Possible lost beer. Need help please

Hey everyone. I made the recipe below two weeks ago. When taking a gravity reading today I noticed three things. First was there was bubbling going on in the tube where I took the reading. It was like fizzing. Second was the reading itself. When I first looked at it it read 1.060. Positive about that. But then after a minute or so it went down to 1.012. And I did nothing to it. Third thing is I took a picture of what I see on top of the beer. Any thoughts or comments would be greatly appreciated.
Also I cannot find the original gravity reading that I took but I seem to remember it being around 1.042.

Pre-Prohibition Pilsner
American Amber Ale
Type: All Grain Date: 2/22/2012
Batch Size (fermenter): 5.25 gal Brewer: Paul F. Dorris II
Boil Size: 6.72 gal Asst Brewer:
Boil Time: 60 min Equipment: My Equipment
End of Boil Volume 5.72 gal Brewhouse Efficiency: 72.00 %
Final Bottling Volume: 4.75 gal Est Mash Efficiency 75.4 %
Fermentation: Ale, Two Stage Taste Rating(out of 50): 30.0
Taste Notes:
Ingredients


Ingredients
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
7 lbs Pale Malt (6 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 77.8 %
1 lbs Corn, Flaked (1.3 SRM) Grain 2 11.1 %
8.0 oz Cara-Pils/Dextrine (2.0 SRM) Grain 3 5.6 %
8.0 oz Rye, Flaked (2.0 SRM) Grain 4 5.6 %
1.50 oz Tettnang [4.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 5 23.5 IBUs
1.00 oz Hallertauer [4.00 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 6 7.8 IBUs
1.0 pkg American Lager (Wyeast Labs #2035) [124.21 ml] Yeast 7 -

Beer Profile

Est Original Gravity: 1.043 SG Measured Original Gravity: 1.046 SG
Est Final Gravity: 1.012 SG Measured Final Gravity: 1.010 SG
Estimated Alcohol by Vol: 4.1 % Actual Alcohol by Vol: 4.7 %
Bitterness: 31.3 IBUs Calories: 151.6 kcal/12oz
Est Color: 3.3 SRM
Mash Profile

Mash Name: Single Infusion, Full Body, Batch Sparge Total Grain Weight: 9 lbs
Sparge Water: 4.43 gal Grain Temperature: 68.0 F
Sparge Temperature: 168.0 F Tun Temperature: 68.0 F
Adjust Temp for Equipment: FALSE Mash PH: 5.20

Mash Steps
Name Description Step Temperature Step Time
Mash In Add 14.50 qt of water at 165.9 F 156.0 F 60 min

Sparge Step: Batch sparge with 2 steps (0.94gal, 3.49gal) of 168.0 F water
Mash Notes: Simple single infusion mash for use with most modern well modified grains (about 95% of the time).
Carbonation and Storage

Looks fine to me. Did you taste the sample 1.060 would be way sweet.

As for the hydrometer reading, occasionally it will happen to me. A lot of times when I first pour a sample in the C02 thats still in solution rapidly releases. If you put the hydrometer in that second I've noticed the bubbles rising will actually push it up giving you a false reading and then after they subside giving you an accurate reading.

The bubbling was CO2 coming out of solution as your sample warmed up. The picture looks normal to me. The change in the hydro reading was because you had bubbles clinging to your hydrometer buoying it up - for this reason it is recommended to give the hydrometer a twirl with your fingertips to fling the bubbles off before taking the reading.

Let your hydro samples sit on the counter for 20 minutes or so before you take your reading. This gives the beer time to de-gas, which will result in a more accurate reading.. The photo you posted looks like co2 bubbles on the surface...

Ok so so far it seems I see a few people saying it could be co2. Me being somewhat new to this what does this mean? I thought at this stage the beer should still be flat.

co2 is a bi-product of fermentation. Most of it esacapes out of the airlock, but some stays suspended in the liquid. When you bottle, the cap stops it from escaping and that's how you get carbonated beer.

But why do I have it during fermentation? Shouldn't it be flat at this point? I get fizz in the hydro tube

Let me put it like this...
When yeast eat sugar they pee alcohol and fart co2. All beer has co2 in it during fermentation and after bottling. During fermentation there just isn't enough of it suspended in the liquid to create fizz, but there is enough to make bubbles on top of the beer in the fermentor and in your hydrometer flask.

The fizz is the CO2 froom fermentation. It's an equilibrium reaction, most of the CO2 does go out the airlock, but some of it stays in solution in your beer, it's totally normal. I think it is actually the "1 Volume" of CO2 you see referred to in carbing calculators. 2.5 volumes would be twice this amount of CO2, and to get that dissolved into the beer you would need to bottle and cap, or keg it.

make sense, sort of?

Stauffbier said:

Let me put it like this...
When yeast eat sugar they pee alcohol and fart co2. All beer has co2 in it during fermentation and after bottling. During fermentation there just isn't enough of it suspended in the liquid to create fizz, but there is enough to make bubbles on top of the beer in the fermentor and in your hydrometer flask.

Click to expand...

Most times, you'll even get a tiny amount of fizz on your tongue from the hydro sample... that's what beer was way back when

I'll echo all the comments above - everything looks perfectly normal. Proceed as planned.

BrightSpot said:

Most times, you'll even get a tiny amount of fizz on your tongue from the hydro sample... that's what beer was way back when

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Very true! A lot of English brew pubs still serve beer that is stored in wood casks and it is hardly carbonated at all..

Ok I am getting this a bit. So am I ready to bottle at this point? It has been two weeks now since I made the beer.

Iceman6409 said:

Ok I am getting this a bit. So am I ready to bottle at this point? It has been two weeks now since I made the beer.

Click to expand...

What bottle bombs may lurk in the shadows of the basement,

Only the Hydro knows!


But seriously, check your specific gravity with a hydrometer, three days at the same SG is what your shooting for.

Iceman6409 said:

Ok I am getting this a bit. So am I ready to bottle at this point? It has been two weeks now since I made the beer.

Click to expand...

Once you know that you have reached a stable FG give it a few more days for the yeast to clean house and then you can bottle it up.

CO2 is in solution in the beer as a result of the fermentation. Cold liquid can hold more gas in solution than warm liquid, so as your hydro sample warms up, some of the CO2 comes out of solution and appears as bubbles.

There's no hurry about bottling. Many of us leave our beer in the primary for 3 or 4 weeks routinely. Once you've reached a stable FG, give the yeast time to clean up some of the by-products of their orgy.