Wyeast 3068 at 78f, low OG

[ismellbananas]

Hi all,

I just brewed my 2nd batch of beer two days ago. It was a 4 gallon batch of hefeweizen with 4lb of wheat malt, 2lb of pale ale malt and 2lb of Munich malt. I used the brew in a bag method. I cooled the wort down to 70f and took the OG reading which was only 1.04, while I was expecting something in the 1.05s range. Anyway, I pitched the pack of Wyeast 3068 after following the instructions listed on the pack. That night, less than 6 hours after I had pitched the yeast, the fermentation seemed vigorous with chunks of white matter(yeast?) moving around and the temperature had reached 78f. Now, after 48 hours, the temperature has dropped to 72f and there are no visible signs of fermentation.

Should I be worried about the low OG and the high fermentation temp? I particularly like the banana flavour in hefeweizens and if that's all I'm gonna get with the high temps, I really don't mind. Also, is 1 packet of Wyeast 3068 too much for a 4 gallon batch?

Also note, I'm not sure if I have used the right method to collect wort to check OG. Here's what I did: I poured the wort in the carboy, and was on the verge of pitching yeast when I remembered I had to check OG. I cleaned and sanitized the glass tube, and this took around 5 minutes, after which I only managed to skim the top layer of wort into the glass tube. Could this have led to an inaccurate OG reading?

 

[pdxal]

Doubtful your method gave a bad gravity reading. The wort would have been mixed well with the transfer into the carboy.
You got really bad efficiency with your mash/lauter to have a 1.04- gravity, and you pitched the yeast and are fermenting at a very high temperature at 78°. That yeast ferments strongly and really heats up, though. The good news is that it will give you a ton of banana flavor. Might even be too much. You'll also probably end up with a very thin beer unless it finishes with a higher FG.
As for the pitch, it should be OK, it will still be beer. Will it be ideal? Perhaps not. For a 1.04- beer 1 smack pack is supposed to be enough if it is incredibly fresh and handled well. For a hefeweizen many people underpitch to get more esters anyway. For another style, larger beer, or less than extremely fresh pack of liquid yeast it was underpitching.

 

[ismellbananas]

Thanks for the quick reply. Could improper crushing of grains have led to the bad efficiency? I'm not quite sure if I had crushed my grains well with a rolling pin.
I kept my mash temperatures at 148-152f and mashed out at 170.
The pack of yeast was fairly new. A little less than a month had passed since the date of manufacture.

 

[g-star]

You really need a real mill if you're going to go all grain...a rolling pin certainly won't cut it. That is undoubtedly the reason for your low efficiency.

78F is also way too warm to be fermenting at for all but the most forgiving Belgian strains. 3068 does best in the mid 60's, where you are most likely to get the delicate balance of clove and banana. Since you're just starting out, I would recommend researching temperature control options like a swamp cooler (low budget) or a refrigerator/chest freezer with a temp controller.

 

[pdxal]

A rolling pin will really only work for a pound or less of steeping grains with extract.
Bad crush will lead to bad efficiency, simple as that. You can have your grain milled at your LHBS instead of using the rolling pin. Their crush may not be perfect, many complain about low efficiencies with LHBS grain mills but still easily get 70%, and you were in the 60% range.
The mash temps were OK, and that was a fairly fresh pack of yeast, so you should be OK. You had about 75% viability yeast if the pack was handled well.