Hefeweizen FG under 1.005

I just brewed my first Hefeweizen. Not my favorite style but the wife needs to have her fix too. This is my 5th batch. I went through the whole process and saw that my FG was much lower than my target FG. Should I be worried about anything?

Extract Brew- 6lbs LME, 1 lb light DME; Steeped 8oz Carapils
1 oz Tettnang

OG-1.044 @70F
Pitched Wyeast Weinstephan 3068 Activator yeast

The fermentation was rather quick. It was over by day 4. I left it in the primary for 13 days. Bottled on day 13. Used a wine thief to check FG.

FG- 1.003 @63F

No musty, medicinal or newspaper notes. My house smelled of German Hefe so much so that my wife helped with the bottling. Am I being paranoid? Have never had any infection problems with any of my previous beers

Only time will tell

3068 is a pretty hungry yeast, and it can go somewhat nuts without good temperature control. I assume your LME was wheat LME? If so, your recipe looks pretty standard. If it tastes alright, you're good.

If it tastes alright, it's probably not really at 1.003 and I would calibrate your hydrometer. If it is really at 1.003, then something went wrong, and it probably doesn't taste right.

To calibrate your hydro, fill your flask with distilled water at 60*F and make sure that it reads 1.000

The most common problem associated with over attenuation is wild yeast and too low of a mash temp in AG.

Wait a minute...that comes out to 91% attenuation.. For a Hefe, it should be around 73%. Something is not right here...

bgough said:

If it tastes alright, it's probably not really at 1.003 and I would calibrate your hydrometer. If it is really at 1.003, then something went wrong, and it probably doesn't taste right.

To calibrate your hydro, fill your flask with distilled water at 60*F and make sure that it reads 1.000

The most common problem associated with over attenuation is wild yeast and too low of a mash temp in AG.

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It's an extract batch. I suspect that his reading is off by a bit too, but I've seen hefes attenuate really low before. The Weihenstephaner yeast goes nutz if it gets too warm.

MalFet said:

It's an extract batch. I suspect that his reading is off by a bit too, but I've seen hefes attenuate really low before. The Weihenstephaner yeast goes nutz if it gets too warm.

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Thanks for the advice all!

1. Yes, It was a wheat LME
2. A few days prior to bottling, we had the in-laws in town and the thermostat was raised to 71F. Sadly, my HEFE was resting upstairs where the hot air gets trapped. It might have been in a 75F room during the fermentation.
3. I have learned to lock the thermostat.
4. Time will tell. The tasting at bottling was decent by my wife's palate.

MalFet said:

It's an extract batch. I suspect that his reading is off by a bit too, but I've seen hefes attenuate really low before. The Weihenstephaner yeast goes nutz if it gets too warm.

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I know it was an extract batch, that's why I added the "in AG" qualifer. I've probably used Wlp300 more than any other yeast besides 001 and I certainly have never seen it go 90%. His reading is either off significantly or he got some wild yeast in there.

Any way the og might have been off? Mis-measured extract? Too much original volume? Check the hydrometer. You don't need distilled water. I don't really see the temp being the issue. The FG should be set by the enzymes pre-boil. Some sugars aren't fermentable by the specific yeast - higher temp shouldn't make them suddenly available. I suspect something else is at play here. How does it taste?

Well, the taste was that clovey, banana complexity that is seen from German Hefes. I will know a little better once carbonation is complete. I'm still learning to trust my palate when I try non-carbonated beer.

In the bottle for 5 days so far. Unaffected by the Windy city blizzard.