Low OG and Low FG=expected ABV

[pgraham5870]

Hi all,

First time brewer here, and I bottled some Pacific NW Pale from Brewcraft. After experiencing some problems (a 2000-word manifesto about how it all went down here via DropBox: https://www.dropbox.com/s/cllxot73kjv86fj/PostBrew1.docx) but nothing major, I found that my OG was lower than expected.. 1.044 vs. expected 1.051, I thought I'd get some weak sauce. As it turns out, when I racked my beer into the bottling vessel, I smelled a potent product. I measured the FG, and *$#& if I wasn't surprised I found that the expected FG of 1.011 was taken all the way down to 1.004. Welp, that equals the expected ABV of 5.33%.. Wha happen?? Clearly, the yeast ate everything. Thoughts?

Patrick Graham
Charleston, SC

 

[Calypso]

Having just gone through a similar discussion, the first thing people are going to to suggest is that your hydrometer is off (the paper inside the glass can literally slip). So, have you tested your hydrometer in pure water to see if it reads 1.000?

 

[pgraham5870]

Yep. First thing I did: Blame The Tools. Washed out the hydrometer vessel, gushed in some tap water, spun it twice, and it read 1.000. I will say this, I did have to spin it many times to make sure I was reading it right at 1.004...I couldn't believe it.

 

[rodwha]

And reads 1.000 at the temperature it specifies.

Did you use any honey or sugar in your beer?

 

[pgraham5870]

@Calypso Go Blue, BTW...

 

[Calypso]

@Calypso Go Blue, BTW...

Wooh! Hail to the Victors!

 

[pgraham5870]

@rodwha This was an extract batch, if that's what you mean..sorry, I'm being dumb, this was my first one.

 

[rodwha]

Certainly not dumb, and being new to it all it can't necessarily be expected of you to think of being more informative.

Honey and sugars really ferment out. I use a free online calculator, and when I use either my FG reading ends up several points lower than expected and so I was wondering if you used anything like that in your beer.

Also wondering if you adjusted your gravity reading for the potential temperature difference. Mine reads 0 when it's at 68* and so if my beer is at 74* I need to adjust my reading accordingly for the difference.

 

[Shred]

Something doesn't add up if this was extract. Extract brews should pretty much have exactly the estimated OG as they have a known amount of fermentables. I also don't know of any yeast that can take a beer down to 1.004. Sounds like an equipment or temperature adjustment problem.

 

[pgraham5870]

Long story short (for the long story scroll up for the beginning of the thread), I did indeed have a problem with temperature on the initial reading...I couldn't read it at 68, but I read the OG at a few degrees higher, 79 to be exact...the gravity calculator kicked it up a little to 1.044...

 

[rodwha]

And the FG reading temp?

 

[pgraham5870]

It was probably 72 or 73 degrees for FG...