Hi everybody, I've been lurking for a while but this is my first post. I'd really appreciate any help I can get.
Two weeks ago I did my first brew, it was an extract. Here's the details:
1 kg Wheat dried malt extract
1.3 kg Light malt extract (liquid)
500 g Light dried malt extract
500 g Wheat malt (steeped grain)
1 oz cascade
Wyeast Weihenstephan Weizen™ 3068 (no starter)
I steeped the grains at 160F for 45 mins. I added all of the malt at 60 mins (didn't realize I should have only used about 1/2 and then add the rest near flame out). Added 3/4 of the hops at 60 mins and the last 1/4 at 15 mins. Brewed it in 3 gallons of water, topped it up to 5 gallons in the carboy (primary) and made sure to pitch around the 70F mark.
Here's the problem. The OG said 1.07 which was much higher than expected. I wish I could go back in time and check it again, because this sounds ridiculous. It should have been somewhere in the 1.057 ballpark. Fermentation was pretty consistent at 75F and was crazy for the first couple of days. Had to add a blow off the second day.
A couple days ago, I took a gravity reading and it said 1.008!! It has been fermenting for 15 days, I still get about one bubble in the air lock every four minutes, so it's still going. (By the way, I tested the hydrometer and it isn't broken. It lines up to 1 in water.)
Did I mess up? Could it still drop lower? I've read that the fermentation may have been too strong and it might taste thin and dry, or I may have contaminated the batch with a foreign wild yeast at some point. I thought my sanitation was pretty good throughout the whole thing.
Can anyone shed some light on the situation. I'm only really concerned with the final gravity.
Two weeks ago I did my first brew, it was an extract. Here's the details:
1 kg Wheat dried malt extract
1.3 kg Light malt extract (liquid)
500 g Light dried malt extract
500 g Wheat malt (steeped grain)
1 oz cascade
Wyeast Weihenstephan Weizen™ 3068 (no starter)
I steeped the grains at 160F for 45 mins. I added all of the malt at 60 mins (didn't realize I should have only used about 1/2 and then add the rest near flame out). Added 3/4 of the hops at 60 mins and the last 1/4 at 15 mins. Brewed it in 3 gallons of water, topped it up to 5 gallons in the carboy (primary) and made sure to pitch around the 70F mark.
Here's the problem. The OG said 1.07 which was much higher than expected. I wish I could go back in time and check it again, because this sounds ridiculous. It should have been somewhere in the 1.057 ballpark. Fermentation was pretty consistent at 75F and was crazy for the first couple of days. Had to add a blow off the second day.
A couple days ago, I took a gravity reading and it said 1.008!! It has been fermenting for 15 days, I still get about one bubble in the air lock every four minutes, so it's still going. (By the way, I tested the hydrometer and it isn't broken. It lines up to 1 in water.)
Did I mess up? Could it still drop lower? I've read that the fermentation may have been too strong and it might taste thin and dry, or I may have contaminated the batch with a foreign wild yeast at some point. I thought my sanitation was pretty good throughout the whole thing.
Can anyone shed some light on the situation. I'm only really concerned with the final gravity.