Need Beer God Help

[usastman]

Guys,

I have had some issues with ending up with high FG on my BIAB brews.

I had a couple of brews where the mash temp was too high (doggy thermometer) - I think this caused me to have extra non fermentable sugars (I think) causing the FG to be high.

I got a new thermometer and mashed at 65%. SG was about 55 - but FG only got down to 20.

I have generally upped my grain bill - so that is effeciency is off I still get a wort with decent SG.

I have not added any salts to my mash? I am using good quality yeasts and always do a good yeast starter.

Not being able to get a decent FG is worrying me a bit. If I start with a SG of 1055 and end up with a FG of about 1020 - I would expect to have a lighter alcohol brew - but brew seems to be quite strong.

I believed that gravity gives you an indication of the sugars in the wort. Is the fact I am using 25% more grain to mash affecting the result?

Any help would be appreciated.

Cheers Peter

 

[Steve@PMF82]

Have you checked your Hydrometer?
Check it in water at what ever temp it is calibrated for.

 

[cdbrown]

Strange that it's not attenuating like you expect, stranger that you think the brew is strong. What gives you that impression?

Tried testing the hydrometer in water to make sure it's reading 1.000?

 

[usastman]

Strange that it's not attenuating like you expect, stranger that you think the brew is strong. What gives you that impression?

Tried testing the hydrometer in water to make sure it's reading 1.000?

I have checked my hydrometer - 1.000 with water.

Thoughts on strength are based on my drunkeness and my hangover.

Just can't work it out - mash seems good and gravity at level I want - but just not fermenting out to good FG.

Wondering if salt content in mash would help or maybe using yeast nutrient to assist with fermentation?

 

[bconnery]

Guys,

I have had some issues with ending up with high FG on my BIAB brews.

I had a couple of brews where the mash temp was too high (doggy thermometer) - I think this caused me to have extra non fermentable sugars (I think) causing the FG to be high.

I got a new thermometer and mashed at 65%. SG was about 55 - but FG only got down to 20.

I have generally upped my grain bill - so that is effeciency is off I still get a wort with decent SG.

I have not added any salts to my mash? I am using good quality yeasts and always do a good yeast starter.

Not being able to get a decent FG is worrying me a bit. If I start with a SG of 1055 and end up with a FG of about 1020 - I would expect to have a lighter alcohol brew - but brew seems to be quite strong.

I believed that gravity gives you an indication of the sugars in the wort. Is the fact I am using 25% more grain to mash affecting the result?

Any help would be appreciated.

Cheers Peter

There are all sorts of factors that could be affecting your attenuation.
Firstly, you say you got a new thermometer, but did you calibrate it? If it wasn't right then you still could be mashing higher than you think?

You'd also need to provide some details about your grain bill(s). It might be that the recipe you are using would expect to finish a little higher.
The yeast choice can play a part, some yeasts will cause a beer to finish high unless you adjust your mash temp accordingly.
Also the temp you ferment your chosen yeast at can have an effect.

I don't think BIAB results in a higher FG beer by default but I really don't know about that part.

55 - 20 still means about something around a 4.5% beer so it isn't weak.
Using more grain will affect your starting gravity but whether it affects your finishing gravity will depend on factor such as grain bill, temp , yeasts etc.

So, not many answers per se but to really get the basis of your problem some more detail is needed.

Last, and perhaps least likely but worth checking, have you checked your hydrometer, and are you adjusting for temperature of your sample when measuring?

Edit: salts and other brewing chemistry could play a part. I'd expect them to play a part in your efficiency being way off if the chemistry of your water was way off base though. Are you using tap water? rain water? filtering?

 

[usastman]

Tap water - I live in Melbourne.

I went briefly to a brew demo on the weekend - stuck my head in and the instructor talked about the addition of salts affected/assisted the yeast process.

 

[bconnery]

Tap water - I live in Melbourne.

I went briefly to a brew demo on the weekend - stuck my head in and the instructor talked about the addition of salts affected/assisted the yeast process.

Well yes it certainly can, but so can a lot of things.
For example I don't do much beyond an addition of 5.2 stabiliser for water chemistry unless I am looking for a particular profile, and sometimes I even forget that, and I don't have issues with my FG.
Now my water is different to Melbourne water so I'm not saying that's the answer, but I personally would look first to grain bills, yeast choice and temperature, and also checking the thermometer, before I went into brewing salts.

The answer could be any of these, or even something we haven't discussed yet...

 

[tavas]

Are you compensating for temperature when you take your hydrometer readings?

 

[malt_shovel]

Guys,

I have had some issues with ending up with high FG on my BIAB brews.

I had a couple of brews where the mash temp was too high (doggy thermometer) - I think this caused me to have extra non fermentable sugars (I think) causing the FG to be high.

I got a new thermometer and mashed at 65%. SG was about 55 - but FG only got down to 20.

