Why low in alcohol?

[tengstrom]

What are the main reasons beer ends up low in alcohol? My last batch of a typical American pale ale tastes heavy, not crisp, and doesn't get us the typical level of inebriated. I sort of suspect not cooling the wort enough before pitching the yeast.


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[nukebrewer]

The problem you're referring to is low attenuation and there are a number of causes of it. The two most common are not pitching the proper amount of healthy yeast and not aerating the wort enough. We'd be able to provide more assistance if you told us a little bit more about your process. Starter? Aeration technique? What type of yeast? How old is said yeast?

 

[alohanole]

Too high a pitching temp would be a good reason. A little more info would be handy (extract, all grain, etc.)

Does the beer have a sweet finish? If the original gravity is low, your alcohol content will suffer accordingly. Do you have a hygrometer or refractometer to measure your gravity? There are several possibilities.

 

[Ramitt]

What are the main reasons beer ends up low in alcohol?

Lack of fermentables, or poor technique. We can't help without more information.

 

[tengstrom]

Thanks, guys. Yeah, the kit did sit around for a year. I used extract. I didn't measure gravity as I had to watch kids and such, so I just made it. I probably didn't aerate the wort enough either. Still, how important is wort temperature to yeast? I have had trouble finding much info on that. (By the way, I have a new thermometer, and my next batch should be better.)


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[estricklin]

Don't give up!

You'll get it. Temperature is pretty important for great taste, but as far as ethanol production, unless your way off when you pitched or fermented, that's not your problem.

 

[alohanole]

Did you use dry or liquid yeast? How old was your yeast?

 

[boydster]

What are the main reasons beer ends up low in alcohol? My last batch of a typical American pale ale tastes heavy, not crisp, and doesn't get us the typical level of inebriated. I sort of suspect not cooling the wort enough before pitching the yeast.


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I don't think pitching warm is your problem, unless you were in the 120-130F ballpark. Low alcohol and heavy tasting is screaming underattenuation. What kind of yeast did you use? How much extract did you use? Assuming dry yeast, did you rehydrate it? If you used liquid yeast, did you make a starter? Fermenting too cold could also cause the yeast to floc out early. Is that a possibility?

A hydrometer is the best tool to help diagnose fermentation issues.

 

[kombat]

Still, how important is wort temperature to yeast?

It's quite simply the single most important factor in making good beer.

Below 60°F, you risk putting the yeast to sleep and under attenuating.

Above 68°F, you risk overexciting the yeast and producing fusel alcohols and some unpleasant tasting esters.

Above 120°F, you risk killing the yeast entirely.