Is lower than expected FG bad?

I have a belgian blonde that's been fermenting for 10 days now and I think it's done. In a few days when I have a chance I will rack it to secondary to age for a month. I wanted to check the gravity today and again in a few days to make sure its done. My OG was 1063 and the expected FG is 1013-1017, my reading came in at 1009 +1 for temperature correction so 1010. So the yeast went to town for sure, I did use a starter for my first time.

Is this what I should expect when I make yeast starters? Did I pitch too much yeast? It was Belgian 3787 high gravity yeast. I did use a pound of corn sugar in the recipe, would this make it drier and ferment more? The beer tastes great for it being green. Thanks!

Belgian strains are notoriously attenuative and the addition of simple sugar will certainly lower the FG as it is 100% fermentable. The beer will be dry and may have a thinner mouthfeel than most American style beers. I usually mash low and ramp my fermentation temps to max out attenuation. Most of my Belgians finish between 1008 and 1003!

If the sugar that you added was not in the original recipe then yes, that could dry out your beer.

Was your recipe all grain? Mash temps control the fermentability of your wort. If you mashed low then you could have extracted more fermentable sugars.

All in all a few points low is not bad. Personally I'd rather err on the side of dry. I think you'll have a fine beer. Others who like a bit more malt in that style might disagree. You'll have to taste it yourself and see if it is something that you enjoy. If so, all is well.

TANSTAAFB said:

Belgian strains are notoriously attenuative and the addition of simple sugar will certainly lower the FG as it is 100% fermentable. The beer will be dry and may have a thinner mouthfeel than most American style beers. I usually mash low and ramp my fermentation temps to max out attenuation. Most of my Belgians finish between 1008 and 1003!

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Yeah I read that this belgian yeast is a beast, I needed a blowoff tube for 3 days.

Thunder_Chicken said:

If the sugar that you added was not in the original recipe then yes, that could dry out your beer.

Was your recipe all grain? Mash temps control the fermentability of your wort. If you mashed low then you could have extracted more fermentable sugars.

All in all a few points low is not bad. Personally I'd rather err on the side of dry. I think you'll have a fine beer. Others who like a bit more malt in that style might disagree. You'll have to taste it yourself and see if it is something that you enjoy. If so, all is well.

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This was an extract recipe, in fact there were no grains at all. The sugar was part of the recipe as belgian blondes typically are dry, according to my LHBS.

1.010 is fine for belgian blond, last night i was drinking my belgian blond (fermented with 3787) that finished at 1.009 and decided that im gona make it again (means its very good in my opinion)

Polboy said:

1.010 is fine for belgian blond, last night i was drinking my belgian blond (fermented with 3787) that finished at 1.009 and decided that im gona make it again (means its very good in my opinion)

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Sounds good. I did taste the beer and it tasted great.