Hefe confusion

[Tomerwt]

Hey guys,

We brewed our first AG, a hefeweizen, 10 days ago. It's still bubbling away, but we took a hydrometer reading this morning, just out of curiosity. The recipe said (FG: 1.010 - 1.015), but our reading this morning said 1.005. Can anyone explain how it could be so low and still be fermenting? Also, does this matter to our beer or is it common for a hefe to have such a low FG (Assuming it will get even lower)?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Skaggz]

What were your mash temps?

 

[Tomerwt]

What were your mash temps?

We dont have the instructions anymore, but we think it was 10 mins at 42C, 20 mins at 57C, 30 mins at 62C and 10 mins at 74C. Something like that.

 

[therealrsr]

1) What was the temp at the reading? You have to adjust.
2) Test your hydrometer to make sure it is accurate.
3) What kind of yeast did you use?

 

[Tomerwt]

1) What was the temp at the reading? You have to adjust.
2) Test your hydrometer to make sure it is accurate.
3) What kind of yeast did you use?

1) Adjusting makes it 1.0058.. so not a huge difference..
2) The readings of our other brews, and plain water are normal, so we don't think it's inaccurate.
3) Brewferm Dry weizen yeast which came with the grains, used a small yeast starter (let 200ML water + yeast sit for 15 minutes)

 

[Skaggz]

We dont have the instructions anymore, but we think it was 10 mins at 42C, 20 mins at 57C, 30 mins at 62C and 10 mins at 74C. Something like that.

42C - 107F (10 mins)
57C - 134F (20 mins)
62C - 143F (30 mins)
74C - 165F (10 mins)

My guess would be, that at those low temps, you ended up with more fermentable sugars. This can account for a lower FG.

 

[Tomerwt]

42C - 107F (10 mins)
57C - 134F (20 mins)
62C - 143F (30 mins)
74C - 165F (10 mins)

My guess would be, that at those low temps, you ended up with more fermentable sugars. This can account for a lower FG.

Does this mean our beer will taste bad?

 

[Skaggz]

Does this mean our beer will taste bad?

No, not at all. It just fermented out a little dryer. A lot of the flavor in a hefeweizen comes from the esters produced by the yeast during fermentation anyway.

just out of curiosity, what was your OG?

 

[Tomerwt]

Oh thats good to hear! Would be a shame to have ruined our first AG xD

The OG was about 1.048.