Munich malt FG??

[thaefathan]

I just made a pale ale, all northern brewer hops, 50/50 two row and munich with S-04 yeast slurry. The hydrometer is about 1.019 in the beer, but then I filled up the cylinder with water, and that was at about 1.004. (Beer and the water are both about 60F, which is what the hydrometer is calibrated for... supposedly)

Could I just call the FG 1.015? Does munich malt ferment dry? I've never used it before.

The other thought is that I didn't have enough O2, didn't make a starter, and probably didn't pitch enough slurry, I pitched about 4oz.

The OG was measured at 1.058, fyi.

Annnnd, the reason for making this was to see if the hops had gone bad. I've never used NB hops before though, so what should I look for to tell if they went bad or not? They smell nice

Thanks guys.

 

[Bosh]

What kind of Munich? Dark? Ligh? What company?

 

[thaefathan]

Great western malting, 10L munich (pretty sure)

 

[ChelisHubby]

THe yeast is what controls wether or not it ferments dry and your yeast will not do that ! You might of under pitched on the yeast but you should be fine if you can control the temps while fermenting the first 5 days. I would try to have 66 to 68 if it is possible. WHy did you fill the cylinder with water, it just destroys any decision making value. Let it ferment for 2 weeks and then see what you have for gravity and then check it 2 days later as it should be the final gravity if the 2 checks are the same. if the hops smell good you have no worries there.

 

[Kent88]

This is all off the top of my head, take it for what it is worth.

I think typical styles that use a lot of munich malt do finish a bit high, but I think that is usually because they have a high OG. Something that started at 1.058 should finish a bit lower than 1.019. It should even be a bit lower than 1.015.

What was the mash schedule like? Can you do a forced ferment test?

Someone more experienced with hydrometer calibration will have to help you with that, but to me it seems like yours might be significantly off. Not sure if you can subtract it off like that.

 

[Sillybilly]

You would subtract 4 gravity points IF you checked your hydrometer with distilled water. Just a side note as I dont think it would really be a concern, but if your hydrometer was warmer or cooler than 60*, you should allow it some time to ensure that the hydrometer itself equalizes to 60*.

 

[jerbrew]

1.015 wouldn't be surprising. That's about 73% attenuation. Fermentis reports 75% which is an average and can vary depending on mashing temps and fermentation conditions. If you're going to adjust your hydro readings for an offset you should test at least two points (not entirely necessary but I would advise it). distilled water (1.000) and something on the higher end, say 1.060. That way you know whether or not the offset is the same as you increase your gravity.

 

[thaefathan]

Well, I checked the tap water at exactly 60F. Its not distilled, but I gave the hydrometer over an hour to acclimate, and it reads at 1.006. I'm curious what distilled water would be. I'll check the beer again, whenever I tap it.

The mash schedule was 150F for one hour, then kind of a fly sparge (scooping pitchers of water on top of the grain as the wort ran out into the kettle) the sparge water was at 170F-ish when I started, but it of course cooled off as the 20+ min sparge went on.

I guess I could/should do a forced ferm test, that seems like the best way to know. Even though the numbers are off on my hydrometer, the tool should float lower if the forced ferment actually drops the gravity further.

Its been on my brewing todo list for a while to make sugar solutions and calibrate my refractometer and hydrometer. A couple brews ago I compared them side by side, and they were very close. I guess its possible the paper in the hydrometer moved.

thanks for all the feedback

 

[Sillybilly]

Are you checking FG with your refractometer and getting 1.019? Although I personally never use mine for FG, the alcohol skews the reading so you have to make your own correction curve to convert the displayed reading to the actual (search refractometer FG correction). Just for fun, i checked a beer with FG around 1.012 and the refractometer was reading like 1.030. I would check your hydrometer in distilled water, that takes away all the variables in your tap water affecting your reading, you could even first try with bottled water to see if that changes it, but distilled water would be better.