FG off by 3 points twice

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darth5aint

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Brewed 2 beers with the same yeast, the second being on the first yeast cake. I used Wyeast 1010 american wheat. I checked my hydrometer, one time in tap water off by .002, then tonight it was at 1 in tap water. But both of me beers have finished at .003 higher than beersmith calculated the FG. Could this be beersmith, yeast, or hydrometer. Only weird thing is the first time i tested hydrometer is when my FG was 3 points to high on 1st batch, same for 2nd.
Any ideas
 
yeah I used the tool in beersmith to account for temp adjustments. Both were fermented at 63-65 F
 
So your hydrometer reads 0.002 in your brewing water and you were 0.003 high so really only 0.001 pts high on your FG? I'd call that margin of error and wouldn't worry about it (my hydrometer isn't that accurate and I know I couldn't taste 0.001 difference)....but...assuming you actually have a problem was it an extract batch or all grain? If extract, maybe it isn't as fermentable as beer smith estimated, if all grain maybe you mashed too hot.
 
Even if you were off by .003, I'd call that margin of error and enjoy the beer. This is an organic process driven by living things. So many little variables to control. You're fine.
 
^^ What he said. When you turn pro, that's the time to worry about a few points of FG. Until then, understand that brewing software is making a bunch of WAGs, and let it go at that.

That said, if you want to get your FG lower on your next batch, you can A) mash lower; B) oxygenate the carp out of the wort; and C) pitch a big healthy starter. And even then, you get what you get.

Cheers!
 
I noticed since I've been using servomyces (link) in addition to a proper oxygenation system (link) my FG's have been much lower.

On my last brew I over shot my grain bill and was 15 pts high on OG and FG was still a point lower than expected.
 
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