Gravity?

[nordoe]

Ok, so I brewed my second all grain recipe a few weeks ago. It was a Belgium strong dark ale. It was supposed to have an OG of 1.091 and final at 1.020. I was pretty upset when my OG was 1.070 after adjusting for temperature. I thought I would probably finish around the 1.020 and my ABV would be very off. Instead it still moved almost the 7 degrees and finished at 1.006. Is there any easy explination for this? Is there any problem with it dropping that low? Or do you think maybe I was a lot closer and my hydrometer is off? Thanks in advance for the help.

 

[FromZwolle]

what temperature did you mash at? what was your yeast? can you post the recipe? and what temps did you ferment at? we need a little more info to answer your question accurately.

 

[erkwist]

check your hydrometer, take a water reading. Even if its off I doubt it would be in the range of .020 pts or so. It may account for some of it

 

[nordoe]

what temperature did you mash at? what was your yeast? can you post the recipe? and what temps did you ferment at? we need a little more info to answer your question accurately.

No problem:

3 gallon batch
4lbs 2row
3.5 Munich light
1.25 Wheat
.25 aromatic
.25 crystal 20
.1 chocolate
.5 Belgium soft candy sugar
1oz tet 60min
.5 hallertauer 20min

wlp500- trappist yeast

strike at 163 for 60
sparge at 186 for 15

 

[FromZwolle]

with that info, i'm leaning towards a hydrometer problem, but the 60 min mash may have something to do with it. if your conversion was finished at 20 min, for example, and you kept mashing for another 40 min, the enzymes were still working at the unfermentables, reguardless of your mash temps. that would lead to a more fermentable work, and a lower final gravity.

you can check your hydrometer by floating it in plain water. it should read: 1.000.

if it looks good. you should check for starch next time you mash and do mash out as soon as full conversion is complete.

 

[nordoe]

with that info, i'm leaning towards a hydrometer problem, but the 60 min mash may have something to do with it. if your conversion was finished at 20 min, for example, and you kept mashing for another 40 min, the enzymes were still working at the unfermentables, reguardless of your mash temps. that would lead to a more fermentable work, and a lower final gravity.

you can check your hydrometer by floating it in plain water. it should read: 1.000.

if it looks good. you should check for starch next time you mash and do mash out as soon as full conversion is complete.

I will definetly check my hydrometer when i get home. Sorry, this may be a dumb question, but isn't a 60 minute mash sort of a standard? I know there are different types of mashing, but are you saying only mash for 20 minutes? I have never heard of that.

 

[FromZwolle]

the 20 minutes was just thrown in there as an example time. i've had full conversion everywhere from 20 min to 70 min. you just have more control over the final product if you mash at a set temp and stop very soon after conversion. people usually do the 60 min mash just to be certain all the starches are converted, but doing that can lead to low final gravities.

 

[FromZwolle]

should have included this before, but to check for conversion you:
take a piece of chalk or a white plate to use as a palate, then take a small amount of wort, say from the tip of your thermometer and put it onto the chalk or plate. then add a drop of iodine solution. if it turns black, or any other dark color, starches are present. if it doesn't change color or looks a little reddish, conversion is complete.

 

[nordoe]

should have included this before, but to check for conversion you:
take a piece of chalk or a white plate to use as a palate, then take a small amount of wort, say from the tip of your thermometer and put it onto the chalk or plate. then add a drop of iodine solution. if it turns black, or any other dark color, starches are present. if it doesn't change color or looks a little reddish, conversion is complete.

thanks, i will try that next time.