Can FG be too low?

[messi]

hey all-

Just finished helping my friend with his first batch, but it was at my place, with my equipment, and I did everything with him, so it kind of was my 5th batch. He wanted to just make something crazy, so he made up his own recipe and bought 9.5lbs of various malt extracts. Our OG was 1.061 and I just measured the FG to be 1.001. The measurement was taken at 62 degrees, so it is pretty accurate. This number is lower than any of my other FG's. Is it normal for an FG to be that close to 1?

We used regular Coopers Dry yeast.

Thanks

 

[uwmgdman]

I would take another reading just to double check if that's possible. Since you used extract, I'm going to guess no company makes extract with that kind of fermentability, I don't know if you even could with an all-malt mash. Did you add any pure sugars, if so how much? If you used an all-malt extract (no added plain sugars) I would taste the beer and see if it tastes ok. My concern would be an infection if your FG got that low (eg: bacteria kept eating sugar your yeast couldn't). You also may want to test your hydrometer in water at either 60 or 68 degrees depending on your hydrometer, it should read 1.000.

If your gravity is really 1.001, you'll have a beer with very little body and very little residual flavor, except for any hop flavor.

EDIT: This might be obvious, but I just want to check. You reading wasn't 1.010 not 1.001 was it?

 

[Orfy]

If its 1001 then I'm afraid you have not made beer. It's alcoholic water at best.

I can't see how you can do that with malt extracts. Are you sure it's not 1010?
How does it taste, what is the colour?

9.5 lbs of pale malt in 5 gallon(us) should give OG of 1068 and FG of 1005-1008 @ 6.6% ABV

 

[david_42]

I've seen ciders that low, but never beer.

 

[ayrton]

I've seen a mead (not my own) that went below the 1.000 mark, but I think a beer is going to taste *really* thin with no body like that.

 

[messi]

Thanks for all the replies.

The reading was 1.001 not 1.010 and I have a 60 degree hydro and the sample was at 62 deg. When we tasted it, it did have very little body to it. My friend doesn't want to open a bottle just to take another reading. He did not have a target FG (or SG for that matter). So he doesn't care.

Thanks again.

 

[Orfy]

Let him have it all and don't let him formulate any recipes for you.