Ask The Brewmasters

Is anyone else using a DMA 4500 M Alcolyzer Beer ME? We've been using ours for almost 2 years now, and we use it every day to check our final product. It works beautifully for alcohol and final gravity, with a very high level of reproducibility. We've noticed, however, that the calculated OGs it spits out are off by about 0.5 Plato from what the brewers were reading on our calibrated hydrometers. Certain brands seem to be a bit further off than others as well.

We weren't sure where in the process the misstep was, so we began running every single hydrometer sample run by the brewers through the DMA. We ran over 200 samples and the majority of the time got a higher reading on our hydrometers, with most of them being over 0.1P off. The German calibrated hydrometers were definitely closer than the cheaper ones, but we were seeing differences upwards of 0.5P between the readings, which is beyond human error. Meanwhile, some samples were exactly the same, to the hundredths place. We would occasionally see numbers in the ABV section during this, which was strange, as they were pre-yeast. 

The beers we ran these tests on are finishing up in the fermenters, and I've been able to compare the calculated OGs from the DMA from the OG it read itself out of the HX, and the calculated is higher than the original read. We have a bit longer to wait for more data though. 

All of our FGs match, alcohol is on point, but for some reason this OG calculation isn't working out. We've also struggled with any beer that has appreciable haze, and find that filtering/centrifuging will give us different alcohol levels. I'm assuming this is because the alcohol module in the DMA is based in spectrophotometry the haze is interfering? 

Has anyone else had trouble with any of these issues? We're not sure which numbers to trust anymore, as the further we look into this, the less sense it makes. This has happened despite all checks and calibrations being passed, proper daily cleaning regimens being followed, and extensive conversations with Anton-Paar. I'm out of ideas and would love any input fellow QC folks have. We're trying to dial in our recipes further and it's difficult when you can't trust your OGs.

Is anyone else using a DMA 4500 M Alcolyzer Beer ME? We've been using ours for almost 2 years now, and we use it every day to check our final product. It works beautifully for alcohol and final gravity, with a very high level of reproducibility. We've noticed, however, that the calculated OGs it spits out are off by about 0.5 Plato from what the brewers were reading on our calibrated hydrometers. Certain brands seem to be a bit further off than others as well.

We weren't sure where in the process the misstep was, so we began running every single hydrometer sample run by the brewers through the DMA. We ran over 200 samples and the majority of the time got a higher reading on our hydrometers, with most of them being over 0.1P off. The German calibrated hydrometers were definitely closer than the cheaper ones, but we were seeing differences upwards of 0.5P between the readings, which is beyond human error. Meanwhile, some samples were exactly the same, to the hundredths place. We would occasionally see numbers in the ABV section during this, which was strange, as they were pre-yeast. 

The beers we ran these tests on are finishing up in the fermenters, and I've been able to compare the calculated OGs from the DMA from the OG it read itself out of the HX, and the calculated is higher than the original read. We have a bit longer to wait for more data though. 

All of our FGs match, alcohol is on point, but for some reason this OG calculation isn't working out. We've also struggled with any beer that has appreciable haze, and find that filtering/centrifuging will give us different alcohol levels. I'm assuming this is because the alcohol module in the DMA is based in spectrophotometry the haze is interfering? 

Has anyone else had trouble with any of these issues? We're not sure which numbers to trust anymore, as the further we look into this, the less sense it makes. This has happened despite all checks and calibrations being passed, proper daily cleaning regimens being followed, and extensive conversations with Anton-Paar. I'm out of ideas and would love any input fellow QC folks have. We're trying to dial in our recipes further and it's difficult when you can't trust your OGs.

Is anyone else using a DMA 4500 M Alcolyzer Beer ME? We've been using ours for almost 2 years now, and we use it every day to check our final product. It works beautifully for alcohol and final gravity, with a very high level of reproducibility. We've noticed, however, that the calculated OGs it spits out are off by about 0.5 Plato from what the brewers were reading on our calibrated hydrometers. Certain brands seem to be a bit further off than others as well.

