Flat Beer

Luis Lample

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Hello there, Trying to find some guidance here, I just finished a brew of Dead Ringer IPA and the results were really disappointed. Did the whole process and it looks that fermentation never happen the results were horrible.
The gravity at the end of the process was 1005 when should have been 1064 and after two weeks fermentation it ended at 1002. Any thoughts ?? Thanks in advance
 
Hello there, Trying to find some guidance here, I just finished a brew of Dead Ringer IPA and the results were really disappointed. Did the whole process and it looks that fermentation never happen the results were horrible.
The gravity at the end of the process was 1005 when should have been 1064 and after two weeks fermentation it ended at 1002. Any thoughts ?? Thanks in advance
Um obviously all grain brew?
Saccarafication didnt occur I'd suspect with a starting gravity that low just a tad high of tap water?
You would of known this if youd done a preboil gravity reading?
I think a bit more info like recipie details would help narrow down your problem here.
 
Hello there, Trying to find some guidance here, I just finished a brew of Dead Ringer IPA and the results were really disappointed. Did the whole process and it looks that fermentation never happen the results were horrible.
The gravity at the end of the process was 1005 when should have been 1064 and after two weeks fermentation it ended at 1002. Any thoughts ?? Thanks in advance

Perhaps just a matter of terminology, but what little information you give doesn't describe what your process actually was, or where in the process you actually took gravity readings.. Maybe answering a few questions would help clarify the points you're trying to make.

1. Can we assume that this was an all grain brew?

2. Assuming #1 is yes, what was your grain bill, mash temperature (after the grain and water were mixed), length of time mashed and temperature at the end of mash.

3. What do you mean by, "did the whole process"? Can we assume that this means mashing, boiling and fermentation?

4. Where in the process are you referring to when you state, "The gravity at the end of the process was 1005? Can we assume this was after mashing and boiling and prior to fermentation?

Any other details of your process would also be helpful. I can't imagine anyone pitching yeast into wort with a SG of 1.005 and expect fermentation to take place. With more information maybe we can pin this down to a measuring problem or some other anomaly.
 
If the original gravity was 1.005, then you definitely had a mash issue. The simplest mash is an infusion mash. Basically, if you can hold the mash between 145 and 155 degrees F, you will get some starch conversion. It may not be exactly as you planned, but it will give you fermentable wort.

What was your base malt and how did you mash?
 
Assuming that the OG of 1.005 is not a typo (maybe you meant 1.050) then if this was an all grain batch I would have to assume that your grain wasn't crushed. Post your recipe and more details of your procedure so we can help find the problem.
 
Um obviously all grain brew?
Saccarafication didnt occur I'd suspect with a starting gravity that low just a tad high of tap water?
You would of known this if youd done a preboil gravity reading?
I think a bit more info like recipie details would help narrow down your problem here.
Hello there, Trying to find some guidance here, I just finished a brew of Dead Ringer IPA and the results were really disappointed. Did the whole process and it looks that fermentation never happen the results were horrible.
The gravity at the end of the process was 1005 when should have been 1064 and after two weeks fermentation it ended at 1002. Any thoughts ?? Thanks in advance



Thank You All for your replies! Sorry I was not that specific with details about the brew. Here some information base on the replies.

1- Yes it was All Grain Brew
2- The Mash 11 Lbs Rahr 2- Row + 1 Lbs Briess Caramel 40, Grains Temp 70 F, I used mineral water, mash temp should have been at
152 F for 60 min, it only reached 146 F for 1 hour, mash out was at 170 F.
3- Yes when I said the whole process I mean mashing, boiling and fermentation
4- After 85 min boiling hydrometer read 1005.
5- After 2 weeks of fermentation it reached 1002
 
Thank You All for your replies! Sorry I was not that specific with details about the brew. Here some information base on the replies.

1- Yes it was All Grain Brew
2- The Mash 11 Lbs Rahr 2- Row + 1 Lbs Briess Caramel 40, Grains Temp 70 F, I used mineral water, mash temp should have been at
152 F for 60 min, it only reached 146 F for 1 hour, mash out was at 170 F.
3- Yes when I said the whole process I mean mashing, boiling and fermentation
4- After 85 min boiling hydrometer read 1005.
5- After 2 weeks of fermentation it reached 1002
Well then Saccarafication cant of occured with a Starting Gravity reading that low.
Are you sure it wasn't 1.105?
That is super weird
 
Yes I am sure It was 1005
Man that is totally weird. I can only think your thermometer is out and somehow you mashed in too high like 80c + (what that in your language 176 pluss ) and you've killed the enzymes. Your pre boil wort musta been heaps cloudy? Would of been heaps of starch in it?

I cant think of any other reasons you obtained such a low mash efficiency.

Anyone else on here got any thoughts...?
 
Mase asks a great question. Was the grain crushed? This is essential.

Trialben is thinking the same thing as I am about thermometer error or a poor temperature measurement. I'm thinking it wouldn't take much thermometer error to drop you below the beta amylase range.

