Measuring OG Question

[dierythmus]

Hi All,

I'm an AG brewer who puts EVERYTHING from the boil kettle into the fermenter.

Before pitching, I typically aerate by shaking/agitating the fermenter. I then take an OG reading. Would the fact that I'm putting everything into the fermenter affect my OG reading? Meaning, would my OG be different if I left the hops, cold break, etc in the kettle?

I recently hit an OG dead on by doing this (per the recipe), but I had to set the boil loss (volume of trub, cold-break, hops, chiller loss when transferring to boil kettle) in my water calc app to 0.

If this works number-wise, should I continue to do this? Is this a common practice?

 

[TheHappyHopper]

I think it would have an effect if enough of the solids are still suspended in the wort you are measuring. I try to pull as clear of a sample as possible from the BK when it gets cool enough and then let it sit in the hydrometer test tube while the wort finishes cooling, once it looks like everything is pretty well settled out, I take my reading.

 

[bobeer]

I do a quick whirlpool after I chill down the wort and let it sit for a few minutes. Then I use an auto siphon to rack the beer from the top down into the fermentor. I take a gravity sample before I start to rack it into the fermentor. I let the sample sit while the fermentor fills up then I take the reading. It's usually relatively clear of any junk.

I suppose it could have slight affect on your gravity reading but I've never given it much thought. I'd think if you have a pile of hops at the bottom of your sample it wouldn't allow the hydrometer to float freely in the wort thus causing a skewed reading. As far as a little bit of stuff floating around I don't think it would affect it too much... but then again what do I know? ha.

 

[Denny]

Suspended solids make no difference in an OG reading. Only things that are actually dissolved affect it.

 

[unionrdr]

Yup. Only dissolved sugars, etc effect the reading, whether long or short chain sugars. As to the other, I pour the chilled wort through a dual layer, fine mesh strainer into the fermenter. Less gunk volume that way come bottling day.

 

[Rockn_M]

Solids won't matter, unless you have rocks in the sample. It's all about the dissolved sugars.

One thing you do want to make sure you don't have bubbles collecting on the hydrometer. This will affect your readings.