Great beer...but

I am still pretty new to the brewing game, my fifth batch just came out. The beer tastes, looks, and smells great but the alcohol content has ben consistently low. I imagine this has something to do pitching the yeast? Any ideas on what might be causing this?

The last two beers have been a Weiss beer and an Octoberfest, both made from kits. Alcohol content below 2%

Thanks for any advice

What were the OG and FG readings on your hydrometer, you may have had an incomplete fermentation, or not have had a high starting gravity. These numbers are important in helping us determine what is wrong with the brew.

I have a feeling you are reading your hydro wrong. Please let us know how you are comming up with your numbers.

Sound slike maybe the readings are off - your beer shouldnt be 2% generally. Even with a bad fermentation - what are the ingredients you are using?

Drunkensatyr said:

I have a feeling you are reading your hydro wrong. Please let us know how you are comming up with your numbers.

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I agree. 2% ABV corresponds to only about a 0.015 difference between OG and FG.

A common mistake is reading the ABV scale on the hydrometer when measuring the beer after fermentation and thinking that that actually represents the ABV, when in fact it's the difference between the readings before and after fermentation that tells you.

2%...and I thought I was a light-weight...

This is a beer with a starting gravity of 1.056. This reading is taken just before pitching your yeast.



As the beer ferments, the solution becomes thinner (as the alcohol increases) and this hydrometer will sink lower in the solution. At the end of the fermentation, the Final Gravity (FG) was 1.014.

Subtract 1.014 from 1.056 and multiply times 131 and that is the ABV of your beer.

As Funkenjäger said, it is not an absolute reading on your hydrometer, but the movement over time that you want to keep track of.

Sounds like the OP may believe that his FG reading = abv.

sprengel said:

I am still pretty new to the brewing game, my fifth batch just came out. The beer tastes, looks, and smells great but the alcohol content has ben consistently low. I imagine this has something to do pitching the yeast? Any ideas on what might be causing this?

The last two beers have been a Weiss beer and an Octoberfest, both made from kits. Alcohol content below 2%

Thanks for any advice

Click to expand...

Well, I'm with the other guys on this one. I don't believe that a kit would give you 2% alcohol. I mean, even homemade rootbeer has like .5% alcohol in it.

If your beer tastes like beer, it has fermented. An unfermented beer would taste syrupy sweet.

What was your og and fg, or your recipe?

Sorry for the lack of response, I have been away. I think you are right about the whole reading the hydrometer incorrectly thing. After looking at the picture put up by the bier muncher I realized that I have been testing the beer in a far too narrow container. the plastic sleeve it was packed in, and this is clearly screwing up my readings. I know, rookie mistake! I have another Weiss beer to brew in a few days and I think this will help me to get better readings.

I thought I was feeling a little intoxicated.

Thanks for all the advice, its a big help.

When i first started brewing, my hydro readings were all over the place. So when i look at my brew logs from that time period, i just discount the OG/FG. It's probably one of the most common mistakes a beginning home brewer can make.

As a recommendation, don't use the sample jar that came with the hydrometer. It's a pain in the ass. Go buy a Thief from your local HBS. It makes taking hydrometer readings a cinch. Below is a link for you to take a look.
http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?products_id=1227