1st homebrew hydrometer taste!

CornyKegs 728
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motobrewer

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This was Northern Brewer's British Bitter kit.

Took my 1st FG reading after 10 days. Read 1.005, which was surprising since the expected OG was 1.035 (could not take OG reading because LHBS where I bought my "super-deluxe brew kit" included a hydrometer but not a tube...). Anyway, according to my calculations, that's 85% attenuation (used wyeast 1098), which I thought was strange.

Tasted the sample, and it was pretty good. It was a bit watery (i do understand this is a low abv beer), will uncarbonated beer usually taste a bit watery? Or maybe this explains my low gravity reading...

if the SG is the same after 14 days, I'm going to rack to my secondary to clear for 2 weeks - also to free up my fermentor to brew my christmas ale this weekend.

thanks!
 
motobrewer said:
This was Northern Brewer's British Bitter kit.

Took my 1st FG reading after 10 days. Read 1.005, which was surprising since the expected OG was 1.035 (could not take OG reading because LHBS where I bought my "super-deluxe brew kit" included a hydrometer but not a tube...). Anyway, according to my calculations, that's 85% attenuation (used wyeast 1098), which I thought was strange.

Tasted the sample, and it was pretty good. It was a bit watery (i do understand this is a low abv beer), will uncarbonated beer usually taste a bit watery? Or maybe this explains my low gravity reading...

if the SG is the same after 14 days, I'm going to rack to my secondary to clear for 2 weeks - also to free up my fermentor to brew my christmas ale this weekend.

thanks!
Click to expand...

I really hate to be the one to say this but if your gravity is really that low, you may have a wild yeast problem

I wouldn't pour it out or anything but if it tastes like water after it is bottles and you have a gusher problem you might look into your sanitizing practices

what are you using for sanitizer? Not one step I hope
 
I can't comment on the wild fermentation, but yes, adding some carb to this will alter not only the mouthfeel, but the flavor. usually for the better on lighter beers.
 
used star-san. did not rinse, racked on the foam. brand new equipment.

a couple of things could have caused me to undershoot the OG:

1. Didn't get all LME out of the bottle.
2. Possibly over-topped off

wild yeast? that the same as an infection?
 
Yeah, liquid extract is a pain, especially in jugs. Get a turkey baster next time; suck up some hot wort and squirt it into the jug. Cap it back up, shake it around, dump, repeat.

As for over-topping (that sounds weird...), what was your final volume, and how was it measured?
 
It was a guess, as I didn't really measure and mark my carboy accurately before I racked.

I don't think that was the case either. I boiled probably 5.5 gallons, then topped off with about 1/2 a gallon.

I'll know the exact volume today or tomorrow, when I rack to my 5 gallon carboy.
 
Have you checked your hydrometer for accuracy in plain water?
It is quite possible that your hydrometer is reading a few points low.

-a.
 
i've checked, it's accurate

one reasons why it's so low, maybe others can confirm:

This is an extract brew, and I thief-ed from the top 2" only, and i'm sure I didn't mix (aerate) as well as I should have, so I probably had a hydrometer tube full of the lightest stuff in the carboy.

When i take another reading tomorrow i'll grab a cane and suck from the bottom and see what it reads.
 
post-fermentation your thief should get a consistent sample no matter what.

but pre-fermentation on a partial boil, you might have gotten a bad reading. its very hard to mix a 2 gallon boil into 3 gallons of top off water. so a low OG reading can lead to high apparent attenuation. with extract, its real hard to miss the OG of the recipe unless you missed a lot of the extract or way over-topped with water post boil.

uncarb'd beer does taste watery and less hoppy. the co2 does a lot for mouthfeel and hop aroma, plus adds a bit of bitterness due to carbonic acid.
 

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