Oddball Brix reading

[Randy625]

I'm not sure what is going on with this batch so figured I'd ask. Fairly new to brewing (done a few extract and one or two all grain batches but those were last year).

Here's the recipe
6 lbs Briess Light Golden DME
1 lb flaked rice
1 lb 6 row barly
1 oz cascade hops
1 tsp irish moss
1 pkg Safale US-05 ale yeast.

Yes it's an american light lager.

I steeped the barley & rice for 34 min in 1 gal of water at 155. Did a manual sparge (in a strainer) with 1/2 gallon of water.
added that to 2 gal of water and DME.
Brought that to a boil.
0.5 oz cascade 30 min
0.25 oz cascade 15 min
irish moss 10 min
0.25 oz cascade 3 min.

cooled with wort chiller down to 84 ( a little high but low enough I think). Diluted to 5 gal
Pitched yeast. (11/25/16)
OG 1.062 @ 84 (10.65) by Hydrometer, 16 brix by refractometer

12/4/16 racked to secondary SG =1.025 @ 60 Didn't take brix for some reason. Temperature during ferments started at 60 and dropped down to 48 due to weather (in a garage and I'm in eastern washington)

Today (12/10) I racked to a keg for lagering. Purged the keg with CO2 to remove O2. I broke my hydrometer a few days ago so took the brix and got 8.4 which equates to 1.033. Temperature was 48. I tested the refractometer with RO water and it read 0.

Questions I have for this:
1. Why would the brix reading go up?
2. How will these temperatures affect the yeast?

I currently plan on lagering it for 3 weeks (yes I probably should have used a lager yeast instead of SA-05)

I tasted it and it was pretty good. First time I've made something I actually like so that's a good start. Reminded me of Ice Harbor Kolsch a little.

Thanks in advance for any advice/help

 

[doug293cz]

Refractometers are greatly affected by the presence of alcohol after fermentation has started (they read high.) You can get a reasonable correction by using the spreadsheet here.

Brew on

 

[Randy625]

Based on that spreadsheet I get:

OG 1.062
FG 1.015

Which are the exact gravities that Beersmith2 calculated for this batch. Which makes me nervous because nothing ever happens perfectly LOL

The ABV comes out to 6.1% (6.3 by Beersmith2) which is higher than I would like. (didn't have software when I started)

Seems like things are going as they should. I just need to tweak this batch later to lower the ABV. Not to mention be careful how fast I drink it.

Thanks!

 

[RM-MN]

You can relax because while nothing turns out perfectly, your broken hydrometer is the problem for this batch.

 

[Randy625]

Followup on this batch. The batch has been lagering in a fridge at about 40 F since 12/10. Today I decided to put it on carbonation and took two pulls off just to see how it's doing.

The clarity isn't bad (2nd glass pulled and a little frost on glass).

Although I now know EXACTLY what diacetyl smells like. Strong butterscotch smell to the beer. I think this may be a result of using an ale yeast and fermenting at lower temperatures than it liked.

Question: Can I do a diacetyl rest at this phase?

 

[Mer-man]

... I tested the refractometer with RO water and it read 0....

I came here to make sure this was said.

Always zero your refractometer before you start using it.

 

[RM-MN]

Followup on this batch. The batch has been lagering in a fridge at about 40 F since 12/10. Today I decided to put it on carbonation and took two pulls off just to see how it's doing.

The clarity isn't bad (2nd glass pulled and a little frost on glass).

Although I now know EXACTLY what diacetyl smells like. Strong butterscotch smell to the beer. I think this may be a result of using an ale yeast and fermenting at lower temperatures than it liked.

Question: Can I do a diacetyl rest at this phase?

I think you have enough yeast in the beer to reduce diacetyl. You have nothing to lose but some time and you might gain beer without diacetyl. I'd warm that beer up to the mid 70's for a few days and then pull a sample while still warm to see if it worked.

 

[Randy625]

Pulled a sample off today. The butterscotch smell is greatly reduced but I can still notice it. Taste is fine. I can't notice a buttery flavor but I'm new at homebrews. Leaving it inside for a couple more days to see what the yeast can do and then it will go back into lagering.

Thanks for the help all!