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Notty Attenuation

Northern Brewer General
#1

I brewed an Irish Red 5/26. (NB’s 3-gal BIAB) Mash was 152ºF, Pretty much nailed the OG (1.045) despite being ~1/2 gal over volume. Pitched re-hydrated Notty yeast, and kegged today. FG reads 0.998! I’m thinking Ohhhh Fuuuuuu-dge. But despite being more than 10 points lower than expected there is no sign of infection. According to the log, it’s been stable for a week. I guess it’s just a VERY dry Irish Red.

It’s my first brew with the new hydrometer, (Tilt) so I checked it before using, and it read 1.001 in 60ºF tap water 15 minutes before dropping it in the fermenter. I could believe the OG reading was too high since it was over-volume, and I could believe the FG reading was too low, but not BOTH.

So assuming the beer is healthy, all I can say is that was some hungry yeast! I know they claimed it was highly attenuating, but Dayum!

#2

I’ve never gotten that low with Nottingham. BTW my Tilt got stuck at 0.9ish for a while when I shook my fermenter

#3

That is impressive… And the tilt seems to be a good tool then… Perhaps a future purchase when the sales are on? Sneezles61

#4

Did you check the Tilt against a hydrometer?

Odd that you would mash at 152 and still get such a low final gravity.

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#5

I know, right? I’ve added pounds of simple sugar to wort, and not gotten that low.

0.998 screams infection or botched hydrometer reading, and I don’t think it’s infection. There’s just no other evidence of infection; I would have expected an impressive pellicle before a beer hit 0.998.

I guess I have to read up on Tilt calibration. Maybe compare it against the old hydrometer.

#6

So then fill up your hydrometer flask, let it sit on the counter over night to degas, the put the hydrometer in there and read it… If its not at exactly 60*, say 70* it’ll be close enough to tell… With the crystal malt, there should be residual sugars that just wont/don’t ferment… Sneezles61

#7

I would suspect the Tilt hydrometer before an infection. I think they are good at measuring delta gravity (OG–>FG) but aren’t dead-on accurate. For my current brew I am using a coworker’s husband’s Tilt Hydrometer. Before adding yeast I measured the SG using a standard hydrometer; it read 1.098 (adjusted for temp). I dropped the Tilt in after adding the yeast starter. I decanted most of the spent wort off the starter first so it didn’t add too much volume. About an hour later I checked and the tilt read 1.092. That’s 0.006 lower than my hydrometer. So even allowing for the addition of the starter and the possibility I misread my hydrometer, I think the Tilt was no less than 4 points low. When primary fermentation is complete I’ll do a side-by-side gravity measurement. And next brew, assuming I still have it, I’ll do a side-by-side comparison post-boil.

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#8

I enjoy having a puzzle to solve from time to time… I like how your testing one to another to find the difference…
Now, I’m holding off on getting a tilt… I’ll be looking forward findings! Sneezles61

#9

I see this has evolved into a discussion about the tilt hydrometer but back to notty attenuation. I only used it a couple times and it seemed to take a long time and finish high so I stopped using it. Surprised with your results

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#10

Sorry… Sneezles61

#11

Same here, my limited experience with it suggested it _under_attenuated, like stopping @1.018 with a TFG of 1.011.

#12

A couple updates.
First the Irish Red, It’s been in the keg for almost a week, so we tapped it. It definitely attenuated a whole lot, and definitely was not infected. NO off flavors, or souring. Nice maleness, but not that hint of caramel-sweetness. I bit too dry, but it doesn’t taste like it’s 0.998 though. I could totally believe 1.008 though.

So I attempted my experiment today. Instead of a simple syrup though, I made another beer. (De Belge Farmhouse IPA, 3-gal if anyone cares.) I brew BIAB kits, but my process is more like the standard cooler-based mash tun, with a batch sparge.

So I compared the Tilt to my glass hydrometer using

  1. Tap water - exact match: 1.001
  2. First Runnings - Close enough: hydrometer 1.081 vs Tilt 1.080
  3. Second Runnings - Fail I didn’t save enough so the Tilt didn’t float
  4. OG in the fermenter. – This is where it gets interesting.

When I put the beer in the fermenter, in the basement, It read 10 points lower than what I measured with the glass hydrometer. glass:1.064, Tilt:1.054.

Here’s what I put together… When I set up the tilt, and when I did all the experimentation, I was using the App on my phone, BUT when I put the beer in the the fermenter (a 7.1cu ft chest freezer) I have a Raspberry pi running TiltPi. When I double-checked the calibration all the data was missing. As it turns out, the calibration info is stored in the APP, NOT the device itself!! My phone has the data points, but the TiltPi does not. All my readings that matched were on the phone, while all the readings from the Raspberry Pi are 10 points off.

So that’s the answer. The Tilt works fine BUT you need to do calibrations using the exact instance of the app that you intend to use for tracking the fermentation. That AND really attenuated Notty.

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#13

So what is the gravity reading of the red now using the phone app?

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