How do yáll take a sample from the fermenter before you throw the yeast in to get your OG?
I've been teaching a mate home brewing and doing partials/extracts, I jumped straight from K&K to All-Grain so I missed this step. With all grain you just sample from the kettle with a refract or hydrometer and u can always get a clean mixed sample.
The last 2 brews I've done with my mate I couldn't get a proper reading, so they have hit the fermenting fridge without a recorded OG
e.g., brewed an extract IPA this arvo with him, if u use the pipet to draw off a coupla drops from the top of the fermenter (im using cubes to ferment, so its a small hole and u have to hold them on an angle to reach the wort with the pipet (I have shaken to mix)), I get a really low reading, both recently have been around 1.020, when clearly the IPA was dark and malty and should have been around 1.065, and Tuesdays brew should have at least been around the 1.038 mark. I then also drew off from the tap at the bottom of the cube, with visually a bit of hops material in, I got a reading of 1.084..
Fuked if I know, I coulda stuffed around shaking the cube and letting it settle a while then drawing of a sample, and I know its bad practise not recording an OG, but it was annoying after about 6-7 goes, so off it went into the ferm fridge.
The Refrac was then checked with clean 20*c water after both fuk arounds and read correctly.
Pretty hard to teach a mate good practise when this annoying crap happens.
Im putting it down to the wort not mixed all up properly and left a while for the solids to settle before drawing off a sample, but surely there is an easier way for the guys doing extract/partials.