We weren't sure where in the process the misstep was, so we began running every single hydrometer sample run by the brewers through the DMA. We ran over 200 samples and the majority of the time got a higher reading on our hydrometers, with most of them being over 0.1P off. The German calibrated hydrometers were definitely closer than the cheaper ones, but we were seeing differences upwards of 0.5P between the readings, which is beyond human error. Meanwhile, some samples were exactly the same, to the hundredths place. We would occasionally see numbers in the ABV section during this, which was strange, as they were pre-yeast. 

The beers we ran these tests on are finishing up in the fermenters, and I've been able to compare the calculated OGs from the DMA from the OG it read itself out of the HX, and the calculated is higher than the original read. We have a bit longer to wait for more data though. 

All of our FGs match, alcohol is on point, but for some reason this OG calculation isn't working out. We've also struggled with any beer that has appreciable haze, and find that filtering/centrifuging will give us different alcohol levels. I'm assuming this is because the alcohol module in the DMA is based in spectrophotometry the haze is interfering? 

Has anyone else had trouble with any of these issues? We're not sure which numbers to trust anymore, as the further we look into this, the less sense it makes. This has happened despite all checks and calibrations being passed, proper daily cleaning regimens being followed, and extensive conversations with Anton-Paar. I'm out of ideas and would love any input fellow QC folks have. We're trying to dial in our recipes further and it's difficult when you can't trust your OGs.

Is anyone else using a DMA 4500 M Alcolyzer Beer ME? We've been using ours for almost 2 years now, and we use it every day to check our final product. It works beautifully for alcohol and final gravity, with a very high level of reproducibility. We've noticed, however, that the calculated OGs it spits out are off by about 0.5 Plato from what the brewers were reading on our calibrated hydrometers. Certain brands seem to be a bit further off than others as well.

We weren't sure where in the process the misstep was, so we began running every single hydrometer sample run by the brewers through the DMA. We ran over 200 samples and the majority of the time got a higher reading on our hydrometers, with most of them being over 0.1P off. The German calibrated hydrometers were definitely closer than the cheaper ones, but we were seeing differences upwards of 0.5P between the readings, which is beyond human error. Meanwhile, some samples were exactly the same, to the hundredths place. We would occasionally see numbers in the ABV section during this, which was strange, as they were pre-yeast.

The beers we ran these tests on are finishing up in the fermenters, and I've been able to compare the calculated OGs from the DMA from the OG it read itself out of the HX, and the calculated is higher than the original read. We have a bit longer to wait for more data though.

All of our FGs match, alcohol is on point, but for some reason this OG calculation isn't working out. We've also struggled with any beer that has appreciable haze, and find that filtering/centrifuging will give us different alcohol levels. I'm assuming this is because the alcohol module in the DMA is based in spectrophotometry the haze is interfering?

Has anyone else had trouble with any of these issues? We're not sure which numbers to trust anymore, as the further we look into this, the less sense it makes. This has happened despite all checks and calibrations being passed, proper daily cleaning regimens being followed, and extensive conversations with Anton-Paar. I'm out of ideas and would love any input fellow QC folks have. We're trying to dial in our recipes further and it's difficult when you can't trust your OGs.

Is anyone else using a DMA 4500 M Alcolyzer Beer ME? We've been using ours for almost 2 years now, and we use it every day to check our final product. It works beautifully for alcohol and final gravity, with a very high level of reproducibility. We've noticed, however, that the calculated OGs it spits out are off by about 0.5 Plato from what the brewers were reading on our calibrated hydrometers. Certain brands seem to be a bit further off than others as well.

We weren't sure where in the process the misstep was, so we began running every single hydrometer sample run by the brewers through the DMA. We ran over 200 samples and the majority of the time got a higher reading on our hydrometers, with most of them being over 0.1P off. The German calibrated hydrometers were definitely closer than the cheaper ones, but we were seeing differences upwards of 0.5P between the readings, which is beyond human error. Meanwhile, some samples were exactly the same, to the hundredths place. We would occasionally see numbers in the ABV section during this, which was strange, as they were pre-yeast.

