort is so dense that when you add water to top off it doesn't mix well. Congratulations on making beer.

^this all the way.

Uncarbed samples lack temp and, of course, carb.
Once carbed and chilled you should get a better "mouthfeel" and overall flavor from yeast dropping out.

Cheers! and congrats on your new obsession