What SG will beer ferment down to, typically?
- Thread starter abefroman
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stratslinger
Well-Known Member
Totally varies, based on recipe, mash temps (if you do all or partial grain), yeast strain, phase of the moon (OK, that one I made up).
As far as I know, it's not typical for them to win up lower than 1.0 though. At least, I've never seen one.
As far as I know, it's not typical for them to win up lower than 1.0 though. At least, I've never seen one.
scottland
Well-Known Member
it varies, but i'll give you some ideas.
A light lager like BMC will be around 1.006 or so. A typical ale around 5% ABV is around 1.010-1.014. Most beers that have a fuller mouthfeel, or have lingering sweetness are usually a little higher, maybe 1.018 to 1.025.
A light lager like BMC will be around 1.006 or so. A typical ale around 5% ABV is around 1.010-1.014. Most beers that have a fuller mouthfeel, or have lingering sweetness are usually a little higher, maybe 1.018 to 1.025.
That's a bit of an oversimplification. You could take two batches of the exact same wort and get significantly different FGs depending on the yeast strain used. As stratslinger said, there are a number of factors affecting fermentability and attenuation. I've only had a couple of beers finish under 1.010, and they were both Belgians with significant amounts of sugar added (a dubble and a tripel, both with Wyeast 3739, both got down to 1.003).
In general 1.010 is as low as my beers go, and many finish around 1.012 to 1.014. I would be concerned to see anything higher than that, and would consider any "normal" beer finishing over 1.020 to be an example of something gone pretty wrong.
I think scottland's answer was pretty good at giving a rough idea.
In some instances it may be a bit of an oversimplification, but so is osagedr's response. There's plenty of beers that can end up with a finishing gravity of > 1.020 without anything being wrong.
If you know what beer you are making, you can check out http://www.bjcp.org/2008styles/catdex.php to see what the starting and finishing gravities are typical for that style, as well as a lot of other information.
-a.
In some instances it may be a bit of an oversimplification, but so is osagedr's response. There's plenty of beers that can end up with a finishing gravity of > 1.020 without anything being wrong.
If you know what beer you are making, you can check out http://www.bjcp.org/2008styles/catdex.php to see what the starting and finishing gravities are typical for that style, as well as a lot of other information.
-a.
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Typically I find that the 1/4 rule works as a good approximation - that is ifmy OG was 1.040 then I expect to get down towards 1.010... if I'm at 1.012 or 1.008 I don't really worry about it, but then I'm more relaxed about all that anyhow. Again, this is a guide for me, not a straight up hard and fast rule.
As to the wine below 1 and beer above, it is talked about elsewhere here, but basically wine has almost no non water and alcohol ... or it has it in a lesser degree then beer. So y ou have water at 1, alcohol at less than 1 and other stuff (tannins, malt proteins, hops bitters) that are generally above 1 bringing the average up. With beer at a lower ABV (generally) and with lots more residual protiens, it is almost always above 1.
As to the wine below 1 and beer above, it is talked about elsewhere here, but basically wine has almost no non water and alcohol ... or it has it in a lesser degree then beer. So y ou have water at 1, alcohol at less than 1 and other stuff (tannins, malt proteins, hops bitters) that are generally above 1 bringing the average up. With beer at a lower ABV (generally) and with lots more residual protiens, it is almost always above 1.
scottland
Well-Known Member
Not many beers ferment down to 1.006 either, but I was trying to give the Guy an idea what you can see. Also a lot of extract brewers will have beers finish around 1.020.
But yes, most beers will be around 1.009 and 1.018. Happy?
Lots of people, maybe even most, wouldn't even use a secondary but would leave it in the primary until bottling/kegging. I've gone up to 5 weeks in the primary; many have gone way longer than that! You are probably okay with three or four weeks, depending on how patient you are.
scottland
Well-Known Member
^^^^ definitely. I rarely secondary. Only when adding fruit, or dry hopping.
