Gravity or No Gravity……

[Kliffyboy]

Help? So it’s 3 days away from the two week mark fermenting my first home brew. It’s an English Brown Ale…..or should I say was supposed to be?? My original gravity reading according to my Tilt was 1.025. Today it’s only 1.016….. according to the calculator that gives me only a 1.4% abv??? I mean I get it, trial and error but any ideas what went wrong?? I also pulled out the hydrometer to double check and it’s right on?! A bit heartbroken haha, I was so excited. Bummer….. thanks for all the help before :/

 

[Yooper]

Sounds like either a bad initial reading (uncalibrated tilt, extract not mixed well, etc) or a lack of fermentable ingredients. What was the recipe and process? We can help nail down the problems (if any) and give advise. How’s it taste?

 

[bracconiere]

do you have a refractometer you can compare the hydro too?

 

[RM-MN]

Assuming this was an extract kit, the initial reading is incorrect. Extract kits often give erroneous readings because they have you boil a smaller amount of water with the extract, then have you add water. The extract is much more dense than the water and requires some vigorous stirring to get it properly mixed.

A recipe would help or just look at the kit as most of them will tell you the initial gravity to expect and that will be the correct gravity. I will often tell extract brewers to avoid the initial hydrometer reading and just use what the kit says because the measured reading will be incorrect.

 

[VikeMan]

It;s hard to imagine a "brown ale" kit with an OG of 1.025. And an FG of 1.016 is on the high end, but reasonable. An OG measurement error is likely here, as @RM-MN suggests.

Here are some possible reasons, alone or in combintion,for a lower than expected OG reading with an extract kit:

- You didn't get all the extract into the kettle (LME stuck in the jug?)
- You topped off with water to more than the target volume
- You didn't mix the top-off water with the wort thoroughly before measuring the OG
- You measured the OG while the wort (and top off water) was still hot, and didn't adjust the reading for temperature.
- Some wort was left behind in the bottom of the kettle, so more water was used to top off to reach the target volume.
- Your hydrometer is inaccurate (try checking it with plain water)
- Operator error on the gravity reading
- Recipe/Software problem

Given that the FG seems okay-ish, the highlighted reason above seems like the most likely cuplrit.

 

[brewbama]

I agree with everything written above. I would add that while the Tilt is a great tool for monitoring fermentation progress (I love mine), it is notoriously inaccurate if not meticulously calibrated. Even then, a glob of yeast can throw off the final gravity reading.

 

[AlexKay]

I agree with everything written above. I would add that while the Tilt is a great tool for monitoring fermentation progress (I love mine), it is notoriously inaccurate if not meticulously calibrated. Even then, a glob of yeast can throw off the final gravity reading.

The OP did say he confirmed the FG with a hydrometer. I agree with the responses that the OG was wrong, probably because of poor mixing of extract.

I’ll also add that a too-weak English Brown can make a nice Dark Mild. How did the hydrometer sample taste? (Always drink the hydrometer sample!)

 

[Kliffyboy]

IM thinking youre all correct. SO no, this was not a extract kit. It was actually my first all-grain brew. I did not taste, however i will say when I tested gravity last night before taking that Gravity reading, it smelt wonderful, and like a great brown ale should. So perhaps your correct and the tilt was not calibrated correct, and or the first reading was incorrect. Im going to keep rocking with it and see how she comes out!

 

[bracconiere]

there is always this....

but if this was your first all-grain, how did you mash?

 

[TyTanium]

How’s it taste?

Key question right here. If it tastes good, congrats! You've made beer! Relax, don't worry, have a homebrew.

I agree with others, I bet your OG reading was just off. 1.016 is a perfectly reasonable FG.

 

[bracconiere]

Relax, don't worry, have a homebrew.

or in this case, maybe 20! or it could make a good work drink....

 

[RM-MN]

It was actually my first all-grain brew. I did not taste, however i will say when I tested gravity last night before taking that Gravity reading, it smelt wonderful, and like a great brown ale should.

I drink beer for two reasons. One is to feel the effects of the alcohol. The other is for the taste. Beer does not need to be high in alcohol to taste good and I sometimes brew a low gravity beer so I can have a refreshing drink, then go out and operate some machinery.

If it turns out that your beer really was low in gravity, the reasons could be measurement or it could be poorly crushed grain or perhaps too short of mash period or even the wrong temperature during the mash.

For the malted grain to convert starches to sugar requires that the starch gets gelatinized which is highly dependent on how small of particles the grain is prior to adding it to the water. The mash temperature needs to be in the range of approximately 148 to 160F. While the conversion to sugar happens quickly, gelatinization is the time limited factor and a poorly crushed grain may take substantially longer than an hour to fully convert.

 

[IslandLizard]

It was actually my first all-grain brew.

Did you take any gravity readings when your were brewing it? With a hydrometer (or refractometer) of course.
Especially for the first few all grain brews it gives you much information how well your processes are performing.

I did not taste,

What did you do with that sample? It's meant for drinking uh, quality control.

it smelt wonderful, and like a great brown ale should.

With that positive sensory note, given your current gravity of 1.015, I would think you may have started out at a higher gravity (OG).
And a taste could have confirmed some of that. Coming from an OG of 1.026, an FG of 1.015 would taste thin, watery, with very little alcohol.

Since it's at 1.015, I would give it an extra week in the fermenter to see if it drops somewhat more.
Even if you started at 1.045-1.050, it should come down to 1.010 or thereabout. There are many variables that influence FG, mouthfeel, etc.

I can recommend reading John Palmer's How to Brew, 4th Ed.

 

[bracconiere]

Coming from an OG of 1.026, an FG of 1.015 would taste thin, watery, with very little alcohol.

i kinda dissagree, i'd imagine it'd taste kinda like a diet soda pop?

 

[CleanEmUpIves]

If it was an all grain beer the obvious questions are

1.) What is the recipe?
2.) Target OG?
3.) Target volume?
4.) BIAB or another all grain mashing methodology?

Your mash efficiency may have been low depending on the grain bill.

Your grain crush may need to be finer if using BIAB.

The recipe might need more base malt!

 

[odie]

too many unknowns here...

that's a low OG. but without knowing how much fermentables are in how much volume...no way to know if that OG is reasonable.

No info on mash. too hot maybe? Not long enough?

I don't know what tilt is. glass hydrometers are proven if used correctly...consistent temps during readings or correctly adjusted.

 

[balrog]

Take us through your process @Kliffyboy , so we can help. With knowledge comes power. And better answers. I'm pretty sure it helps with good looks too but that's not important here.
Where'd you buy the grain, how was it milled, mashed, boiled, how much water, any salts/acid, all the particulars?