Bumping up the ABV of an amber ale I'm souring

[bbarclay]

Hello,

I have an amber ale in the primary for over 5 weeks now. The OG was 1.047, my refractometer is telling me that my SG is at 1.038 now... giving me a 2.8% ABV. Seems quite a bit low at 3 weeks out.

I pitched just one package of wyeast American Ale along with one package of Brett Brux. I didn't do a starter because I've had great success with my ambers sans a starter. After pitching, I had active fermentation within 6 hours and it kicked for 2 weeks pretty good.

Over the past 3 weeks, I've pitched various bottles dregs in from the sours I've been drinking (some great stuff if I must say) and have seen some great activity from it. A fantastic pectile has formed and the taste test is approved. Still vexed by the super low ABV.

I'm wondering if I can pitch more yeast along with some sugars that brewers yeast will eat and the Brett/Dreggs won't touch.

Does anyone have some advice here?

Many thanks!

 

[Calder]

I'm guessing you just read the reading on the refractometer and didn't make any corrections for having alcohol in the liquid. Refractometers are extremely inaccurate when there is alcohol present. Use an hydrometer to get a real reading of final gravity.

 

[bbarclay]

I did. I use http://onebeer.net/refractometer.shtml, to calculate the SG, as it adjusts for alcohol.

I've had accurate results on other beers and wine that I've recently done.

 

[mnick12]

I agree with calder, and would definately re-measure with a hydrometer.

Also I get 1.18% abv from 1.047-1.038, not 2.8%.

This equates to 19% attenuation, which seems highly unlikely for any standard beer. Especially since you mentioned there was an active fermentation for two weeks.

Unless you had some very odd mashing procedure or recipe, I expect the discrepancy is from your refractometer.

 

[Calder]

I did. I use http://onebeer.net/refractometer.shtml, to calculate the SG, as it adjusts for alcohol.

I've had accurate results on other beers and wine that I've recently done.

I played with some numbers in the linked calculator. For an OG of 1.047, your refractometer should have read 11.6 Brix. I assume that is what you got.

An FG reading of 10.4 will equate to an FG of 1.037 and 1.28% abv (assuming OG was 11.6).

An FG reading of 8.6 will equate to an FG of 1.026 and 2.8% abv (assuming OG was 11.6).

What readings did you get? I would still recommend taking an hydrometer reading.

 

[MileHighBrewer]

Use a hydrometer, not a refractometer, try again. Unless you pitched 5 year old yeast there is no reason for 19% atattenuation.

 

[bbarclay]

My OG reading was roughly 11brix. 11.6 would likely be accurate, it's just hard to read the points on the brix. I landed at roughly 8 brix, which is the 2.8. I will take a hydrometer reading and report back.

I did a Pinot 2 weeks ago and my readings were spot on coming up with a 13%, for my final readings. That's why it seemed strange.

I will report back the hydrometer reading when I'm home.

 

[Calder]

Many people love their refractometers, and believe they produce reasonably accurate results when handled properly.

My experience is that they are reasonably accurate for OG measurements, but I do not trust any FG measurement I have made with one. Sometimes they are good, sometimes they are way off (I take an hydrometer reading every time for FG to help build my confidence in the instrument).

I had a small batch recently that didn't finish low enough for me, so I added more yeast to get it moving, and raised the temperature. I tracked it's progress with a refractometer to preserve beer (since it was a small batch). I found the daily readings erratic, sometimes going up, not down.

Some people have confidence with the instrument for taking FGs, I don't. Using an hydrometer also lets me taste the sample, which I think provides a lot more information about the beer than just a gravity reading. I'll keep trying it, I can see a lot of value in it for taking intermediate readings. Maybe I'll eventually figure out why my readings are erratic, and end up loving it, but for now, the hydrometer reading is the only one I trust.

 

[bbarclay]

So my hydrometer is reading in at 1.015, which puts me roughly at 4.2%, I'm comfortable with that, though was looking for 6%... not a huge deal though as the beer is tasting fantastic.

That said, I will take recommendations on how to push that up if there is a safe way to do so.

Thanks for the input. It has raised concerns about the accuracy of the last couple batches I've made using only the refractometer and onebeer.net's calculations.

 

[MileHighBrewer]

That beer, with brett and dregs is a looooooong ways from being done. At 5 weeks this beer is basically a new born. Those critters almost certainly will munch it down under 1.005, if not .999. That will get you closer to that 6% mark, it is just going to take another 8-18 months.

 

[bbarclay]

That beer, with brett and dregs is a looooooong ways from being done. At 5 weeks this beer is basically a new born. Those critters almost certainly will munch it down under 1.005, if not .999. That will get you closer to that 6% mark, it is just going to take another 8-18 months.

Absolutely agree with it being a long way off. I bough a new 5 gallon american oak barrel for this, that I've been aging a Pinot Noir in, specifically so this can impart that red wine flavor to this beer. So, I was thinking more along the 18month mark including barrel time. I'm just novice with the brett and dregs so was worried something was going wrong as that American Ale yeast usually pushes up over 5% in a couple weeks.

 

[MileHighBrewer]

Those small barrels impart flavor, and oxygen (acetic acid) several times faster then a normal barrel. I'd run that beer quite a bit longer in a carboy and finish it off for a few months in the barrel....OR opposite, only age it a short time and rack back to the most oxygen impregnable containers possible to finish. Best bet with those small barrels would be the former. Treat the barrel like dry hopping...only a bit, at the very end. Maybe age another wine in the meantime?

 

[bbarclay]

Those small barrels impart flavor, and oxygen (acetic acid) several times faster then a normal barrel. I'd run that beer quite a bit longer in a carboy and finish it off for a few months in the barrel....OR opposite, only age it a short time and rack back to the most oxygen impregnable containers possible to finish. Best bet with those small barrels would be the former. Treat the barrel like dry hopping...only a bit, at the very end. Maybe age another wine in the meantime?

Roger that. Good plan. Could run another red through the barrel, maybe a cab sauv. That would be interesting and give a bunch of cool fruit flavors.

I appreciate the feedback! I'll figure this brewing stuff out eventually.