Sg/fg ?

[lostspring]

I just bottled Bee Cave Haus Pale Ale that I brewed on 7-4. Left in primary, no secondary. I used Safeale-05 yeast. I fermented in the basement at 64 degs. The SG was 1.050. The FG today was 1.001. I have never had the FG go so low. I tested my hydrometer and it is right on. Is it unusual to have an FG go this low? What would cause this?

Thanks

 

[ArcaneXor]

What did the hydrometer sample taste like?

 

[lostspring]

The sample was clear, light golden yellow. Alcohol was noticable but not overpowering. Tasted quite good actually.

 

[menschmaschine]

That's 98% attenuation. I would say an infection of wild yeast or bacteria... or a tablet of beano came alive and crawled in there.:cross:

 

[lostspring]

Used no beano and no sign of an infection.

 

[ArcaneXor]

If it tasted good, then there may be some error in the reading. A beer at 1.001 would taste quite thin. I'd take another reading in a couple of days and see what it says.

That said, I have a 1.004 beer I am about to bottle right now (expected FG was 1.008), so superattenuation is not unheard of and can yield good beer.

 

[user 22118]

That low of a FG would be a dry dry beer. I mean, did you make this beer with sugar? If there is any dextrose in it then you would have some sugar left. Check your reading again to make sure. That is nearly the gravity of water. You don't have water in there right

 

[Denny]

I'd check the thermometer you were using to mash. If it reads high, you were mashing low. It's happened to me before. Make sure to check and calibrate it at mash tempos.

 

[lostspring]

So, if all the measurements were correct, does that mean I made a lite beer?
I followed the recipe ingrediant list and added nothing extra.

 

[rsmith179]

You didn't make a "Lite Beer", just a dry beer. It will have little to no residual sweetness and will have a very "light" mouthfeel. I would just double check your hydrometer readings again. If you still come up with 1.001, you may want to test your hydrometer in a container of distilled water. That should come up as 1.000. If you're off on the distilled water, the SG readings of the beer will have to be adjusted to match.

 

[lostspring]

So on the temperature. This is caused by a to low mash temp? I checked my thermometer in icewater, it read 33degs. That doesn't seem like much. I did not think to check it boiling.
Is there any other thing that might be the cause?

 

[stephelton]

So on the temperature. This is caused by a to low mash temp? I checked my thermometer in icewater, it read 33degs. That doesn't seem like much. I did not think to check it boiling.
Is there any other thing that might be the cause?

What yeast did you use? You must have mashed it very low to get attenuation like that.

 

[lostspring]

I don't mean to belabor this but I really want to learn why.
I mashed at 154 degs by my thermometer. I tested it in icewater and it was one degree (33) high.
I followed the recipe and if figured correctly I got mid 70s efficiency.
SG was 1.050. I batch sparge (154 deg) with two rinses (175 deg water)for 10min each. Yeast was SA-05 sprinkled on top after aerating the wort. Batch size was 5.5 gals. Fermentation in the primary at 64 degs for four weeks.
I am still pretty much a noob so some of the terms are still not clear.
A very dry beer will not be sweet and will have a lite mouth feel?
Other then a low mash temp are there any other things that can lead to a very low FG?

 

[Yooper]

I don't mean to belabor this but I really want to learn why.
I mashed at 154 degs by my thermometer. I tested it in icewater and it was one degree (33) high.
I followed the recipe and if figured correctly I got mid 70s efficiency.
SG was 1.050. I batch sparge (154 deg) with two rinses (175 deg water)for 10min each. Yeast was SA-05 sprinkled on top after aerating the wort. Batch size was 5.5 gals. Fermentation in the primary at 64 degs for four weeks.
I am still pretty much a noob so some of the terms are still not clear.
A very dry beer will not be sweet and will have a lite mouth feel?
Other then a low mash temp are there any other things that can lead to a very low FG?

Check your thermometer at mash temperatures. If you mashed at 154, without an infection or some other problem, your beer shouldn't have gone that low. The yeast strain matters, but even though S05 is a "clean" well attenuating yeast, it doesn't dry out a beer that much.

