[dgsutter]

I started my first 2 gallon batch of all grain.

The first reading I took after boiling was 1.01.
I took a second after primary fermentation. It was 1.002.
After three weeks in the secondary, I went to bottle the beer and got a reading of 1.014.

Something is wrong here. I can't figure out what the problem is...I can post a picture of the beer. For now, I've simply put the cover back on with the airlock. Any help is greatly appreciated.

[klickitat jim]

Is the paper tube inside your hydrometer sliding around?

Try measuring the gravity of plain old water. Distilled if you have it. Read the paper scale and see what temp its supposed to be calibrated to, probably 68º. Make sure the water is that temp.

[dgsutter]

No, it's solid. The calibration temp is 60 degrees. I measured plain ole water at 1.000

[HoosierBrew]

Sounds like your wort was stratified into varying temp layers by the time you took your sample judging by the 1.01 reading. And you really need to read to the next decimal place - the reading could've been anywhere from 1.010 -1.019. Regardless I'm sure that's not your actual OG, but it's too late to know exactly now. . Is it possible that the reading at the end of fermentation was 1.020 and not 1.002 ?

[dgsutter]

the original was 1.01 on the head. 2nd definitely went down to 1.002. now back to 1.014

[morticaixavier]

1.010 is really really low for an original gravity. like crazy low. that's a good final gravity for a lot of beer. That's why the thinking is stratification.

tell us about your recipe and process.

regardless, we are dealing with measurment error here. the gravity of your beer did not go up during fermentation.

just as a reference, a three gallon batch @ 1.010 is 30 gravity points. that's less than 1 lb of grain. did you use less than 1 lb of grain? for a 'normal' gravity batch (around 1.050) for 3 gallons you need around 6 lb of grain.

[majorvices]

Yes, I find it really hard to believe you started with an SG of 1.010. There's not a beer style out there with an SG that low. What was your recipe?

Regarding the secondary reading, if you have a lot of co2 in solution it will throw your reading off by as much as 10 points. You need to wait for a few seconds or minutes until the co2 comes out of solution. This is especially a problem on a beer that is still fermenting. I took a reading the other day tand the gravity said 1.010 in a beer still fermenting (lots of bubbles), a few quick shakes to release co2 and the reading was actually 1.024.

[duboman]

I started my first 2 gallon batch of all grain.

The first reading I took after boiling was 1.01.
I took a second after primary fermentation. It was 1.002.
After three weeks in the secondary, I went to bottle the beer and got a reading of 1.014.

Something is wrong here. I can't figure out what the problem is...I can post a picture of the beer. For now, I've simply put the cover back on with the airlock. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Did you temperature correct your first reading post boil? I also think the second reading might have been 1.020 instead of 1.002, this would make more sense and then answer why it is now 1.014 as it was still fermenting.