OG and FG - Odd Numbers

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Budista

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Hey,

This is more an education sort of thing than an 'OMGOMGOMGPANIC MY BEER IS RUINED' question.

My friend and I, as some of you may have read in other posts, are bumbling our way through our first batch of Brewers Spring Draft Lager. I just have a couple questions about Specific Gravity.

The kit itself is a no-boil kit, with the wort pre-done and in a bag. After we stirred it into the water, we took our OG and got a reading of 1.051. This was close enough to the 1.050 reading the instructions dictated, so we added the hops and yeast (which we didn't rehydrate, as per instructions). Despite all of this, in the next few days we had very, very vigorous fermentation, to the point where the temperature of the beer went up to almost 79 degrees for the 8 hours I was at work. Dropped into an ice-bath, it sat for the next week at it's recommended 71 degrees until the krausen finally began to settle over the weekend.

Come today and the top of the beer is almost entirely clear of krausen, with some particles suspended and a thin 'scummy' layer that I'm hoping is hop oils. I got brave last night and took another SG reading and got 1.011 (after thoroughly de-gassing it).

This is a bit below the recommended 1.013-1.019 the manufacturer predicts, so I'm just curious whether or not we may have screwed something up re: too much or too little water. Seeing as that's the only thing we really controller, other than the sanitation, I don't know whether it's all good. I tasted it after getting my reading and though it has a fairly distinctive banana-sweet aroma, it tastes like stale bad beer with a strong hint of rocket fuel.

I know it's going to get better with time, so I'm not too concerned. I'm taking another reading this evening and hopefully racking into our secondary to condition that rocket-fuel right out of there. What might cause that flavor? Am I right in thinking it's fusel alcohols? What are these esters I keep reading about?

This forum is awesome; so many helpful people. Thanks again for your patience and wise words!

- Budista
 
Fermenting at high temps, such as the 79F that you mentioned, could cause this rocket fuel taste. Hopefullt it will blend and fade given enough time.
 
"Time heals all things, even beer" to a point. The rocket fuel taste will fade, but other off flavors may not. High temp can produce esters and at higher temps, often a fruity taste, that will often persist with age.
 
+1 to the above posts. Also, the higher ferm temp could possibly affect attenuation levels (as a lot of things can). I think one of the best things brewers can do to affect their beer is to control ferm temps. I got caught by suprise recently by high ambient temperatures and I'm in the middle of a new ferm chamber re-build. It's enough of a concern that I have carried 6 gallons of fermenting beer down a flight of stairs twice now! I stuck it in the fridge for approx 2 hours both times to bring it down about 4 deg. It's not the best method but until I get the ferm chamber back up and running it's the only option.
 
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