Amercan Ale, is this gravity right?

[okiepc]

Made a nice American Ale OG was 1.053, been in primary 3 weeks today, final gravity reading was 1.003, does that FG sound right, probably is.

 

[EJay]

Made a nice American Ale OG was 1.053, been in primary 3 weeks today, final gravity reading was 1.003, does that FG sound right, probably is.

Sounds a little dry to me (low FG), but probably really tasty.

 

[Qhrumphf]

Definitely on the low side for most American Ales (Pale Ale, Amber, IPA, etc). Would have to know more about the recipe and your process to determine why it's that low.

 

[osagedr]

Quite dry (low finishing gravity). My questions would be:

(1) is your hydrometer calibrated? It should read 1.000 in distilled water at whatever the calibration temperature is (it will say on the hydrometer).

(2) what yeast strain did you use? And what was your pitching rate? These things affect attenuation.

(3) what was your mash temperature? Lower mash temps can lead to more fermentable beers.

(4) how does it taste? An infection might help explain the low FG.

 

[okiepc]

Tastes fine, I think that I will invest in a better hydrometer as my software shows about a .010 shift higher both OG & FG which would be OG 1.063 & FG 1.013

 

[Qhrumphf]

Read your hydrometer in water (ideally distilled but not a huge deal if it's not) at the right temp (should printed on the hydrometer, it's likely 58F, 60F, or 68F). It should read 1.000 through the meniscus (unless you have one of those odd ones that tell you to read above, which again should be printed on the hydrometer). If it doesn't, then you have your answer.

 

[unionrdr]

I agree. It should be between 1.008 & 1.012 under normal conditions.

 

[SeraW]

I had a cream ale go that dry with just WL001 and a 4 week primary. No signs of anything off, though I did intentionally mash low and had lots of fermentable adjuncts.