 

[rico567]

I just bottled a batch of Ed Wort's Haus Pale Ale last week. It was my 3rd AG batch, and the first one I crushed myself. I didn't have much of a handle on a good crush at that point, so I think the efficiency was kinda lousy (in the 60s), but I still recall the hydrometer being about 1.010 when I racked it to secondary. I didn't take a reading when I bottled it. The leftovers in the bottom of the bottling bucket after I finished tasted OK, though....probably going to made a decent (if small) beer.

 

[nealf]

What does your hydrometer read when it is placed into water? It needs to read 1.000... it could possibly be an off hydrometer.

edit: Just read the last sentence in the OP.. it might be the thermometer I suppose.

 

[lostspring]

Check your thermometer at mash temperatures. If you mashed at 154, without an infection or some other problem, your beer shouldn't have gone that low. The yeast strain matters, but even though S05 is a "clean" well attenuating yeast, it doesn't dry out a beer that much.

Do you know approximently what the mash temp would need to be to cause this?

 

[user 22118]

149 for 90 minutes and a highly attenuating yeast, and then a yeast that can eat Dextrose (which normal yeast has trouble with) like Brett. That or an infection. Is the beer sour at all? Is it funky? Or does it taste like beer? I hate to say it this way, but open a budweiser and pour it into one glass and your beer in another glass. Yours should smell at least as clean as that and then have some extra flavor goodness. If yours smells at all off, then you might have an infection.

I mash a lot of things at 149 for 90min and never have seen 1.001 outside of wine making. Check your hydrometer. All it is is a little slip of paper in a tube. The paper might have slid down a little.

 

[lostspring]

Thanks for everybodys help with this.
The hydrometer sample was clear and had a beer odor. It tasted like beer only flat. Alcohol was noticable but not overpowering and no off tastes. Definantly not sweet but not at all unpleasant.
I bottled it using 5oz of corn sugar. So I guess in a month I will see what I have.
I will double check the hydrometer and the thermometer again but it seems like one or the other or both must be in error.
Again thanks for everyones help with this.

 

[karbinator]

Funny you posted this.
about 4 weeks back I finished, and kegged a C3 with s-05, and it started, and finished
with almost same numbers(I think mine finish at .003). It is very dry to drink. Almost bordering a champagne like tangy to it. anyhow, I fermented that thing in a tub of 60 water for 2.5 weeks, and it had TONS of blow off the whole time.

 

[MajorTom]

I don't mean to belabor this but I really want to learn why.
I mashed at 154 degs by my thermometer. I tested it in icewater and it was one degree (33) high.
I followed the recipe and if figured correctly I got mid 70s efficiency.
SG was 1.050. I batch sparge (154 deg) with two rinses (175 deg water)for 10min each. Yeast was SA-05 sprinkled on top after aerating the wort. Batch size was 5.5 gals. Fermentation in the primary at 64 degs for four weeks.
I am still pretty much a noob so some of the terms are still not clear.
A very dry beer will not be sweet and will have a lite mouth feel?
Other then a low mash temp are there any other things that can lead to a very low FG?

You need to test your thermometer at the full range of temperatures. Not just freezing. For example, I have a thermometer that is exact from freezing to room temperatures, but when I put it in boiling water it reads over 220 degrees! So, the higher the temperature the more error it has, If I mash with it I have to mash at a higher temperature (according to that thermometer) or my mash temp will be way too low and have a very high attenuation (thin beer). I wish I knew of a way to really calibrate around 150 degrees instead of interpolating freezing and boiling, any other ideas?

 

[ArcaneXor]

I wish I knew of a way to really calibrate around 150 degrees instead of interpolating freezing and boiling, any other ideas?

I wonder if buying some Everclear or other 190-proof ethanol and boiling it would give you another good benchmark. It should boil at 173°F. Just be very careful not to spill any onto the heat source!!! I would definitely only do this using lab equipment, since that stuff is very volatile, and spilling a little would cause it to flash and burn your face (or worse).