low final gravity. could it be?

[rpmaill]

So ive researched this already and I know people get worked up when a question is asked in a forum thats been answerex a hundred times before. That said, i am only asking this to gain current opinions on my specific batch issue.

Phew.

I had brewed quite a few 2 gal Mr Beer batches with great success. Recently i brewed my first 5 gallon extract batch. The instructions were a lil hazy regarding boil times. With Mr Beer you just barely boil the extract so needless to say, I only boiles the 5 gallon batch about 20 mins. When entering fermentation, my og was 1.03. 2 weeks later at bottling, my fg was 1.01. I was/ am bummed. Im assuming it was low boil time that did it but wanted some opinions. The recipe was for an american pale ale. Target abv is 4%. When i added the yeast i let it sit in a cup of water first before pitching. The only other thing im wondrin is if it fermented too long. It Fermd for bout 12 days.

Any opinions for batch two?

 

[lowtones84]

Do you know the temperature of the wort when you took the OG reading? Knowing the recipe/how much extract was in the recipe would help, and if it was a full boil or a partial boil with top off water added. If you added top off water and didn't stir very, very well it could lead to an inaccurate reading. It definitely didn't ferment too long, yeast will stop when it's ready. So which part are you bummed about, the low OG or low FG?

 

[homebrewdad]

Note that it's impossible for the beer to ferment too long - sometimes, it might not ferment enough, due to weak yeast, bad environment, high gravity, etc... but typically, the yeast will ferment all of the fermentable sugars, period. That's how your FG reaches a stable number - the yeast have eaten all there is to eat.

12 days is just fine.

 

[mcaple1]

That isnt a low FG....that's actually where you want to be. As far as your low OG, you said you were doing extract...but it also sounds like you did a full boil...did you put exactly 5 gallons into your fermenter. If you didnt boil off long enough (only 20 minutes) you may not have gotten to your intended post-boil volume, which will drop your OG....the FG is not related.

 

[RM-MN]

First off, there are a few differences between the hopped malt extract of Mr. Beer and unhopped malt extract. The hopped extract only needs boiled long enough to ensure pasteurization. The extract batch you just made probably used unhopped extract and you added hops for bittering. To get the bitterness you need to boil them and to get the most bittering it needs boiling for an hour.

You can't ferment to long, just too short. The yeast only work long enough to eat the sugar and clean up the byproducts and then they quit. If you leave it in the fermenter after that it just begins with the conditioning and gets more mellow.

The usual cause of low OG with extract is inadequate mixing of the wort with top off water. I haven't seen your recipe but I'd guess the OG was probably in the range 1.042 to 1.046 rather than the 1.030 that you measured.

 

[rpmaill]

I did use top off water, but I had mixed for quite a while. Also, I waited for the wort to cool before taking a reading so I am assuming my readings are accurate. With a 1.03 OG and a 1.01 FG I am coming to the determination that my abv is siting below 3%.... is this a wrong estimation on my end?

 

[mcaple1]

no...thats right

 

[jonmohno]

If you just added more of the mr.beer extract,they seem to all have that low abv,you would have to add more hopped-extract your amount of those almost to get your abv up.
Thats a good low FG,if it went lower you could be more disapointed how dry or thin it is, I made a pale ale around 4.3% but because of a higher finish it was it seemed like a good 5-6% beer.Some beers you would want a lower finish,depends though.I would be happy if it tasted good but lower abv than stronger and didnt taste right.
If you post what and how much you added,it would be easier. Wait it out and enjoy your session beer.