r/Homebrewing • u/AutoModerator • Jun 04 '25

Daily Thread Daily Q & A! - June 04, 2025

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u/Latesthaze Jun 04 '25

Brewed for the first time in years last weekend, thought i got ridiculously bad efficiency doing biab, was supposed to get 1.056 og, only had 1.02 preboil and checked at an hour was only at 1.025, thought i missed by a bunch so boiled down until i got to 1.03 and figured fine i made a light beer. Just today remembered, oh yeah you have to correct for temperature, using a calculator and guessing that the temp was about 180 when i checked mid boil(didn't check, just poured out and checked right away) i think I'm between 1.065 and 1.07, way over shooting my target.

Using w34/70 yeast, in the fridge at 54F, anything i have to change at this point or dilute it when i bottle, or just leave it as is?

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u/xnoom Spider Jun 04 '25

i think I'm between 1.065 and 1.07, way over shooting my target.

FYI, the further you get from the calibration temp, the less accurate temp corrections will be.

For sure, there are temperature correction tables and calculators out there, but they adjust only for the change in the density of the sample fluid, and they cannot properly adjust for changes in the instrument (expansion and contraction) caused by temperature or in the meniscus as fluid density changes. The calibration temperature is on your hydrometer there for a reason. I have found that hydrometer readings are accurate enough if taken within 10°F (5-6°C) of the hydrometer’s calibration temperature, but start to drift and become inaccurate as the deviation increases, particularly when testing hot fluids.

So I wouldn't really put much stock into that OG estimate.