[cascobaybrewer]

I just recently brewed a dark chocolate chili stout, and when i took the original gravity reading @ 68 deg it came out as 1.150. BIG, VERY BIG! I used a combination of amber and dark extract weighing 7.5 lbs plus 3 oz cacao powder. engine oil! could my reading be wrong in anyway? thoughts? 

[Jimmy K]

Assuming this was for 5 gallons, your reading must have been off. Maybe you didn't have enough wort to test and the hydrometer was sitting on the bottom of the cylinder?

[bluesman]

Have you calibrated your hydrometer?

That seems to be really high..so high in fact that it would likely be difficult for a typical beer to ferment properly.

[anje]

Sounds to me like something went wrong with taking the reading.

Out of curiosity, I ran the numbers through my software (Brewtarget, 'cause I'm one of those crazy Linux people). 7.5 lbs of LME should only give you a gravity of about 1.054. Heck, 7.5lbs each of amber and dark LME only gives me a gravity of 1.108. I don't have the data for cocoa powder, but it seems unlikely that your hydrometer reading was correct. Might have been resting on the bottom, might have gotten stuck to the wall of your test cylinder, the paper might have shifted (check the gravity of water to rule this one out).

[erockrph]

Sounds like stratification to me. Did you do a partial boil, then top off to get your full volume? If the boiled wort isn't fully mixed in with the topoff water, then you won't get an accurate gravity reading.

[Joe Sr.]

Sounds like stratification to me. Did you do a partial boil, then top off to get your full volume? If the boiled wort isn't fully mixed in with the topoff water, then you won't get an accurate gravity reading.

I agree that this sounds likely.  I get high readings regularly if I do not make sure my wort and top off are thoroughly mixed.

It could also be that your volume is wrong.

[denny]

Sounds like stratification to me. Did you do a partial boil, then top off to get your full volume? If the boiled wort isn't fully mixed in with the topoff water, then you won't get an accurate gravity reading.

I agree that this sounds likely.  I get high readings regularly if I do not make sure my wort and top off are thoroughly mixed.

It could also be that your volume is wrong.

I'll third the stratification.

[cascobaybrewer]

yeah (shakes head slowly) that makes total sense. Next time I do a O.G. I will make sure that the wort and top off water are thoroughly mixed. Thank you so much!