The beers we ran these tests on are finishing up in the fermenters, and I've been able to compare the calculated OGs from the DMA from the OG it read itself out of the HX, and the calculated is higher than the original read. We have a bit longer to wait for more data though.

All of our FGs match, alcohol is on point, but for some reason this OG calculation isn't working out. We've also struggled with any beer that has appreciable haze, and find that filtering/centrifuging will give us different alcohol levels. I'm assuming this is because the alcohol module in the DMA is based in spectrophotometry the haze is interfering?

Has anyone else had trouble with any of these issues? We're not sure which numbers to trust anymore, as the further we look into this, the less sense it makes. This has happened despite all checks and calibrations being passed, proper daily cleaning regimens being followed, and extensive conversations with Anton-Paar. I'm out of ideas and would love any input fellow QC folks have. We're trying to dial in our recipes further and it's difficult when you can't trust your OGs.

Is anyone else using a DMA 4500 M Alcolyzer Beer ME? We've been using ours for almost 2 years now, and we use it every day to check our final product. It works beautifully for alcohol and final gravity, with a very high level of reproducibility. We've noticed, however, that the calculated OGs it spits out are off by about 0.5 Plato from what the brewers were reading on our calibrated hydrometers. Certain brands seem to be a bit further off than others as well.

We weren't sure where in the process the misstep was, so we began running every single hydrometer sample run by the brewers through the DMA. We ran over 200 samples and the majority of the time got a higher reading on our hydrometers, with most of them being over 0.1P off. The German calibrated hydrometers were definitely closer than the cheaper ones, but we were seeing differences upwards of 0.5P between the readings, which is beyond human error. Meanwhile, some samples were exactly the same, to the hundredths place. We would occasionally see numbers in the ABV section during this, which was strange, as they were pre-yeast.

The beers we ran these tests on are finishing up in the fermenters, and I've been able to compare the calculated OGs from the DMA from the OG it read itself out of the HX, and the calculated is higher than the original read. We have a bit longer to wait for more data though.

All of our FGs match, alcohol is on point, but for some reason this OG calculation isn't working out. We've also struggled with any beer that has appreciable haze, and find that filtering/centrifuging will give us different alcohol levels. I'm assuming this is because the alcohol module in the DMA is based in spectrophotometry the haze is interfering?

Has anyone else had trouble with any of these issues? We're not sure which numbers to trust anymore, as the further we look into this, the less sense it makes. This has happened despite all checks and calibrations being passed, proper daily cleaning regimens being followed, and extensive conversations with Anton-Paar. I'm out of ideas and would love any input fellow QC folks have. We're trying to dial in our recipes further and it's difficult when you can't trust your OGs.

Is anyone else using a DMA 4500 M Alcolyzer Beer ME? We've been using ours for almost 2 years now, and we use it every day to check our final product. It works beautifully for alcohol and final gravity, with a very high level of reproducibility. We've noticed, however, that the calculated OGs it spits out are off by about 0.5 Plato from what the brewers were reading on our calibrated hydrometers. Certain brands seem to be a bit further off than others as well.

We weren't sure where in the process the misstep was, so we began running every single hydrometer sample run by the brewers through the DMA. We ran over 200 samples and the majority of the time got a higher reading on our hydrometers, with most of them being over 0.1P off. The German calibrated hydrometers were definitely closer than the cheaper ones, but we were seeing differences upwards of 0.5P between the readings, which is beyond human error. Meanwhile, some samples were exactly the same, to the hundredths place. We would occasionally see numbers in the ABV section during this, which was strange, as they were pre-yeast.

The beers we ran these tests on are finishing up in the fermenters, and I've been able to compare the calculated OGs from the DMA from the OG it read itself out of the HX, and the calculated is higher than the original read. We have a bit longer to wait for more data though.

All of our FGs match, alcohol is on point, but for some reason this OG calculation isn't working out. We've also struggled with any beer that has appreciable haze, and find that filtering/centrifuging will give us different alcohol levels. I'm assuming this is because the alcohol module in the DMA is based in spectrophotometry the haze is interfering?

