I just got done transferring to a secondary fermenter after 9 days fermenting. When I took a reading it was showing about 1.020. Now initially when the yeast was activating it went nuts for about two days and then calmed down to eventually a bloop about every five minutes. Why does my hydrometer read at about 5% A/V. This is a hop stooped clone and I should have had about 1.007. I am dry hopping right now will my alcohol go up at all. Thanks for reading
low alcohol?
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BryceL
Well-Known Member
You probably could have left in primary for another week to see if the gravity would drop anymore. You really want to make sure fermentation is fully complete before transferring. At this point you will likely not see anymore drop in gravity since it's of the yeast now. 1.007 is pretty hard to reach if you are using extracts... at lot of times they will peter out around the 1.020 mark.
I didn't know that about extracts. I need to learn how to mash grains. 5% is a little on the light side.
TNTgill
Well-Known Member
Are you reading the hydrometer correctly. To measure abv you need to know your starting gravity then the finishing gravity. Do not use the alcohol scale on the hydrometer as it does not tell you how much alcohol is present.
Oh. Okay thanks I didn't know that either. So you you can't go by the readings on hydrometer for alcohol? I did take an original reading. There was lots of foam right away after the wort cooled and I couldn't get an accurate reading.
You could add a partial mash or adjuncts such as sugar.
Of course. To get a higher ABV beer, start with more extract.
If you aerate your wort thoroughly, use a big-ish yeast starter, and fresh (not canned) extract, you can oftentimes beat the "1.020 curse". I had a lot of extract beers stop at 1.020, but the beer still tasted great.
Not directly, no; the alcohol scale shows what the potential alcohol for the given specific gravity, if it were then to be fermented out completely to 1.000 exactly. This isn't very useful, in itself, except to show a maximum alcohol for a given wort from the original gravity.
What you would need to do to get the actual alcohol by volume is to take an original gravity reading on the alcohol scale, the subtract the final alcohol reading from that to get the change in alcohol content. However, it is just as easy to calculate the ABV from the specific gravity reading (especially if you are using one of the many ABV calculators available online), so few bother with the ABV scale.
SpaceManBrew
Member
You might get a few more points after the secondary. (maybe about 2)
Someone please correct me if I am wrong.. But, on your next brew you might try mashing at a slightly lower temp, 150-158 is the range. IMO I hate the 152/153 mark that alot of people shoot for, and is recommended. I did this a long time ago on the first few brews that I did and had the same problem getting past that 1.020 mark. Maybe its a coincidence, maybe its science, but ever since I started doing step mashes I haven't had this problem. Fermentable vs Non Fermentable sugars.
Thats my 2cents. If you are that worried about it, read up on putting Beano in the beer. (be careful with that!)
Someone please correct me if I am wrong.. But, on your next brew you might try mashing at a slightly lower temp, 150-158 is the range. IMO I hate the 152/153 mark that alot of people shoot for, and is recommended. I did this a long time ago on the first few brews that I did and had the same problem getting past that 1.020 mark. Maybe its a coincidence, maybe its science, but ever since I started doing step mashes I haven't had this problem. Fermentable vs Non Fermentable sugars.
Thats my 2cents. If you are that worried about it, read up on putting Beano in the beer. (be careful with that!)
BryceL
Well-Known Member
You're correct that a lower mash temp would help to achieve a lower FG, but the OP is using extracts, so that wont help him in this case.
And 152 mash temps should not result in fermentation petering out at 1.020 in any event unless you had a very high OG. I mash most of my brews at that range, have an OG of 1.050ish, and a FG of 1.008-1.010.
I'm thinking out loud, but would would happen if I added a little bit of priming sugar to the second fermentation even though I just dry hopped my beer last night. Say five oz. Then did it again with bottling a week later. Would I be creating an explosion? I'm still a little uneducated in this arena.
Adding 5 oz of sugar to a regular 5 gallon batch is not going to do much. That would add about 3 points of gravity to ferment out. That is not going to result in a noticeable increase in alcohol.
I would not add sugar. It will change the profile of the beer into something you did not intent (it will be much thinner).
You do not need to worry about bottle bombs if you let the sugar added to secondary ferment out. You would want to take a gravity reading before adding sugar and then wait until it was at least as low before bottling.
I would wait at least 2 weeks before racking to a secondary, especially if you're at 60F while fermenting. Just because airlock stopped bubbling doesn't mean that the yeast are finished. What was your OG?
TNTgill
Well-Known Member
That's not your OG. OG stands for original gravity or starting gravity (SG). Yesterday would be your final gravity or FG.
Okay my O.G. was around 1.040 it was hard to get exact there was a lot of foam
I have never had the 1.020 curse on extract. I may be wrong but i think if you even lightly scorch your extract that it might cause this. Make sure your flame is off when adding extract and only add about 1-2 lbs for the boil and the rest at flame out. Also make sure you stir it very well to get it fully dissolved. This will also help you get more accurate color.
Okay strange turn of events after I started second stage fermentation after bout three days it appears the yeast has started fermentation again. I am getting a bloop every 15 seconds. Should I allow this continue or should I stop it. In addition when a sec. Staged it I dry hopped it. Beer is an ale. It's a hoop stoopid clone. With a smack pack yeast ale
TNTgill
Well-Known Member
First of all secondary fermentation is a misnomer. All fermentation should be finished before moving to a secondary fermenter or clearing tank. It is possible it was not finished fermenting when you moved it and has started back up which is not a bad thing. You want it finished before bottling. The other option is it is just off gassing ( dissolved CO2 is coming out of solution). This is okay as well. You need to take readings with a hydrometer prior to bottling to make sure you don't have any bombs.
I hardly ever use a secondary fermenter. The only time I use is for extended aging (over 2 months). There is limited benefits to moving your beer around and could cause issues by doing so. I just leave my beer on primary for at least 2-3 weeks and then take my measurements and dry hop if necessary. If its finished after 2 stable measurements 2 to 3 days apart its ready to keg or bottle.
I hardly ever use a secondary fermenter. The only time I use is for extended aging (over 2 months). There is limited benefits to moving your beer around and could cause issues by doing so. I just leave my beer on primary for at least 2-3 weeks and then take my measurements and dry hop if necessary. If its finished after 2 stable measurements 2 to 3 days apart its ready to keg or bottle.
buzzen said:
No. You drink it.
wilson42203
Well-Known Member
+1 on drinking the sample. Tasting it while green will help you as your beer moves along in the aging process, however long or short that might be for you.
What was your recipe? 1.040 seems low...especially if you were expecting to have a beer higher in ABV and especially given this was a hop stoopid clone (which should have a much higher OG). If your OG was 1.040 and your FG is 1.020, you've got yourself a 2.6% ABV beer.
I'm thinking your OG is off - if you topped off with fresh water at the end of your boil it is difficult to get a good reading. However, given an extract recipe, it is pretty straight forward to figure out what your OG probably was. Did the recipe list an expected OG?
Your right I did top off with fressh water. The O.G. in the recipe was supposed to be 1.074
Assuming you followed the recipe and your volume measurements were accurate, your real OG was almost certainly closer to the expected 1.074 value. So, an FG of 1.020 is not so bad. You got ~73% apparent attenuation from the yeast, which is good, and you're looking at ~7% ABV.
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