ahaley

Recipes 

I was at 1.060 when I took my og, on the 6th now I'm at 1.004? Does that sound like I effed up my ipa, or are they usually that low of points?

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South Paw all day, every day.

old_tx_kbb

Recipes 

It will be very thin.

1.What was your mash temp?
2. What type of yeast was used ?
3. Did you use a starter?
4. How solid do you think you wort handling and sanitation skills are?(this is what I would look at, some type of contamination)

I had a Barleywine go down from an OG of 1.120 to 0.995 using WLP099 before....pure rocket fuel.....but that's a high gravity yeast....much different than a 1.060 OG

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ahaley

Recipes 

Ill have to look into my brew book for the mash and yeast type, ill update this post in a few minutes when I grab it.
1. My mash temp was 152 +/- a few degrees.
2. The yeast was dry, safale us-05
3. Ya I used a starter a little more than 12 hours before I brewed.
4. My sanitation and all that seem pretty solid, never had an infection yet :knock on wood:

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South Paw all day, every day.

Odin_Brews

Recipes 

You don't need a starter for dry yeast. Whether or not that would create a super yeast that munched your beer down to 1.004 or not, I don't know. Check your thermometer and make sure it's calibrated while youre at it.

slarkin712

Recipes 

I'd check that the hydrometer was calibrated correctly. Reading ~1.000 in water at 60F.

Xpertskir

Recipes 

Only 2 things I can think of is your thermometer is off, and you mashed much lower than you thought

Or

Probably more likely, an infection did some of the sugar eating. :crossed fingers:

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Kegged and serving - American Wheat, Daves Porter, Outkast Kolsch, Nectar of Nuggets
Bottled: French Canadian Breakfast Stout, Edworts Apfelwein, Westminster Wit, Put that in your stout and smoke it
Fermenting: Apfelwein, Flanders Red, Skeeter Pee, Heady Topper attempt #1, Kumquat Berliner Weiss, Sabraton Accident Stout, Nelson RyePA
Upcoming: Session IPA, Yeti eqsue stout, Dark English Mild, ESB, CDA, Row 2 Hill 56, Zombiedust, Hoppy Amber, Geuze, 100% Brett Golden Ale

ahaley

Recipes 

I hope my thermometer is off and it's not an infection! It taste good in the primary though! Hope for no infection?

Ill have to double check all my equipment now, how would I fix an off hydrometer? Buy a new one? And the thermometer I can calibrate it right?

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South Paw all day, every day.

Xpertskir

Recipes 

you can check your hydrometer in room temp water, the most common way these are messed up is the glue on the scale loosens and it slides down, no way to fix that.

most thermometers are not calibrateable.

__________________
Kegged and serving - American Wheat, Daves Porter, Outkast Kolsch, Nectar of Nuggets
Bottled: French Canadian Breakfast Stout, Edworts Apfelwein, Westminster Wit, Put that in your stout and smoke it
Fermenting: Apfelwein, Flanders Red, Skeeter Pee, Heady Topper attempt #1, Kumquat Berliner Weiss, Sabraton Accident Stout, Nelson RyePA
Upcoming: Session IPA, Yeti eqsue stout, Dark English Mild, ESB, CDA, Row 2 Hill 56, Zombiedust, Hoppy Amber, Geuze, 100% Brett Golden Ale

ahaley

Recipes 

Ok thanks ill try that, is there another tool I can get to get me gravity readings? I read that a refractometer is only good for the og?

In your opinion do you think that my ipa will be ruined if I have a sugar eating infection? I'm still going to bottle and hope for the best but what do you think?

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South Paw all day, every day.

duboman

Recipes 

The label on your hydrometer should tell you what temperature it was calibrated at, look and see because they are not all calibrated at 60F. Measure distilled water at that temperature and it should read 1.000. Tap water will be pretty close as well. If it is off make note of the difference and you will either add or subtract that amount every time you take a reading.

Your hydrometer reading then needs to be temperature corrected depending on the temperature of the wort/beer you are testing

For your thermometer, fill a glass of ice water and it should read 32F, then boil water and depending on location it should read 212F. Any differences should be noted and readings get adjusted the same. If you can accurately get a reading at 150-152F, that would be ideal as well since that is a standard mash temp.

If you mashed low then your wort was more fermentable and will generate a lower FG. Conversely if you mash high then you get a less fermentable wort and higher FG.

If you have reached 1.004 and it continues to drop then it is possible you have an infection that is chewing through the less fermentable sugars, if it is stable then it shouldn't be an issue

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