Has anyone else had trouble with any of these issues? We're not sure which numbers to trust anymore, as the further we look into this, the less sense it makes. This has happened despite all checks and calibrations being passed, proper daily cleaning regimens being followed, and extensive conversations with Anton-Paar. I'm out of ideas and would love any input fellow QC folks have. We're trying to dial in our recipes further and it's difficult when you can't trust your OGs.

Is anyone else using a DMA 4500 M Alcolyzer Beer ME? We've been using ours for almost 2 years now, and we use it every day to check our final product. It works beautifully for alcohol and final gravity, with a very high level of reproducibility. We've noticed, however, that the calculated OGs it spits out are off by about 0.5 Plato from what the brewers were reading on our calibrated hydrometers. Certain brands seem to be a bit further off than others as well.

We weren't sure where in the process the misstep was, so we began running every single hydrometer sample run by the brewers through the DMA. We ran over 200 samples and the majority of the time got a higher reading on our hydrometers, with most of them being over 0.1P off. The German calibrated hydrometers were definitely closer than the cheaper ones, but we were seeing differences upwards of 0.5P between the readings, which is beyond human error. Meanwhile, some samples were exactly the same, to the hundredths place. We would occasionally see numbers in the ABV section during this, which was strange, as they were pre-yeast.

The beers we ran these tests on are finishing up in the fermenters, and I've been able to compare the calculated OGs from the DMA from the OG it read itself out of the HX, and the calculated is higher than the original read. We have a bit longer to wait for more data though.

All of our FGs match, alcohol is on point, but for some reason this OG calculation isn't working out. We've also struggled with any beer that has appreciable haze, and find that filtering/centrifuging will give us different alcohol levels. I'm assuming this is because the alcohol module in the DMA is based in spectrophotometry the haze is interfering?

Has anyone else had trouble with any of these issues? We're not sure which numbers to trust anymore, as the further we look into this, the less sense it makes. This has happened despite all checks and calibrations being passed, proper daily cleaning regimens being followed, and extensive conversations with Anton-Paar. I'm out of ideas and would love any input fellow QC folks have. We're trying to dial in our recipes further and it's difficult when you can't trust your OGs.

Is anyone else using a DMA 4500 M Alcolyzer Beer ME? We've been using ours for almost 2 years now, and we use it every day to check our final product. It works beautifully for alcohol and final gravity, with a very high level of reproducibility. We've noticed, however, that the calculated OGs it spits out are off by about 0.5 Plato from what the brewers were reading on our calibrated hydrometers. Certain brands seem to be a bit further off than others as well.

We weren't sure where in the process the misstep was, so we began running every single hydrometer sample run by the brewers through the DMA. We ran over 200 samples and the majority of the time got a higher reading on our hydrometers, with most of them being over 0.1P off. The German calibrated hydrometers were definitely closer than the cheaper ones, but we were seeing differences upwards of 0.5P between the readings, which is beyond human error. Meanwhile, some samples were exactly the same, to the hundredths place. We would occasionally see numbers in the ABV section during this, which was strange, as they were pre-yeast.

The beers we ran these tests on are finishing up in the fermenters, and I've been able to compare the calculated OGs from the DMA from the OG it read itself out of the HX, and the calculated is higher than the original read. We have a bit longer to wait for more data though.

All of our FGs match, alcohol is on point, but for some reason this OG calculation isn't working out. We've also struggled with any beer that has appreciable haze, and find that filtering/centrifuging will give us different alcohol levels. I'm assuming this is because the alcohol module in the DMA is based in spectrophotometry the haze is interfering?

Has anyone else had trouble with any of these issues? We're not sure which numbers to trust anymore, as the further we look into this, the less sense it makes. This has happened despite all checks and calibrations being passed, proper daily cleaning regimens being followed, and extensive conversations with Anton-Paar. I'm out of ideas and would love any input fellow QC folks have. We're trying to dial in our recipes further and it's difficult when you can't trust your OGs.

