Lower than expected Gravity

[Sharper]

Hello all, new member, new brewer.Have a question;

We just finished our first all grain brew, a SNPA clone and when transferring to the secondary, the gravity reading seemed low. Mashed at 156 for an hour, full conversion tested, sparged at 170 for an hour. Boiled an hour. Cooled to 72, pitched Wyeast 1056.

The post boil gravity was 1.054 ( no pre-boil was taken ), the gravity after a week in the primary was 1.004. That gives an ABV of 6.7%, an an apparent attenuation of 92%, it seems very low.

The beer was clear smelled like a pale ale and tasted decent, a little bright, drier than I expected, but not way off.

We added an ounce of Cascade when we put it in the secondary, and I think we'll be ready to bottle in a week or so.

I'm just curious if the low reading is a precursor to a problem of some sort?

Thanks for the input,

-Scott

 

[eluterio]

calibrate your hydrometer if thats what you used it could be off. Distilled water at 60 degrees it should be 1.000. If its perfect then I would say holy cow you must have over pitched and you pumped tons of oxygen into your wort that made the yeast extremely happy!

 

[Sharper]

Assuming my hydrometer is calibrated, what could cause a low final gravity.

Is 90%+ attenuation a good thing, or is that a sign of an issue of some sort.

Thanks in advance.


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[duboman]

90% attenuation is above average for sure, glad to hear the hydrometer is calibrated, now check your thermometer

Finishing at 1.004 is quite low and dry for the style which correlates to mashing lower than you thought, meaning your thermometer is probably off. That would be a finishing gravity of a mash at like 148-150, not 154.


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