Low FG

[Abrayton]

I brewed my first beer, a honey witbier extract kit 4 weeks ago and I am getting ready to bottle this weekend. After boil I separated one gallon of the wort and then after 3 days of fermenting I added about 12 oz of honey to that one gallon, so I now have 4 gallons of regular and one gallon with extra sugar (honey) added. I took gravity readings last night. The four gallon batch read at 1.006 and the one gallon batch read at 1.010. Both seem very low as I would expect a FG on the four gallons to be around 1.010-1.012 as stated on the recipe. I would also expect the batch that I kicked up with extra sugar to be much higher. To note, I did rack both batches to secondary fermenters after 7 days. I tasted last night after taking the readings and both beers taste fantastic (a little buttery though). Any help, advice, information would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!

 

[frazier]

I would not be concerned about a "low" FG - people more often complain about it being high!

The gallon you added honey to - the honey will basically ferment out completely, and you should not see an appreciably higher FG. It is a little higher - probably having more to do with yeast behavior, or the timing of your switch to secondary. For example, after seven days you transefer - the gallon with extra sugars was not done yet, but you took it off its yeast cake, causing it to finish high. This is speculation, but it is a scenario which may explain the results you got.

As for the buttery flavor - This could be a combination of yeast and temperature. What yeast did you use?

Cheers,

 

[Abrayton]

Danstar Munich dry yeast and have kept the temperature between 66-70 degrees. I was going for a higher ABV in the batch I added honey to and based on calculations if the OG was 1.063 and FG is 1.010 then the ABV is just under 7% and the batch I didn't add honey to (OG 1.063 and FG 1.006) is higher ABV at just over 7%? Does that seem accurate?

 

[frazier]

The honey batch had a higher OG - probably around 1.088 (making some guesses). So the ABV would end up around 10%.

Cheers,

 

[Abrayton]

That makes sense. I never took another reading immediately after adding the honey. Thanks for the info!

 

[ArthurDigbySellers]

Danstar Munich dry yeast and have kept the temperature between 66-70 degrees. I was going for a higher ABV in the batch I added honey to and based on calculations if the OG was 1.063 and FG is 1.010 then the ABV is just under 7% and the batch I didn't add honey to (OG 1.063 and FG 1.006) is higher ABV at just over 7%? Does that seem accurate?

Fermentation can raise the temperature of your beer 5 - 10 degrees higher than ambient temp. If you are not controlling the temp of your actual beer, it is likely that it fermented at a temp a little higher than is recommended for your yeast strain. That can result in the buttery (Diacetyl) flavor.