Not that its always a bad thing, but the last 2 of my 5 gallon batches have had below 5% abv. I used the smack packs both times and they were fairly fresh. Both batches have also been all grain. I can't figure out what I'm doin wrong to get such a low abv? Any ideas
Low ABV %
- Thread starter dirtysock
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what's your OG's of these beers? the only way to get a high ABV is to start with a higher gravity wort.
Yes, The type of yeast does not have as much effect on ABV as does the original gravity of the wort. To get higher ABV you need to brew a higher gravity recipe.
If you are not hitting the target OG then you are mashing or sparging the wrong amounts or wrong temperatures.
If you are not hitting the target OG then you are mashing or sparging the wrong amounts or wrong temperatures.
Sparging 1 quart per 1 lb of 10 lbs of grain at 170 degrees for an hour. My brew partner has the notes and o.g. I can't find the iodine to do the starch to sugar conversion test. What's a good starting o.g. for a basic ale?
KevinW
Well-Known Member
Yup it's all about sugars and yeast. More fermentable sugars generally means a lower FG as opposed to less fermentable sugars.
A higher attenuating yeast will eat more fermentable sugars giving a lower FG.
Higher mash temps ~158° produce less fermentable sugars, lower mash temps ~150° produce more fermentable sugars.
Higher OG can give higher ABV but you need the right combination of attenuation from the yeast and fermentable sugars!
Of course none of this will work if you don't have accurate gravity and volume measurements!
Good luck
A higher attenuating yeast will eat more fermentable sugars giving a lower FG.
Higher mash temps ~158° produce less fermentable sugars, lower mash temps ~150° produce more fermentable sugars.
Higher OG can give higher ABV but you need the right combination of attenuation from the yeast and fermentable sugars!
Of course none of this will work if you don't have accurate gravity and volume measurements!
Good luck
Do you mean sparging or mashing? Most people mash at 1.25 qt/lb at ~148-156*F depending on the beer. Sparging is just rinsing the rest of the sugars from the grain to collect your full boil volume. No need to calculate any water/grain ratios for sparging.
And it depends on what your definition of basic ale is. An American Pale Ale? India Pale Ale? Dry Stout? Give us some more information, we do want to help but it helps to have more knowledge of your processes and recipes.
Actually it was mashing and its a wheat beer and I used a german ale yeast. I used 10 lbs of wheat grain and 3.3 lbs of wheat extract. Mashed it with 1 qt per lb of grain for 1 hour. Boiled wort for 1 hour then used wort chiller to 76*F then pitched yeast....forgot to aerorate. Does the sparge temp make a diff
Yes, mash and sparge temps do make a difference (well mash at least, there's some other information out there regarding sparge temps not mattering, but that's for another thread). You can look up charts that show different enzyme activity in the mash at different temperatures, and for most beers what I posted earlier with 148-156*F will get you a fairly fermentable wort. ~170*F denatures enzymes so you won't actually get hardly any, if at all, fermentable sugars.
Is this for a 5 gallon batch? If so, 10 lbs of wheat malt and 3.3 lbs of LME should be netting you way higher than 5% abv. I suggest doing some reading up on brewing all grain batches. This is a good place to start: http://www.suebob.com/brew/Bobby_Mallgrainprimer.pdf
I'd say for a wheat mash around 152-154*F. And 1 hour should be plenty. I brewed an American wheat over the summer that was:
4.5 lbs 2-row
4.5 lbs White wheat malt
0.5 oz Magnum - 60 min
S-05, fermented at 70*F
Mashed at 152*F. I hit somewhere right around 5% abv, and it was a nice easy drinking beer that was ready for the fall. I really can't stress enough that you should probably be doing some reading outside of this forum to get a solid foundation of knowledge on brewing. There's great books out there, and they're worth every penny. I've been brewing for almost a year now and I still use JP's How To Brew for reference.
4.5 lbs 2-row
4.5 lbs White wheat malt
0.5 oz Magnum - 60 min
S-05, fermented at 70*F
Mashed at 152*F. I hit somewhere right around 5% abv, and it was a nice easy drinking beer that was ready for the fall. I really can't stress enough that you should probably be doing some reading outside of this forum to get a solid foundation of knowledge on brewing. There's great books out there, and they're worth every penny. I've been brewing for almost a year now and I still use JP's How To Brew for reference.
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