Is anyone else using a DMA 4500 M Alcolyzer Beer ME? We've been using ours for almost 2 years now, and we use it every day to check our final product. It works beautifully for alcohol and final gravity, with a very high level of reproducibility. We've noticed, however, that the calculated OGs it spits out are off by about 0.5 Plato from what the brewers were reading on our calibrated hydrometers. Certain brands seem to be a bit further off than others as well.

We weren't sure where in the process the misstep was, so we began running every single hydrometer sample run by the brewers through the DMA. We ran over 200 samples and the majority of the time got a higher reading on our hydrometers, with most of them being over 0.1P off. The German calibrated hydrometers were definitely closer than the cheaper ones, but we were seeing differences upwards of 0.5P between the readings, which is beyond human error. Meanwhile, some samples were exactly the same, to the hundredths place. We would occasionally see numbers in the ABV section during this, which was strange, as they were pre-yeast.

The beers we ran these tests on are finishing up in the fermenters, and I've been able to compare the calculated OGs from the DMA from the OG it read itself out of the HX, and the calculated is higher than the original read. We have a bit longer to wait for more data though.

All of our FGs match, alcohol is on point, but for some reason this OG calculation isn't working out. We've also struggled with any beer that has appreciable haze, and find that filtering/centrifuging will give us different alcohol levels. I'm assuming this is because the alcohol module in the DMA is based in spectrophotometry the haze is interfering?

Has anyone else had trouble with any of these issues? We're not sure which numbers to trust anymore, as the further we look into this, the less sense it makes. This has happened despite all checks and calibrations being passed, proper daily cleaning regimens being followed, and extensive conversations with Anton-Paar. I'm out of ideas and would love any input fellow QC folks have. We're trying to dial in our recipes further and it's difficult when you can't trust your OGs.

• As described in the article above, the Balling formula is not perfect and modern production practices do not always agree with the 140 year old formula.
• Other ingredients may also be added to the wort. Instead of barley or wheat malt, rice, corn or raw sugar may be added. These are metabolized differently than malt and may affect the OE calculation as described in the article above.
• Further deviations in OE may depend on feedstock fluctuations, yeast strain and fermentation variation. The true OE, pre fermentation, is the correct OE. A brewery or feedstock specific adjustment may be needed or desired, depending on the breweries needs.

Is anyone else using a DMA 4500 M Alcolyzer Beer ME? We've been using ours for almost 2 years now, and we use it every day to check our final product. It works beautifully for alcohol and final gravity, with a very high level of reproducibility. We've noticed, however, that the calculated OGs it spits out are off by about 0.5 Plato from what the brewers were reading on our calibrated hydrometers. Certain brands seem to be a bit further off than others as well.

We weren't sure where in the process the misstep was, so we began running every single hydrometer sample run by the brewers through the DMA. We ran over 200 samples and the majority of the time got a higher reading on our hydrometers, with most of them being over 0.1P off. The German calibrated hydrometers were definitely closer than the cheaper ones, but we were seeing differences upwards of 0.5P between the readings, which is beyond human error. Meanwhile, some samples were exactly the same, to the hundredths place. We would occasionally see numbers in the ABV section during this, which was strange, as they were pre-yeast.

The beers we ran these tests on are finishing up in the fermenters, and I've been able to compare the calculated OGs from the DMA from the OG it read itself out of the HX, and the calculated is higher than the original read. We have a bit longer to wait for more data though.

All of our FGs match, alcohol is on point, but for some reason this OG calculation isn't working out. We've also struggled with any beer that has appreciable haze, and find that filtering/centrifuging will give us different alcohol levels. I'm assuming this is because the alcohol module in the DMA is based in spectrophotometry the haze is interfering?

Has anyone else had trouble with any of these issues? We're not sure which numbers to trust anymore, as the further we look into this, the less sense it makes. This has happened despite all checks and calibrations being passed, proper daily cleaning regimens being followed, and extensive conversations with Anton-Paar. I'm out of ideas and would love any input fellow QC folks have. We're trying to dial in our recipes further and it's difficult when you can't trust your OGs.