FG 994

Dirtyharry

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I made a lager with OG 1055. FG was supposed to be 1000. Turned out to be 994 the ABV was supposed to be 5.2% ended up at 6.8%. I'm trying to figure out what happened. The recipe called for amylo 300 after yeast. Could this be the reason? Also problem with carbing. I have a quikcarb. Good head on beer but after bottling , very little head on beer when I pour into glass. I have tried laying beer on the side to see if caps leaking but same result. Beer is not flat just very little head of foam. Too much carb?
 
If you use the enzyme, you fermented everything out. Your low FG is just a by-product of the enzyme eating up all the available sugars and starches. Also super-attenuated beers tend to have little head unless you added non-fermentables or step-mashed to get some dextrines. Even then, the enzyme attacks complex molecules that the yeast would normally not be able to metabolize, leaving less stuff for head formation.
 
I made a lager with OG 1055. FG was supposed to be 1000. Turned out to be 994 the ABV was supposed to be 5.2% ended up at 6.8%. I'm trying to figure out what happened. The recipe called for amylo 300 after yeast. Could this be the reason? Also problem with carbing. I have a quikcarb. Good head on beer but after bottling , very little head on beer when I pour into glass. I have tried laying beer on the side to see if caps leaking but same result. Beer is not flat just very little head of foam. Too much carb?
Yep I'd say that sure is the result of the Amylo 300 That stuff continues to convert starches whilst the yeast are doing their thing. Looks like it ate through absolutely everything lol.
I'm guessing that explains may be your head retention issues.

If only just packaged give it another week or two better carbonation might produce a tighter more clingy head.

Welcome to the forum BTW;).
 
If you use the enzyme, you fermented everything out. Your low FG is just a by-product of the enzyme eating up all the available sugars and starches. Also super-attenuated beers tend to have little head unless you added non-fermentables or step-mashed to get some dextrines. Even then, the enzyme attacks complex molecules that the yeast would normally not be able to metabolize, leaving less stuff for head formation.
Can you give me an example of non fermentables? Correction on my previous post. ABV is 7.8%!!
 
What they said. Am I missing something, cuz 1.055 to .994 on the BF ABV calculator is 8%. 1.055 to 1 is 7.2%.
 
Yep I'd say that sure is the result of the Amylo 300 That stuff continues to convert starches whilst the yeast are doing their thing. Looks like it ate through absolutely everything lol.
I'm guessing that explains may be your head retention issues.

If only just packaged give it another week or two better carbonation might produce a tighter more clingy head.

Welcome to the forum BTW;).
I'm using a quikcarb not carbing in bottles with sugar. Thanks. Been here for a while just reading and learning.
 
Can you give me an example of non fermentables? Correction on my previous post. ABV is 7.8%!!
Off the top of my head Maltose and Dextrines produced at the upper end of the saccrification temp range like 70c plus

Usual the Amylase enzymes have trouble breaking down the more complex carbohydrate sugar chains. So your wort has more complex sugar molecules that most yeast can't then ferment and turn into alcohol leaving a higher final gravity reading. But using your Amylase enzymes in the fermentor these continue to break down these usually non fermentable sugars into more easily fermentable sugar which the yeast then turn into alcohol and other things like CO2 ect ect this will therefore thin out the beer quite a bit resulting may be in a beer that comes across maybe quite crisp or maybe even watery being so light in body. I'm imagining there would also be some alcohol noted in the finish as well at that percentage which in turn might play havock on the head of the beer.
My head hurts now:confused: take it with a grain of salt lol.

JA will explain it clearer;)
 
Trialben has it pretty much in order.
Enzymes activated during mashing have different temps at which they "turn on" and then become denatured. Those different enzymes produce different types of sugar molecules. The sugars produced at lower temps are highly fermentable because the yeast can metabolize them quite easily. Sugars produced at higher temps (dextrines, for example) don't get used up by the yeast and can contribute to slightly sweeter flavor and better head retention.
Enzymes added during fermentation assist in breaking down those bigger molecules of the less fermentable sugars and they can be converted to alcohol, leaving a higher alcohol content and less dextrines, etc that would have contributed to head retention if they hadn't been used up. Lactose is another non-fermentable sugar but that's not produced during mashing and added to some recipes. I don't know how lactose interacts with added enzymes.
Hope that's helpful.
 
How did you measure your FG?
Hydrometer or refractometer?
Refractometer readings need to be adjusted.
And did you taste the beer? Is there any sweetness left?
 
The enzyme would have driven the FG down by consuming the dextrines. I'd guess you have a very thin body, little flavor and no sweetness in the beer. There's something to be said for knowing what an ingredient does before adding it....

Simply put, brewer's yeast can digest very few simple sugars. The natural enzymes in malt leave quite a bit of longer chain sugars (3 glucose units and up) and short-chain starches commonly called dextrines in the wort. Dextrines are good: They provide body and the natural amylase enzymes in your saliva break them down, providing a sweet flavor to the beer (there's effectively no sweetness in beer). What you did is to add another amylase enzyme - remember the saliva thing - that broke the short-chain starches and likely even the triglycerides down into sugar units the yeast could digest.

I have no idea why the original recipe called for the enzyme unless someone was specifically going for a low-carb beer (alcohol, although a carbohydrate, is metabolized as a fat). Even allowing for that, the recipe was not well designed, as you discovered by producing a flavorless, watery 7.8% ABV beer. There are a few good sources for recipes. The major brewing publications generally won't publish a bad one because of their reputation. Many of us can provide you decent recipes. Always remember this: You never know who is on the other end of the Internet. Look for reputable sources.
 
Enzyme-assisted fermentation seems to be a bit of a fad these days. It's not common at all in traditional brewing and has never been a staple of homebrewing until very recently, in my experience. I blame Brut IPAs and White Claw. :D
Bottom line, don't use it unless you intend to produce a very light bodied or very high alcohol beer. And if you do choose to use it, understand that you really need to have a handle on every aspect of your mash and fermentation regimen in order to have a controlled outcome.
Good luck. :)
 

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