Very Low FG

[Mutt98]

I brewed Edwort's Bee Cave Bavarian Hefeweizen about three weeks ago and kegged it the other night. Everything went without a hitch on brew day OG of 1.054, and I had fast bubbling in the airlock within a few hours. Kept a close eye on fermentation temps, holding steady between 68 and 70 for two weeks before storing in closet for another week. Cold crashed for three days and kegged. Didn't bother taking gravity reading before kegging, since everything seemed to go as planned. Decided I better grab one just to see how things turned out. 1.030!?!?!?!?!? What are the possible causes. I have a massive amount of yeast slurry left over. Krausen ring looks pretty small though. Recipe is posted below. Only thing that might have been off would be mash temps. But I hit my temps according to beersmith. Just didn't check in mash.

Recipe Type: All Grain
Yeast: Wyeast 3068 Weihenstephan
Yeast Starter: Yes
Batch Size (Gallons): 5.5
Original Gravity: 1.052
Final Gravity: 1.009
IBU: 10-13
Boiling Time (Minutes): 60
Color: 3-4 SRM
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 10 days at 68 degrees
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): None

3rd Place winner of the 2007 Alamo Cerveza Fest

Bavarian Hefeweizen 5.5 Gallon

7# German Wheat
4# German Pils
.5# Rice Hulls (if needed to prevent stuck mash)

Mash for 90 minutes at 153 degrees.

.75 Hallertau @ 45
.25 Hallertau @ 15

Wyeast Weihenstephan 3068 with starter.

Ferment 10 days at 68 degrees then crash cool & keg.

O.G. 1.052
F.G. 1.009

5.6% abv

 

[NewWestBrewer]

Check your thermometer. I had 3 straight brews finish high. Checked my thermometer in boiling water and it was reading 206. Was mashing 5 degress higher than I thought.

 

[Mutt98]

I actually bought a new one after this last brew. I better check it before I start a new one. Thanks for the tip.

 

[Onkel_Udo]

I actually bought a new one after this last brew. I better check it before I start a new one. Thanks for the tip.

Yep, test in boiling water and then a cup of ice that has melted to half ice, half water (Assuming the range goes down to 32 f). If one is high and one is low do a little interpolation but for beer to be off as much as yours was there has to ba at least 5-6 degree error.

 

[chewse]

Too bad you didn't take an initial reading. You might have not started at the OG. But then again, your FG is way off.

 

[Yooper]

You're not using a refractometer, right? You're using a hydrometer that is accurate?

 

[Mutt98]

Yeah, it's a hydrometer. 1.054 on my OG. Sorry, forgot to mention that. No problems with hydrometer readings before. Digital thermometer quit working so had to go with a back up.

 

[Mutt98]

Just realized my title should have been "very high FG." Lol

 

[Mutt98]

So, I checked my thermometer. It's laughably incorrect. New thermometer is spot on though. So, looks like my wheat IPA will not suffer the same fate this weekend. At least not for the same reason

 

[AndyRN]

I just made this beer a month ago and have just now had my first bottles. I really missed my OG, I ended up a 1.044 and FG was 1.009. I used a 1.5L yeast starter and holy cow I have never seen fermentation so vigorous. It looked like it was boiling for almost 2 days. My 3' blow off tube was filled with krausen. I would say it was under pitched. Here's a video of this beer after 24 hours. You have to turn up the quality to see it really moving. https://plus.google.com/107594093178176857650/posts/M2n7FK4vvfT?pid=6128673867228394338&oid=107594093178176857650

As a side not I really like this beer, the banana is very prominent. I ordered more grains this past week to make it again.

 

[riderkb]

I just made this beer a month ago and have just now had my first bottles. I really missed my OG, I ended up a 1.044 and FG was 1.009. I used a 1.5L yeast starter and holy cow I have never seen fermentation so vigorous. It looked like it was boiling for almost 2 days. My 3' blow off tube was filled with krausen. I would say it was under pitched. Here's a video of this beer after 24 hours. You have to turn up the quality to see it really moving. https://plus.google.com/107594093178176857650/posts/M2n7FK4vvfT?pid=6128673867228394338&oid=107594093178176857650

As a side not I really like this beer, the banana is very prominent. I ordered more grains this past week to make it again.

This would be considered an over pitch rather than an under pitch. Don't be concerned with that, though. If the yeast-derived flavors are to your liking then it was the correct pitch rate.

 

[AndyRN]

Yes I did like the banana flavor, was not over powering but was definitely there. Strength was on the same level of the citrus flavor in Blue Moon. I was saying he probably under pitched his beer which left him with a stuck fermentation.

 

[Mutt98]

I had a healthy 1.5L starter made. Looks like my thermometer is to blame. Mash temps might have been double digit degrees off.