Scottish ale Final Gravity Question

[nickjam]

I brewed a Scottish Ale and just bottled it toady. The starting gravity was 1.059 (0.001 above where it was supposed to be), the gravity when I racked into secondary to clear the beer a little was 1.020, then on bottling day the final gravity was 1.018! The beer was only supposed to go down to 1.028.

Why did mine go so low and what does this mean for my beer?

Thanks!

 

[FlyingHorse]

Recipe? Process? Yeast?

Absent that info, I'd have to guess that elves have been dipping into your fermenter at night, nibbling away at some of the unfermentable sugars.

Seriously, though, this is a tough question to answer without more details on what you did.

EDIT: as far as "what it means" -- your beer will have a higher ABV by about 1.3%, and a little less body and sweetness than the recipe intended. Probably not enough to make it "bad", just different.

 

[Got Trub?]

1.059->1.018 gives you 70% attenuation - about avg for most yeast. I wouldn't expect a Scottish ale to finish at 1.028, not even a wee heavy so I don't know where the expected FG of 1.028 comes from.

 

[Orfy]

1028 is way to high for a 1059 brew. Even 1018 is a little high.

 

[nickjam]

The kit I got from Williams Brewing said that 1.028 was the expected FG. I went off that. Sounds like it doesn't matter if it tastes good!

NICK

 

[DeathBrewer]

unless your bottles explode. if that's what their kit said, however, then maybe the ingredients just contain a LOT of unfermentables. huh.

 

[Phan71]

Here's a thought: Maybe it's a typo in the directions, and you're actually right on target. 1028 does seem like a really high FG for a beer that started out at 1059.