Low gravity and falling.

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Mairoa

Member
Joined
Mar 13, 2011
Messages
12
Reaction score
0
Location
Bellingham
I have 3 AG going right now with very low gravity and falling. An apple cider at 1, a ginger beer at 1.004, and a pumpkin wheat at 1.010. All three taste fine and uninfected, and all 3 have either brown sugar or honey in the boil. The ginger beer and cider have boiled or vodka-soaked ginger in the primary. Should I expect this with sugar? I used s-23 on the cider, s-05 on the ginger ale and nottingham on the pumpkin wheat. The gravity may be slowing, as my most recent readings were not much changed from the ones before, and my hydrometer broke and was repaired between the two readings. Just wanna know if I should do something or if this is what to expect with sugars in the mix. Thanks!
 
Make sure your hydrometer is calibrated. Did you take readings at a specific temperature and convert the results? (Hydrometer are accurate at a specific temperature, but readings have to be adjusted to account for temperature)

How long did the fermentation take and what temperatures?
 
I took the readings at 68, which is what my hydrometer is calibrated at. They've been fermenting in the 65-72 range for 10 days on the ales and 16 days on the cider.
 
As was stated, there is a good chance your readings were correct. I didn't mean to make it sound like you did something wrong, just stating some things that may cause false readings. Measure some tap water and see if you get 1. If so, you can probably trust your measurements.
 
Awesome. So just trust that it's fine at that gravity? I fixed and calibrated my hydrometer after the top tip broke off by sealing it while keeping it calibrated. Replacing it when I can afford to do so. I was worried because I'd heard before that really low gravities were a sign of either the apocalypse or bad beer, and I was afraid of the latter.

Thanks!
 
Back
Top