I have generally upped my grain bill - so that is effeciency is off I still get a wort with decent SG.

I have not added any salts to my mash? I am using good quality yeasts and always do a good yeast starter.

Not being able to get a decent FG is worrying me a bit. If I start with a SG of 1055 and end up with a FG of about 1020 - I would expect to have a lighter alcohol brew - but brew seems to be quite strong.

I believed that gravity gives you an indication of the sugars in the wort. Is the fact I am using 25% more grain to mash affecting the result?

Any help would be appreciated.

Cheers Peter

Are you using a refractometer to measure your FG? If so, I remember a similar post whereby the brewer was using a refractometer for measuring the FG without the appropriate corrections for alcohol content. I don't use a refractometer, so maybe someone will chip in with the appropriate knowledge to help if this indeed is the same problem here, otherwise do a quick search online as there appears to be tools for performing the correction.

If you are using a hydrometer, then not too much else to add to other posts.

Cheers
:beer:

 

[usastman]

I am using a refractometer.

Comments are great. I just would expect FG to drop down below 1.020.

Was brewing the Smurtons golden ale.

 

[WarmBeer]

Tap water - I live in Melbourne.

I went briefly to a brew demo on the weekend - stuck my head in and the instructor talked about the addition of salts affected/assisted the yeast process.

Our water here is pretty low in Calcium. Calcium assists the enzymes during the conversion process. It's only anecdotal based on my small sample size, but I got an increase of about 5% efficiency by adding a teaspoon of Gypsum to my mash. Have a search for an article "Key Concepts in Water Treatment" by Tony Wheeler, it gives some good lay-person advice, and is Melbourne specific.

Other than that, I suggest you perform a calibration test to check that your thermometer is reading true. Mine was out by roughly 5 degrees, so when I thought I was mashing at 68, I was really at 73, denaturing a lot of the alpha amylase, leading to very dextrinous wort.

Edit: FYI, my last brew was a Smurto's Golden Ale, FG was 1.014.

 

[usastman]

I will check my thermometer - I am ussuming thatyou do this with a iced water?

 

[mxd]

I am using a refractometer.

Comments are great. I just would expect FG to drop down below 1.020.

Was brewing the Smurtons golden ale.

R U using the refactometer for fermenting ?

If so then you need to convert from using the OG e.g. 1:055 and the current (pluto) to get the real value.

 

[WarmBeer]

I will check my thermometer - I am ussuming thatyou do this with a iced water?

You need to check it against two known temperature values.

Firstly, boiling water at sea level will read 100 degrees. Just dip the end in a pot of boiling water.
Secondly, an ice/water slurry. This should read pretty close to 0 degrees.

These two measurements are what the Celcius system was based on, rather than the Fahrenheit system which is based on fairy dust and the air-speed velocity of unladen European sparrow, or some such.

There is a third data point

For accurate calibration regardless of altitude.

Stick it up your butt and see if it reads true 37 degrees :lol:

If your thermometer reads pretty close to these, you can have a good degree (pardon the pun) of confidence that your thermometer is reading true. For our homebrew purposes, this is probably good enough.

 

[felten]

salts can definitely help with Melbourne water, check this article out.

 

[Bribie G]

At the risk of causing you more expense I'd look at getting a "guaranteed doesn't need calibrating" stick thermometer like the ones sold by sponsors and use that for your mash readings. Especially with BIAB where we don't get heat pockets due to the thin mash, they work great and are a good backstop even if you already have replaced your thermometer.

 

[Lecterfan]

These two measurements are what the Celcius system was based on, rather than the Fahrenheit system which is based on fairy dust and the air-speed velocity of unladen European sparrow, or some such.

My post is completely OT but I would have to say that comment has made my day :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

(snip)

I don't think BIAB results in a higher FG beer by default but I really don't know about that part.

55 - 20 still means about something around a 4.5% beer so it isn't weak.
Using more grain will affect your starting gravity but whether it affects your finishing gravity will depend on factor such as grain bill, temp , yeasts etc.

BIAB doesn't naturally result in higher FG beer. One of the first things I did, when I got confident with BIAB process was to play around with Mash Temp to get the desired result. I've had a dark ale at FG 1.023 and a SMaSH at 1.004 - all deliberately by changing mash temp. The former I wanted a syrupy warm winter beer, and the latter I wanted a dry-er, fizzy, thinner beer. google is your friend on this issue (as it was mine)!

If you want a hungrier yeast (as a 35 point drop, assuming temp for both measurements is the same, isn't huge), Nottingham is a good'un. I've had it eat through over 50 points of sugary goodness, and it has a neutral flavour. The resulting beer was yummy and 7%. Not a session beer, but so flavoursome.

Hope this helps, just my rather humble experience.

Goomba

 

[Nick JD]

What yeast are you using?

 

[usastman]

I used Wyeast American Ale