Hope you don't take this wrong, but it's obvious that you need to do some studying of the process before attempting another all grain brew.
You need to achieve and maintain a reasonable mash temperature . If you miss when you dough in, you need to adjust temperature. As I said earlier, you can't expect any reasonable amount of fermentation to occur when your OG is 1.005.

Your best bet is to get a copy of How to Brew by John Palmer. It's pretty much the Bible of home brewers. For the basics, the on line free version found at howtobrew.com is a good resource, but for more up to date techniques, I recommend the 4th edition:
https://smile.amazon.com/How-Brew-E...1575285730&sprefix=how+to+brew,aps,250&sr=8-1
Hang in there. We all screwed up in the beginning.
 
Man that is totally weird. I can only think your thermometer is out and somehow you mashed in too high like 80c + (what that in your language 176 pluss ) and you've killed the enzymes. Your pre boil wort musta been heaps cloudy? Would of been heaps of starch in it?

I cant think of any other reasons you obtained such a low mash efficiency.

Anyone else on here got any thoughts...?

The Mash supposed to be at 152 for an hour it was at 146
 
Mase asks a great question. Was the grain crushed? This is essential.

Trialben is thinking the same thing as I am about thermometer error or a poor temperature measurement. I'm thinking it wouldn't take much thermometer error to drop you below the beta amylase range.

Hope you don't take this wrong, but it's obvious that you need to do some studying of the process before attempting another all grain brew.
You need to achieve and maintain a reasonable mash temperature . If you miss when you dough in, you need to adjust temperature. As I said earlier, you can't expect any reasonable amount of fermentation to occur when your OG is 1.005.

Your best bet is to get a copy of How to Brew by John Palmer. It's pretty much the Bible of home brewers. For the basics, the on line free version found at howtobrew.com is a good resource, but for more up to date techniques, I recommend the 4th edition:
https://smile.amazon.com/How-Brew-Everything-Great-Every/dp/1938469356/ref=sr_1_1?crid=36XILBH1DQDZJ&keywords=how+to+brew+by+john+palmer+4th+edition&qid=1575285730&sprefix=how+to+brew,aps,250&sr=8-1
Hang in there. We all screwed up in the beginning.


Thanks for the feed back, this was my third all grain brew, the other two were great, I think this time the problem was in the temp of the mash I could not maintain the temp as expected, I used a new spreadsheet that downloaded from the web which did some calculation about the amount of grains, the temp and desired temp to reach at the mash and it was wrong never reached the expected temp of 152 F.

Cheers!!
 
Even at 146 you should have a fermentable wort. I will say though, once I dip below 150ish, my mash times extend to 90 miniutes. I would think if you could mash out at 170, you should have been able to get your mash temps up. Either way, you should have fermentables at 146. There are calculators here on BF that will help you with water, but I'll post another cause I think it's easier for beginners to use and I also like the way the numbers are given by what you enter. https://pricelessbrewing.github.io/BiabCalc/#Advanced

Dead Ringer is a fine kit. I've brewed it several times so I know it's worthy. I know the title says flat beer, so I take it you've packaged and nothing? How long has it been packaged?
 
Even at 146 you should have a fermentable wort. I will say though, once I dip below 150ish, my mash times extend to 90 miniutes. I would think if you could mash out at 170, you should have been able to get your mash temps up. Either way, you should have fermentables at 146. There are calculators here on BF that will help you with water, but I'll post another cause I think it's easier for beginners to use and I also like the way the numbers are given by what you enter. https://pricelessbrewing.github.io/BiabCalc/#Advanced

Dead Ringer is a fine kit. I've brewed it several times so I know it's worthy. I know the title says flat beer, so I take it you've packaged and nothing? How long has it been packaged?

Ok Thanks for the info I would take a look, it was bottled for two weeks
 
I had this problem the first time I brewed. My mistake was not converting the mash temp from F to C so effectively mashing at 18° celsius; doh!

Not saying this is the problem here of course.
 
Thank You All for your replies! Sorry I was not that specific with details about the brew. Here some information base on the replies.

1- Yes it was All Grain Brew
2- The Mash 11 Lbs Rahr 2- Row + 1 Lbs Briess Caramel 40, Grains Temp 70 F, I used mineral water, mash temp should have been at
152 F for 60 min, it only reached 146 F for 1 hour, mash out was at 170 F.
3- Yes when I said the whole process I mean mashing, boiling and fermentation
4- After 85 min boiling hydrometer read 1005.
5- After 2 weeks of fermentation it reached 1002

Did I read correctly that you used mineral water for mash in?
Not sure what the ph is but could definately have had an impact. Is it the same water you used for prior batches?
 
How about water volumes? What volume did your recipe call for?

Also, when you sampled after your boil what temp was your sample? I sampled post-boil way too hot and that threw my numbers out quite significantly.
 
Both readings look to be problematic. First, if you steep grain, even uncrushed, for an hour at 146 degrees you will get some conversion. Your grain bill should have yielded about a 1.062 wort assuming a 5 gallon batch. To get to 1.005 would indicate that only the pound of crystal converted! To get a reading this far off, I imagine a defective hydrometer, perhaps one that has cracked or otherwise leaked.
 

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