Gravity Questions

[whirlybirds]

I'm on my 3rd 5 gallon batch of beer and I keep having the same problem - lower gravity than I anticipated. My first beer was an Belgian Witbier, which the original gravity was very low and ended with a finial gravity that only gave me 3.1% ABV. I ended up having the same problem with a Oatmeal Stout I brewed a few weeks ago, which is still conditioning so I have no idea what the FG will come out to. Last night I brewed an English Red Ale and I'm having the same problem. My targeted OG was 1.0532-1.054 and I ended up hitting 1.040. Why is this happening? Does this have anything to do with my wort boil not being hot enough?

 

[scubaDAN1985]

Is it all grain or did u use extract

 

[whirlybirds]

Extract on all.

 

[eppo]

If its extract, you are probably getting close to target gravity, but not mixing well, so your reading is off.
If its all grain, it could be a bunch of things. Bad grind, wrong water amounts, not mashing long enough.
You will have to give more info into your process.

 

[Shaneoco1981]

I would need the recipe to know for sure what it should be, but it could be a lack of evaporation during boil, it could be not getting good conversion if you are doing all grain, or it could be a few other things. If you are using a kit and doing a partial boil and then adding water to your carboy, (which is my guess is what you doing), then my guess is you are not mixing it well enough and you are not getting an accurate reading. Extract is pretty simple and it will give you a pretty accurate reading unless you scorch the hell out of it. The good thing about yeast is that when they go about doing their job, they do a great job of mixing it. So if you just aren't mixing it well, you can probably assume that your actual final abv is what the kit says it should be, not what you reading. Enjoy the hobby.

 

[eppo]

Ok, check my first tip.
Are you topping off to correct amount?

 

[homebrewdad]

If this is an extract recipe, and you are close to your target volume (within a half gallon or so), and are topping off with water in your fermenter - the issue is with your reading - not the beer. Odds are outstanding that your gravity is not off like you think it is.

Think of this: pour some honey ino a glass of water. Slosh it a bit, or give it a little stir (like we do when aerating our wort). Is the honey blended throughout the water?

Nope. Odds are, your wort is not blended, either. More than likely, your sample had more water than wort in it, giving you a deceivingly low reading.

Don't worry about the mixture; the yeast will do this for you. If your volumes are right, just use the recipe OG and go on about your business.