Confused with my hydro reading

[erick0619]

Grain bill was 14 lbs 2row 1 lbs cl20. I honestly wouldn't be able to tell you my efficiency I kinda winged it on my first all grain brew. I took a pre boil reading that came out to 1.040, My pre boil volume was 6.50 gallons. It was getting late and I was tired and I forgot to take an OG reading. I just took a reading today I'll include the picture after the post but it just seems way too low to me, since when I opened up the bucket to take the reading, there was still some bubbles/yeast rafts on top and you could still see co2 bubbles being pushed up through the beer. Any thoughts in this?

 

[drbrewer]

well, 1st check hydrometer with water to see if it is accurate, mine reads about 0.004 too high. it looks like your reading is about 1.004-1.006. as far as i know possible causes for low FG could be too low of a mash temp or too high temps for fermentation. anyone with more experience /knowledge please correct me if this isn't accurate. BTW how did sample taste?

 

[erick0619]

well, 1st check hydrometer with water to see if it is accurate, mine reads about 0.04 too high. it looks like your reading is about 1.004-1.006. as far as i know possible causes for low FG could be too low of a mash temp or too high temps for fermentation. anyone with more experience /knowledge please correct me if this isn't accurate. BTW how did sample taste?

I'll do just that when I get home, luckily I left the sample in the tube just in case. It must have been a low mash temp because I fermented at 68 for the first week and a half then cranked it up to 71. But it seems odd to me that I mashed low because I poured in 185 degree water into the mash tun and **** the lid for about 10 minutes to warm up. I then stirred the water untill I reaches my strike temp of 162 so I could mash at 152. Could this be just me getting really low efficiency? I mean my whole sparge process was a wreck. Oh and the beer tastes good man I used 2oz magnum at 60 1.5 centennial at 30 then 1.5 at 10 and again 1.5 at 1 minute. I also dry hopped with 2 oz centennial last Sunday. The beer definetly tasted like an IPA it actually tasted pretty good and it was somewhat carbonated so my plans for bottling tomorrow are not happening.

 

[erick0619]

Also felt I should add that I used wlp001

 

[sandyeggoxj]

Sounds like you made a session IPA! With that much grain you should be more in the 1.055-1.070 range post boil. Pre boil would be about 8-10 points below you post boil.

Where did you mill the grain? Are you thermometers accurate?

 

[erick0619]

Sounds like you made a session IPA! With that much grain you should be more in the 1.055-1.070 range post boil. Pre boil would be about 8-10 points below you post boil.

Where did you mill the grain? Are you thermometers accurate?

We'll I honestly can't be upset with that now can I haha. I'm just glad it tastes good and it's beer so let's say the pre boil gravity is 10 points lower than the post boil like you say, that would have made 1.050 og reading, with these numbers would I be able to calculate an approximate efficiency? I got my grains milled at my LHBS and yeah I calibrated my thermometer in boiling water before brew day but it was tap water so there's that...

 

[wailingguitar]

If you're seeing gas in the beer, then that could very well effect your FG reading. Dissolved CO2 in beer will give you a false low reading since the gas makes the beer less dense. In a commercial setting I always de-gas my samples after fermentation has started. Basically, just pouring the beer sample from one vessel to another, repeatedly (maybe 20 times back and forth), allowing it to foam up. Once the foam has subsided, the bulk of the CO2 should be driven from the beer and you should get a more accurate reading. I say "in a commercial setting" because, to be honest, I don't bother with FG at home… when it's done, it's done and I don't want to waste a glass of beer