all my beers have been finishing 1.003ish

[J311gonzo]

i cant figure out why all of my brews lately have been finishing right around 1.003-1.005... i'm not complaining becasue the ABV has been high but all my brews have come out dryer then I would like. the only thing I can think of is that my cheap walmart thermometer is the problem. I've mashed around 154 degrees on most of the beers I'm talking about and still I finish here.

If I am correct, what themometer should I purchase from where????

Thanks!

 

[Reno_eNVy]

You don't need a new thermometer, just need to calibrate it.

Get some water to a hard rolling boil. Take the temperature. It should be 212*F if you're a sea-level.

Then crush some ice in a cup (like, a lot of ice. Fill that sucker up) and pour on just enough cold water to cover the ice. There should be crushed ice uniformly in the water. Take the temp. It should be 32*F.

If they're off you can either get a new thermometer or just adjust accordingly

 

[DrinkNoH2O]

+1 for calibrating your thermometer.

Honestly though I think recipe formulation has a greater affect on wort fermentability/final gravity than mash temp.

You might post a couple of your latest recipes up here for us to see. Are you using a very high percentage of base malts? What are your starting gravities?

Also, what yeasts are you using? It would be a good idea to calculate your apparent attenuation and compare that to the expected attenuation for the strains you're using.

 

[J311gonzo]

one paticularlly was a recipie I got from here... it was the Black Pearl Porter... it was a 1.050ish brew... I also did a dark wheat brew and it was 1.046... and both finished around 1.003. Both yeasts were liquid strains and honestly I couldn't tell you right this second what I used. The one thing that I am pretty sure of is that my cheapo therm has got to change lol

 

[cyclonite]

Wow, that is dry ;-). Definitely either calibrate your thermometer or get a new one. I would highly recommend a Thermapen. They are fast, and very accurate, but they are pricey (~ $90). You can get them on Amazon or Thremoworks.com. Worth the money IMO. If that is too much, the CDN DTQ450x on Amazon or from Bobby M's site (BrewHardware.com) is good for the money ($15-20).

 

[fredtheseal]

I had the same problem. I was using a standard "floating thermometer" from my Partial Mash days. Me and my buddy were going crazy trying to figure it out until he bought a new thermometer and we compared the 2. Mine was reading higher than actual by almost 10 degrees.

Really weren't bad beers, but like you said, too dry for my tastes.

 

[J311gonzo]

Ok sweet guys thanks for the advise. Sounds like I'm going to have to get a new thermometer.

 

[bruno_78]

Does everything taste fine? No off flavors? Bacteria can consume the leftover sugar that Saccharomyces leaves behind, and dry out the beer.

 

[Qhrumphf]

Are you degassing your FG sample? C02 in suspension can affect your gravity readings. Shake the sample before you read it, and make sure to spin the hydrometer a few times before reading to clear off any bubbles. I'm also assuming you're correcting the reading for temperature too?

 

[J311gonzo]

The beer tastes good... Just dry. I tested my therm and it was good... My hydrometer needed adjusted so I did so... Appears as tho the paper inside moved so I reset it to 0.000 with water.. I'll see if that's it. I've never had an infection that I know of and like I said everything tastes fine just dry.

 

[bandt9299]

I say hydrometer problem. A low mash temp shouldn't make it that dry.

 

[ron,ar]

I was thinking the same thing, if everything tastes and looks right, I would suspect the hydrometer.

 

[Grumpybumpy]

I was thinking the same thing, if everything tastes and looks right, I would suspect the hydrometer.

+3 that's crazy low

 

[chumpsteak]

I had a couple batches finish really low when i fermented too hot and underpitched. They weren't infected but they did have a lot of fusels. Are you controlling your ferm temps?

 

[uncommonsense]

What yeast are you using. Ive had French saison do that. Or if you use alot of highly fermentables. Like suger or honey.

 

[soundsandsuds]

I'd agree that it's likely a hydrometer problem. I had one that was out by 0.010, so I took it back. It's always good to have a couple in case you drop one, so buy another one and check yours against it.

 

[J311gonzo]

I'm also having a terrible problem with efficiency... I fly spare and have been getting %60 which is terrible... I'm hoping that this has to do with my hydrometer getting knocked out of wack. Guess I'll find out tonight when I buy another hydro and brew!

 

[Vendrixfly]

I too have been having problems with low FG since moving to all grain. The last two batches were nearly the same and both ended at 1.002 with nice flavor but zero body...I've since excluded all simple sugars and honey from my "regular beer" recipes in fear of turning more sessionable pints into 6.5% beer spritzers!

Try adding a small amount of dextrin malt to your grain bill, maybe .5lbs, to give you the insurance that they won't ferment down that low again.