O.G. too high again...Great Efficiency or Faulty Hydrometer?

[BrewBlender]

Once again, my O.G. is really high...third brew in a row. This time, my anticipated O.G. was 1.051 and it came out to 1.063.

I'm mashing in a 5-gallon stainless and batch sparging through two plastic buckets, and three batches in a row, I'm getting 85% efficiency. Is that possible?

Somebody mentioned it may be my hydrometer...so here are my questions:

1) If water is reading the correct 1.000, doesn't that mean my hydrometer is calibrated?

2) I usually let the sample sit for an hour...Does trub at the bottom of the container affect the reading if the the bottomo of the hydrometer is not touching the trub?

Thanks for any input.

[Gueze Lvr]

1.Did you use distilled water?

2. I wouldn't let it sit that long. Critters can get in it. No, it would not affect it. as long as it is not touching it or bottom.

You probably just need to just adjust your recipe for your increased Brewhouse Efficiency percentage.

Good Luck!

[BrewBlender]

1.Did you use distilled water?

No...I used good old Portland tap water.

I'm gonna see if I can borrow a friend's hydrometer for the next batch and see if I get the same reading on both.

I guess the thing that is different is that I'm using new brewing software (BeerTools Pro)...when I was using Homebrew Formulator, I would hit my gravity almost every time. It may be the incorrect evaporation rate listed in BTP...something just isn't right. I know each burner is different, but is there an approximate evap rate per hour?

I'll adjust the recipe next time. I just can't believe I'm getting 85% efficiency...it doesn't seem right!

Thanks!

[Lars]

I don't think 85% is unheard of for batch sparging, especially if your grain is ground pretty fine. Are you adjusting for temps? I regularly use both a hydrometer and refractometer to take readings. They are usually very close. I'd get another hydrometer or refractometer and double check your readings.

[Sykomiko]

Are your final gravities high also? I ran into a similar probelm. Both my OGs and FGs were running high so I checked the calibration of my BRAND NEW hydrometer. It turns out water read 1.000 at 80 degrees instead of 60 as advertised... Now that I've corrected for that, I'm back to hitting my target gravities (more or less)...

mike

[DannyW]

How sure are you about your volume? If you were planning to get 5.5 gallons at 1.051 but boiled down to 4.5 gallons instead you would be right at 1.063.

[crazymonkey15]

I'm getting 85% efficiency. Is that possible?

Check your volume like Danny suggests, but you must just be livin' right.

Denny Conn'll usually get around 85%. I don't . . . . but he does.

[Gueze Lvr]

85% is possible. It just means your getting a better extraction than most.
Try going to the grocery store & getting a gallon of distilled water(around 80 cents a gallon for store brand). It's water so you can drink the rest or add it to your regular brewing water. The solids in tap water can throw off your hydrometer some. But, not 10 points unless it is very hard water.