ABV% Question

OK, I just brewed my second All Grain batch ever (see Lagunitas IPA post) and I am extremely happy but have some doubts.....

My OG was: 1.059

Its been 3 days, I brewed Saturday night...
my SG today is; 1.005

That means I am already above 6% ABV in less than 3 days, I have brewed many times and I have never had my beer ferment this fast or gain that much alcohol in the first 72 hours ....is that possible or do you think my readings are flawed somewhere...

And to think I was super worried that my airlock wasn't going crazy.....guess it goes to show, just leave it alone.

`yes like you said leave it alone, but i do know there are some Pale ales out there with the right temps and right yeast you can ferment them in 3 days i have never tried this.

That final gravity strikes me as pretty low, did you use any sugars or anything in the grain build?

That is a real dry finish, was your mash temp low (145-150)? Overpitching and/or higher fermentation temp can lead to very fast fermentation and a "dryer" beer. What was your yeast pitch rate?

ShaineT said:

That is a real dry finish, was your mash temp low (145-150)? Overpitching and/or higher fermentation temp can lead to very fast fermentation and a "dryer" beer. What was your yeast pitch rate?

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My mash temp was 150 degrees. I added a 1% alcohol booster (sugar) i had laying around from an Austin homebrew kit I had awhile back. I added it in the last 10 minutes of the boil.

jhart94949 said:

My mash temp was 150 degrees. I added a 1% alcohol booster (sugar) i had laying around from an Austin homebrew kit I had awhile back. I added it in the last 10 minutes of the boil.

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Oops I meant my sparge was 150 degrees, I kept my....I heated water up to 150 let my grains soak for 90 minutes then made up another 4 gallons of sparge water at 150. Brought wort to a rolling boil and went to town

jhart94949 said:

Oops I meant my sparge was 150 degrees, I kept my....I heated water up to 150 let my grains soak for 90 minutes then made up another 4 gallons of sparge water at 150. Brought wort to a rolling boil and went to town

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If you mashed you grains in 150 degree water, it's quite possible that your mash temp was 140. Did you check your mash temperature?

Well unless I am mistaken any time you add sugar you will get a higher ABV and a dryer, thinner beer unless it was accounted for in the recipe.

What temperature was the wort when fermenting. Hotter will go faster and not necessarily better. I use a fermentation chamber and most of my beers ferment actively for 5 days or more.

Yooper said:

If you mashed you grains in 150 degree water, it's quite possible that your mash temp was 140. Did you check your mash temperature?

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No , I added the grains to the water in a pre heated cooler stirred and shut the lid.....never opened it again for 90 minutes. ( I did bring the water up to about 155 do to the fact it would loose some heat in the transfer and from the grains I figured.

kh54s10 said:

Well unless I am mistaken any time you add sugar you will get a higher ABV and a dryer, thinner beer unless it was accounted for in the recipe.

What temperature was the wort when fermenting. Hotter will go faster and not necessarily better. I use a fermentation chamber and most of my beers ferment actively for 5 days or more.

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It fermented in a plastic pale in my basement....it was a little warm....77 degrees.

jhart94949 said:

No , I added the grains to the water in a pre heated cooler stirred and shut the lid.....never opened it again for 90 minutes. ( I did bring the water up to about 155 do to the fact it would loose some heat in the transfer and from the grains I figured.

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Remember that the grains may drop the water temperature 11+ degrees. If you want to mash at 150, then the water is typically quite a bit warmer. I preheat my MLT and still use 165 degree water to mash at 152.

I think you mashed very long (90 minutes!) and very cool (below 148 degrees) and have a super attenuative wort due to the mash favoring beta amylase. Remember that it's MASH temperature that is crucial, not the temperature of the water that you use!

Yooper said:

Remember that the grains may drop the water temperature 11+ degrees. If you want to mash at 150, then the water is typically quite a bit warmer. I preheat my MLT and still use 165 degree water to mash at 152.

I think you mashed very long (90 minutes!) and very cool (below 148 degrees) and have a super attenuative wort due to the mash favoring beta amylase. Remember that it's MASH temperature that is crucial, not the temperature of the water that you use!

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Good call, I tasted it and it was VERY sweet. I bet that was it.....so how messed up is my beer going to be??? Besides it is high in alcohol (not complaining).

jhart94949 said:

Good call, I tasted it and it was VERY sweet. I bet that was it.....so how messed up is my beer going to be??? Besides it is high in alcohol (not complaining).

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Maybe lots of esters (banana aroma and flavor) .. also some fusel alcohols which can lend to bad hangovers. I know much of my learning was from trial and error then finding ways to overcome the next brew day, best way to learn really. If it tastes ok to you then don't worry and enjoy, then try for better mash temps next time and maybe a way to lower fermentation temps. A tub of water and rotating frozen 2 liter bottles will do wonders. There are some great mash calculators out there, Brewer's Friend, BrewToad, Brew365, etc. You put in your info and they will give you your strike water temperature to use.

kh54s10 said:

Well unless I am mistaken any time you add sugar you will get a higher ABV and a dryer, thinner beer unless it was accounted for in the recipe.

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Adding sugar does raise the ABV but shouldn't affect the FG at all (since all the sugar ferments out). It will only make for a drier beer if you remove some malt to keep the O.G. the same.

hvjackson said:

Adding sugar does raise the ABV but shouldn't affect the FG at all (since all the sugar ferments out[...]

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Ethanol has a specific gravity below 1, so a fully fermenting addition will indeed affect the FG by driving it lower...

Cheers!

day_trippr said:

Ethanol has a specific gravity below 1, so a fully fermenting addition will indeed affect the FG by driving it lower...

Cheers!

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Ok, technically you're right. But it will be a very small change, probably not measurable with a hydrometer (increasing the ABV with sucrose by 1%pt will lower the FG by something like 1% x (1.000 - 0.787) = 0.002).

But I stand by the statement that it will not affect the dryness... The exact same amount of residual sugars /nonfermentables will be left in the beer.