Yesterday I checked up on two of my beers, one being a heffeweizen and the other a big IPA. Both are for-sure done fermenting.
To my surprise the Heff's F.G. was higher than expected- 1.021- although, it tasted like a finished beer and not sweet at all. It's O.G. was 1.050, so strangely it ended up being only 4%abv! according to my hydrometer. It was a PM and I used the Heffeweizen IV yeast (either Wyeast or White Labs). My IPA on the other hand was at 1.010, from a 1.071 O.G. (8%abv) and was slightly sweet like I wanted it. I used California Ale yeast for that one. Both yeasts have the same attenuation and similar optimum fermenting temperatures. What do you guys think caused the discrepancy in their final gravities?
I thought that higher F.G.'s were caused primarily by unfermentable sugars. If this is the case then why is my IPA sweet and my Heff dry?
Gravity has me very confused. Alcohol is less dense than water, right?, so couldn't a beer with a high alcohol content potentially mask its denser properties like sugar? This may be the case with the IPA.
But then why is the Heff which doesn't seems to have any lingering sugar have a high F.G.? Do other things in beer contribute to gravity readings?
I hope someone feels up to tackling these questions. I'm a little hungover, so that explains the less than eloquent outline of my situation.
To my surprise the Heff's F.G. was higher than expected- 1.021- although, it tasted like a finished beer and not sweet at all. It's O.G. was 1.050, so strangely it ended up being only 4%abv! according to my hydrometer. It was a PM and I used the Heffeweizen IV yeast (either Wyeast or White Labs). My IPA on the other hand was at 1.010, from a 1.071 O.G. (8%abv) and was slightly sweet like I wanted it. I used California Ale yeast for that one. Both yeasts have the same attenuation and similar optimum fermenting temperatures. What do you guys think caused the discrepancy in their final gravities?
I thought that higher F.G.'s were caused primarily by unfermentable sugars. If this is the case then why is my IPA sweet and my Heff dry?
Gravity has me very confused. Alcohol is less dense than water, right?, so couldn't a beer with a high alcohol content potentially mask its denser properties like sugar? This may be the case with the IPA.
But then why is the Heff which doesn't seems to have any lingering sugar have a high F.G.? Do other things in beer contribute to gravity readings?
I hope someone feels up to tackling these questions. I'm a little hungover, so that explains the less than eloquent outline of my situation.