holy graviities batman!!

[dukes7779]

I did a half batch of a strong belgian ale 2 weeks ago. Many weird things have happened. I over boiled so my OG was higher than expected. Effeciency was mildly off - preboil was 1.070, expected was 1.074. OG was extimated at 1.086 but actually 1.094. I get it, I over boiled and concentrated the wort. I added some grapes to the boil (4 oz) though too. Will any precipitates from the grapes change the gravity in any way??

So I was going to rack to secondary and add more fruit last night.....took the bucket out of the ferm chamber and put on counter in afternoon.....at night when I was ready to rack I noticed the air lock bubble twice (about 10-15 minutes apart). Looked inside and there was a good amount of "activity" going on in the wort. Thought I would take a gravity to see if it still needed some fermenting and the gravity was 1.010!! Estimated was 1.021. Decided to seal it back up and recheck activity and gravity in a few days. But why did my gravity go so low?

German Pilsner 6 lbs.
Cara-Pils 0.5 lbs.
Aromatic 0.25 lbs.
Clear candi Sugar 1*L 1 lb
Cane Sugar 1 lb.
WLP0550 1 vial (remember, half batch, so didn't do a starter)

estimated pre-boil 1.074 actual 1.070
estimated OG 1.086 actual 1.094
estimated FG 1.021 current 1.010
Fermented/ing at 72*F

 

[bchurch]

You should'nt be too surprised, all your other estimates are off also. But seriously I always get really high attenuation with added sugar and a starter. Like it says it should fg at 1.015 and i'll end up at 1.004

 

[bchurch]

Oh wait you said no starter... I still blame the 2lbs of added sugar.

 

[Yooper]

When a recipe has lots of simple sugars, it will attenuate lower since sugar is more completely fermentable than maltose (the main sugars in wort from the grain).

You used 8.75 pounds of fermentables- 2 pounds of it sugar. That's nearly 23% sugar, from my quick calculation.

A low mash temperature would increase the fermentability of the wort as well, so if you mashed at 150 or lower, the wort would be extremely fermentable.

That yeast is attenuative, and will often go to 85% attenuation, with a very high alcohol tolerance. At 88% attenuation (which is what you got), that seems about right with that much sugar in the wort. I would not have expected it to stop at 1.021, where you said your expected FG was, as that isn't realistic at all for that recipe or that yeast strain. I'd have expected it to end right about where it did.

 

[crazyirishman34]

What temp did you mash at? Also 2# of sugar in 2.5 gallons.

 

[dukes7779]

Gotcha, thanks! I'll go ahead and rack to secondary then and add the rest of the fruit.

I only added that much sugar (seemed a lot to me at the time too) because I was using iBrewmaster and needed to add that much to get the ABV% to where it should be for a Strong Belgian. hmmmmmmmm

 

[crazyirishman34]

I tend to mash my tripple low at about 149F. If you do that you can get a high ABV with out so much sugar. You have to remember that the style was developed to compete with the new innovation of the time the pilsner.

 

[bruin_ale]

No need to be complaining - a golden strong is supposed to be very dry. Had it finished at 1.02 it'd have way too much body and sweetness.

 

[crazyirishman34]

I went back and looked at "Brew like a monk" in the section about Duvel. They are getting 93% attenuation.

 

[dukes7779]

I mashed at 152*. Didn't think about the dryness, good point!! Thanks! Going to be a VERY Strong Belgian though!!

Thanks!!

 

[bruin_ale]

I made one last summer that ended up being about 11% ABV. It was awesome and drinkable at about 2 months (ie. not fusel at all), I used the 570 yeast and 2lbs of sugar in a 5G batch. Probably one of the best beers I've ever made.