Final Gravity TOO LOW?!

[billl]

"
PS. Thoughts on the clear bottles....? Fine when not exposed to UV light?"

Theoretically, fine. In practice, toss something over them to minimize exposure.

In practice, with extra fun..... drink some beer that comes in brown bottles and resuse them. It's a tough job, but someone has to do it.

 

[GilSwillBasementBrews]

"
drink some beer that comes in brown bottles and resuse them. It's a tough job, but someone has to do it.

It's called research and development for future brews!!!!!!

 

[berucha]

The thinking in the last few years I've been homebrewing is to totally skip the secondary...

Well I thought about that before this forum was created, even before the internet was commercialized and even 10 years before John Palmer wrote his book with some mistakes in it (not talking about typo!). And believe it or not some people did think about that before me and even sometime centuries before!

And it is true it makes no difference. If you don't have the knowledge to make a difference. If you don't master the biochemical reactions in the fermentation process, it does not make a difference. I am telling you that you can improve your beer by using a secondary fermenter. You don't have to believe me and you can continue to learn the same things you have on this forum for the last 7 years.

... leaving the beer in the fermenter for at least 3 days after FG is reached. (Sort of a diacetyl rest at the end of primary).

Ya Kinda sorta diacetyl rest.

So, for you to come into the forum and talk about "secondary"(more properly called a bright tank)

Sorry to have dare to introduce different opinions than the official forum thinking. But you seem more preoccupied of how you named things than how they work. And sorry I don't speak your blog world language.

To get a 1.003 out of a full extract batch is almost impossible, if you listen to the extract manufacturers (and all the experience that many of us have).

And giving all that experience nobody was able to achieve a beer with FG of 1.003? Well that might be it then. I don't listen to manufacturers unless they are giving me technical information on the chemistry of their product. Start with a dry extract malt with OG of 1.033 and get 30 degree attenuation, you could get a 4.5% alc. after botteling (putting beer in bottle, you still call that botteling don't you?).

Again, we're off topic here, and from now on all off-topic posts will be removed

I though that making beer was the topic here????? It is not because some people begins that we must over simplify everything. They might not understand every words I wrote but some are craving for knowledge and they can search on the subject afterwards. I don't think I gave bad or very complicated advice and you can contradict me but saying that something is so just because that is the trend now does not sound very scientific to me. And beer is a bit of art but a lot of science. But you know what I think, you are pretty rude and I was just trying to help and share my experience and knowledge (that BTW was not acquired from this blog). So you seem to have a lot of power here and since I don't feel that welcomed (scaring possible recruit for your sect with word like "secondary" instead of the forum fashionable "bright tank").

 

[Shred]

Jeez, Brew Dog. You show up with your first post and an all-out war starts! Who knew gravity readings could be so controversial?

 

[Brew-Dog]

Even though there are some differing opinions, I'm sure we can all play nice. We all have the same goals in mind.

Jeez, Brew Dog. You show up with your first post and an all-out war starts! Who knew gravity readings could be so controversial?

 

[chickypad]

If you don't have the knowledge to make a difference. If you don't master the biochemical reactions in the fermentation process, it does not make a difference. I am telling you that you can improve your beer by using a secondary fermenter.

berucha I mean this as an honest question in good faith, have you done head to head comparisons yourself given that you have such an adamant stance? For instance split a batch, do one with your usual secondary technique and one with the same total time but all of it in primary. No cheating - same pitch rates, control of fermentation temps, etc. Then package and do a blind tasting.

It sounds like you're under the assumption that most of us who have abandoned secondary don't understand the theory behind it, and haven't tried it ourselves. We get it, we've tried it, and we've proven to ourselves that in our hands using a secondary makes no difference in the final product. Biochemical reactions like reduction of diacetyl happen regardless of what vessel the beer is in. We've shown that yeast autolysis isn't an issue on the homebrew scale if you have healthy yeast and a healthy fermentation.

If YOU get better results with a secondary, great. What has folks riled up is the blanket statements that we don't know what we're talking about.

Maybe we should all RDWHAHB!

 

[Brew-Dog]

I figured I'd give a little update.

I took a gravity reading tonight and once again, it showed up as 1.008. However, I checked the calibration of the hydrometer and it was indeed off by about 0.004 (I could have sworn it was at 1.000 the last time I checked). Therefore, my final gravity IS actually 1.012. I'm feeling pretty happy about that.

I also couldn't resist taking a big whiff and tasting a sample. There was definitely a banana aroma present but it wasn't overpowering and was very pleasant. However, I was afraid that the banana flavour would be too strong. To my surprise it was barely noticeable and mostly only present in the aroma. Even though it was flat and obviously green, it tasted fantastic! Even had a nice mouthfeel. I think the grains really helped.

The Weihenstephan yeast is awesome. It went crazy for the first few days (had to attach a blow-off) and I also under-pitched, but it came out amazing in the end. It definitely has that Weihenstephaner flavour.

I'm very happy with how this is shaping up, especially since it's my first brew. Can't wait to bottle on Sunday. Thanks again for all the input everybody.