OK, I feel really silly, but I may have been "doing it wrong" for a few years now...
I usually use a refractometer for my SG readings after the mash (BIAB) and of course, post-boil. I would scoop some wort out using a small measuring cup and take my measurement. Most of the time there is visible suspended sediment in the sample.
The other day I was making a recipe that I have made enough times, I know what my numbers _should_ be at each point in the process. Because I got distracted though, I didn't check my pre-boil SG until about 20-30 min after I pulled the sample, and all the suspended sediment in the measuring cup had settled.
Embarrasingly enough, without sediment, the specimen read about 0.08 higher <g>. When I checked with a hydrometer (after correcting for temperature), the _higher_ reading seemed the correct one.
Was I supposed to be letting the sediment settle all along? Whoops. So I guess this recipe that I have been making for years has a higher ABV than I ever realized (since I always take my FG post-ferment readings with a hydrometer).
Anyone else here ever discover that the hard way?
I usually use a refractometer for my SG readings after the mash (BIAB) and of course, post-boil. I would scoop some wort out using a small measuring cup and take my measurement. Most of the time there is visible suspended sediment in the sample.
The other day I was making a recipe that I have made enough times, I know what my numbers _should_ be at each point in the process. Because I got distracted though, I didn't check my pre-boil SG until about 20-30 min after I pulled the sample, and all the suspended sediment in the measuring cup had settled.
Embarrasingly enough, without sediment, the specimen read about 0.08 higher <g>. When I checked with a hydrometer (after correcting for temperature), the _higher_ reading seemed the correct one.
Was I supposed to be letting the sediment settle all along? Whoops. So I guess this recipe that I have been making for years has a higher ABV than I ever realized (since I always take my FG post-ferment readings with a hydrometer).
Anyone else here ever discover that the hard way?