ok, I made a Belgian blonde ale, I have made this before and it came out wonderfully. I got the recipe from Brewer’s friend.
I brewed 7 days ago, the SG was 1.063, which was right on the recipe.
The SG is now 1.012
The recipe calls for FG to be at 1.017
So: the facts… I used Safale T-58 with a starter for the 5 gal extract batch
It was a bit warm this week, but maybe low 70’s
I used a wine thief to get the samples from the carboy.
Even when I temperature correct the SG it gets to 1.014
Testes fine, smells fine.
So how can my batch be lower SG only after only 7 days?
So: My initial thought is that … don’t worry about it, have it sit for another week, then keg, you can wait, it will beer.
However this was double-batch brew day, so I could have screwed something up. I am open to other suggestions.
Apparently, the “fermentables” where a bit more fermentable…
Yeast was just a bit more “hungry” and ate up more than before…
Erased this sentence… I didn’t read the opening very well…
If I give it more time… we could get a few more to ponder…
Now if it stalled at say 1.025… or down to .998… We’d have a different conversation…
I think you made… Beer!
Sneezles61
What was your mash temperature? I’m not surprised a spicy Belgian yeast is at 1.012. I’d be more surprised if it was at 1.017 actually but I guess from Milkthefunk T-58 is just a so-so attenuator
FG in recipes are estimates at best. You are getting better attenuation than what the recipe expected. Nothing to worry about unless your gravity drops closer to 1.000.
Ya my gravity readings almost never match the recipe “estimates”. You sound like you are pretty close, and I assume you have faith in your hydrometer accuracy and scale the reading according to temperature of the beer you are testing , oh yes you said that above ( I can sometimes find a fraction here when I am testing). Reminds me I need to buy yet another hydrometer. I can’t believe how many of these I have broken over the past couple of years.
You made a starter with dry yeast ? Maybe like Sneezles said, you had a kick ass batch of yeast feeding in there. I never made a starter with dry yeast … and never “hydrated” it either. I may need to try that on the next big beer I do.
Almost all my beers go lower than the projected gravity. I never really gave it much thought actually. To me a few points is just a given with my gear.
I do a “low-effort starter”… as I am gathering ingredients, I get some water at 68 degrees, put in a glass with a tablespoon of sugar. The yeast takes off… makes be fee better,
That sort of bread started is frowned upon for making beer as it is not necessary and general considered a net loss of yeast viability due to osmotic stress. “In order to maintain an appropriate cell volume and a ratio of free to bound water favorable for biochemical reactions, the water activity of the cytosol and its organelles has to be lower than that of the surrounding medium.”
So in my last batches… I’m putting brews on a yeast cake… works good… just a bit more planning and process to pull it off… Not too big a deal considering the pay off… Now, that was Brew Cats idea… And it works very well… BUT… To kick off the “series”… I’ve pulled about 4 oz wort out, just before the boil, cool it down to room temp, tear open the dry yeast packet dump it in… I’ll mix it up a few times… That seems to work just fine.
Sneezles61
