Lower Final Gravity Than Expected

[sparky2284]

i brewed an IPA and i Mashed my grains at 156 degrees for an hour as recommended on BeerSmith. my final gravity was estimated to be at 1.017 and when i checked today the 13th day of fermentation it was at 1.010-1.012. Is my beer bad now? or is it gonna be ok?

 

[user 19629]

BeerSmith is just giving an estimation. So many factors involved in fermentation.
Depending on the recipe I think it will actually be better finishing at the lower gravity.
1.017 is at the high end for an IPA.

 

[brewmeister13]

That is pretty low considering the mash temp. I would check that the thermometers you are using to check mash temp are correct.

 

[DrBrew809]

Had this problem before. I was getting crazy because I couldn't find an answer why my beers doesn't reach the SG or the FG depicted following all guidelines to the R.
Guess what? The thermometer that i was using was bad calibrated. It was the trutemp model and when it was marking my mash temp. it really was 8-12 degrees lower. I did reach into this because got two more analog thermometers and the only one not near the true mash temp was the digital "truetemp" thermometer. So watch out for this. Perhaps that's where your problem resides.

 

[DrBrew809]

Ups...it was duplicated.

 

[tooldudetool]

1.010-1.012 is typical for an ipa, 1.017 would be pretty darn high unless you used lots of crystal malts with unfermentable sugars.. Usually you want a dry crisp IPA to showcase the hops. 156 is also a pretty high mash temp for an IPA, usually I mash at 150 for ipas so that it will finish out dry enough. I agree that you should check the accuracy of your thermometer.

 

[AerationStation]

Just a shot in the dark but did you use a hydrometer or refractometer to measure the FG?

 

[sparky2284]

Just a shot in the dark but did you use a hydrometer or refractometer to measure the FG?

I used a hydrometer. Do you guys recommend using digital or analog thermometer and which do you recommend. I use the analog I get from the brew store.

 

[brewmeister13]

Digital, but you have to make sure that it is accurate. I'm lucky enough to have a wife that went to culinary school, so we have a thermapen. Highly recommended if you can afford it.

 

[sparky2284]

Digital, but you have to make sure that it is accurate. I'm lucky enough to have a wife that went to culinary school, so we have a thermapen. Highly recommended if you can afford it.

Thanks, I'll have to look on some of the brewing supply sites

 

[brewmeister13]

Not sure that you'll find any on brewing sites. Honestly, I think Thermoworks may be the only place to buy them

 

[sparky2284]

Not sure that you'll find any on brewing sites. Honestly, I think Thermoworks may be the only place to buy them

thanks

 

[brewmeister13]

Double post, damn phone.

 

[adamelb]

I scored my Thermapen through an open box sale last month for $74. Definitely worth looking into, links are occasionally posted around the web as thermoworks keeps these sales somewhat hidden. No warranty but mine has worked perfect so far.

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