Final Gravity Readings

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bretrob73

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I've just brewed my first 3 batches in about 4 years.

I've been monitoring the temps and kept them all between 24 and 28 degrees.

The three of them all seemed to have a final gravity of 1020.

Most the threads i'm reading, and past brews i've made, seem to drop to the 1005 - 1010 mark.

Is there something i'm doing wrong here? All Morgan kit brews using 1kg DME.

Cheers.
 
How are you measuring it? Hydrometer or refractometer? If the latter, you will need to make an adjustment. I have a chart if you need it, or brewing software such as BeerSmith3 will do it for you.

Kits and 1kg DME will generally finish lower than a 100% AG brew. We really need to know more details:
Your measured SG. Which yeast did you use? How many grams if it was dry yeast? Just sprinkled on top or rehydrated? How did you oxygenate your brew prior to pitching? What temperature did you ferment at?
 
I've been monitoring the temps and kept them all between 24 and 28 degrees.

That's way too hot, you're almost in Kveik territory, I'm not familiar with Morgan kits but would assume they supply a dried ale yeast, and most ale yeasts are happy at 18-20, with 21-22 at the end of fermentation for a bit of a clean up

The three of them all seemed to have a final gravity of 1020.

Were they all the same kit? and what was it? Use by/best before date? This might effect the viability of the yeast, especially if it's been sat on a shelf in a warm shop for a while, and kit manufacturers tend to be skinny with the quantity of yeast they supply, a good idea when using kits is to bin the supplied yeast and buy a packet from the fridge, if the LHBS is any good they'll be able to advise which one

Most the threads i'm reading, and past brews i've made, seem to drop to the 1005 - 1010 mark.

Nope, the fg is dependant on many factors, there's no magic number to strive for, eg: you'll never get an Imperial stout anywhere near 1010 (yeh ok it can be done but I'm going kiss here) attenuation of the yeast strain and unfermentables in the wort play a large part in your fg.

Is there something i'm doing wrong here? All Morgan kit brews using 1kg DME.

I have to disagree (a little bit) with philrob^, a kit with a kilo of sugar will almost certainly finish lower than AG because the sugar is 100% fermentable, but sub in DME and that changes things, not all DME is created equal and the cheaper stuff especially has a lot of unfermentables, and unfermentables in the wort = higher fg, they also give "mouthfeel" however, and can aid in head retention, so not necessarily undesirable.



Cheers.
 

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