Lower than expected final gravity with extract kit

[user 163849]

This is the second time thay I have brewed the Williams Brewing Stout extract kit. My original gravity was 1.050 with both kits just as the instruction sheet predicted. The sheet predicts a final gravity of "1.024 or less". The first kit came in very close at 1.021. My second batch using this kit has been in the fermenter for three days shy of three weeks. When I checked it today, in anticipation of bottling come Saturday, this batch reads 1.012. I did double check the reading with a second hydrometer. The sample tasted fine by the way, maybe a little less flavorful than the previous batch but no off flavor that I could detect.

I did make a yeast starter, used bottled oxygen to oxygenate, and fermentation temp was controled at 20c for both batches. As this is an extract kit I have no idea of mash temps etc and Williams Brewing does not reveal their recipe.

This is only the forth batch that I have ever brewed so I have no idea if this is an indication of anything other than a higher abv for stout number 2. Stout number 1 is excellent by the way, every bottle is better than the one before it, and they will likely all be gone before even one reaches it's peak.

 

[unionrdr]

In my experience, a 1.024 FG from a 1.050 OG is a bit steep. 1.010 to 1.012 would be more normal to me.

 

[CDGoin]

I think the 1.012 is fine.. Getting down to there is good means most sugars are gone.

The 1.021 is a bit high

Your yeast were probably just fresher, or when you pitched you did it at a cooler temp so you didnt lose as many, etc.. etc..

Long story short, they did a better job, OR you waited longer so they had more time to finish.

Anyway, it will be a bit dryer and have more ABV when its all said and done. Thats about it.

 

[user 163849]

In my experience, a 1.024 FG from a 1.050 OG is a bit steep. 1.010 to 1.012 would be more normal to me.

Based on everything that I have read I was under the same impression. Actually the maker of this kit only mentions the og in their catalog description but 1.050 proved to be spot on in both kits. The same description also claims an abv of 4.9 percent which falls right in line with the 1.012 reading I have on the present batch. Even though the instruction sheet itself makes no mention of og it does say to take a reading after 14 days and to proceed with bottling only if the sg is 1.024 or less. There is no mention of abv in the intruction sheet. Maybe they are allowing for the impatience of some new brewers.

After going over all of this in my mind I now get the impression that this batch is right on course and that first one is the one that I should question. But that first batch is so damn good I hate to think what it will be like if this one is even better. I'll never get a pipeline going like this. Ha!

 

[flars]

You most likely would not need to use priming sugar, bottling in the 1.020 range for a beer that will finish at 1.012.

 

[unionrdr]

Ha. 1.024 or less is a bit vague as well as too high for the OG. So the FG you got this time is right where it should've finished. And ABV is a function of OG & FG. The Cooper's formula I use is (OG-FG) / 7.46 + .5 = ABV%. There are some 8 different formulas out there, with Cooper's giving an ABV in line with what Beersmith 2 gives me.

 

[user 163849]

Just for general information I have ignored the waiting times in the kit instructions. From what I have learned from this website I have adopted the "3 weeks in fermenter, 3 weeks in the bottle at 70f, and 2 weeks in the fridge" (well, I might cheat a bit on those last two), until or unless I learn better.

 

[user 163849]

Perhaps this is why batch number one must be poured so slowly to get a 12 oz bottle of beer to fit into a 20 oz mug. Ha!

 

[user 163849]

You most likely would not need to use priming sugar, bottling in the 1.020 range for a beer that will finish at 1.012.

I'm sure you are right. The batch did read the same 1.021 four days apart before bottling.

 

[unionrdr]

I'm thinking at the least, that 1st batch stalled. Or you wound up with more unfermentables in that batch somehow?

 

[ericbw]

The one that finished at 1.024 is probably great because it's sweet and creamy. I had a brown that finished high and it was great. The next one will be dry by comparison. Maybe you'll prefer number one!

 

[cjonesga]

FG of 1.010 to 1.022 is okay for an american stout according to BJCP.

 

[unionrdr]

But it still depends on OG & the amount of unfermentables.

 

[user 163849]

Yep. I'm new to all of this but I reckon I should not have considered that 1.024 as a predicted final gravity. I suppose it is William's version of some kind of maximum bottling gravity or something. Haha.

I just checked my notes and they at least are consistant with their instructions. The Porter kit that I got from them called for 1.021 or less and I got 1.010 fg, the brown ale said 1.019 or less and I got 1.009 (og 1.045). So I apparantly misinterpreted the meaning of what they appear to say on the instruction sheet. It is all very good beer though, to me anyway.

 

[user 163849]

This is where I got the impression I had about the fg.

I know I read somewhere on this website that the first step in brewing an extract kit is to throw away the instruction sheet. That might not have been bad advise. I also got my fermenting temps from this sheet, they too seemed slightly higher than I expected from what I have read elsewhere.

 

[k1ngl1ves]

You most likely would not need to use priming sugar, bottling in the 1.020 range for a beer that will finish at 1.012.

Yes and no. This is an extract kit, and he didn't put together the recipe/ingredients. Recipes can vary with extract kits, especially if the person putting it together doesn't care or is hurried... or a different brand extract was used.

1st batch could have had more unfermentables, or just been another example of the mysterious 1.02 Extract Curse. If so, bottling it with no sugar would result in no carbonation.

Now, things would be a bit different if it was all grain. You know exactly what's in it, and how it's gonna ferment. I don't recommend it though. Too much risk for a small reward/savings.


I think it's a gamble to bottle anything before primary fermentation has completed. Just being off a bit on your calculations can result in some highly motivated bottles! Some people do it with great success. I'd have a closet full of beer soaked clothes...

 

[user 163849]

Still at 1.012 today. I would bottle tomorrow but will wait for Sunday's "heat wave" (supposed to get up to 50f) so it will not be so cold in the garage then.