Massively overshot recipe FG: Rookie Mistake or Alcoholic Blessing?

[SOFTBOY]

Hey All! I'm so grateful to the community here, as well as the tools of BF.

I'm making my second beer, an ESB I'm calling "Wizard Ale" after the very funny Worthikids video (link) of the same name. The guys at my brewing shop put together a DME "kit" of sorts based on the "Programmer's Elbow" recipe from "Brewing Classic Styles". The book recipe OG said 1.056 FG 1.015, ABV 5.4%. When I put my actual ingredients into BF's recipe generator (as it differed ever so slightly) it predicted a OG 1.066, FG 1.017, ABV 6.5%. Okay, no big deal.

I brewed, and foolishly didn't take a hydrometer reading myself because I had just brought home my BRAND NEW TILT. So exciting. However, my actual (calibrated) OG was 1.063. Not bad. I let biology take its course and watched the gravity fall lower, lower, lower. Right now I'm 6 days in and by my estimation and data fermentation concluded on day 3 @ FG: 1.006. Woah. ABV is calculating at 7.5%.

Two questions:
1. What happened here? Is it a problem?
2. If I am "at" my target FG (either in recipe or in BF) should I pull the plug (metaphorically speaking) and bottle right then? Or should I just let it go the two weeks my first kit (Northern Brewer) told me to go? Everything had precipitated out on the second day and while there were still some CO2 bubbles in the airlock most of the activity had stopped.

Attached is my temp + SG + pH / time graph. There is a temp spike due to me being overzealous with my heating pad + inkbird + blankets (it was 0 degrees in my basement last time I brewed, and I probably overcorrected for this brew but the spike never got over the recommended temp for the yeast). Any help or answers to the two questions would be great!

Thank you!

 

[Craigerrr]

The tilt is not going to give you an absolute gravity, they get some crud caked on for the krausen.
You will need to take a sample to check that accurately.

1. I don't see a problem, sounds like you made beer.
2. Don't rush it into bottles, make sure that fermentation is complete ( 3 days of no change ).

Patience is the most important ingredient in making beer, give a t a few, or even several days, let the yeast finish its work, and give it time to drop out.
Depending on the yeast you used, your beer could be ready within a week, or it may need 2-3 weeks in the fermenter.

 

[Minbari]

I would confirm that with a hydrometer and taste it.

That is a pretty massive over fermentation more than anything. What yeast did you use? You were supposed to get 74% attenuation, which is normal. But you got over 90%. That is suspicious

 

[SOFTBOY]

Wow! Thanks for the quick responses gang!

Yup, the scientist in me screamed to not collect a proper hydrometer reading but the techie in me wanted to play with the new bit of kit. Dummy.

The tilt is not going to give you an absolute gravity, they get some crud caked on for the krausen.

Good thinkin. I should have verified! Thanks!

2. Don't rush it into bottles, make sure that fermentation is complete ( 3 days of no change ).

Let it ride. Gotcha!

That is a pretty massive over fermentation more than anything. What yeast did you use?

SafAle S-04, but I had that temp spike. I've got the Inkbird taped to the outside of the bucket, and a warming sheet...thingy taped to the sides of the bucket (away from the temperature probe, of course). The yeast must have popped off and I had the temp up high already.

No problems! Sounds like I need to have a homebrew and bottle my rubbing alcohol. The guys at the homebrew shop concurred with y'all and said it'll probably be good if I'm charging by the ABV or if I'm stripping paint off of jetskis!

1. I don't see a problem, sounds like you made beer.

To quote the man: "That part'll happen pretty definitely!"

Thanks again! Cheers!

 

[HighVoltageMan!]

So4 is a really forgiving yeast. The tilt may or may not be accurate, the bottom line in the end is how does it taste. Low final gravity doesn't always mean dry and high final gravity doesn't always mean sweet. I think you made beer for sure, my guess is you made a fine beer. Each yeast is different.

 

[SOFTBOY]

So4 is a really forgiving yeast. The tilt may or may not be accurate, the bottom line in the end is how does it taste. Low final gravity doesn't always mean dry and high final gravity doesn't always mean sweet. I think you made beer for sure, my guess is you made a fine beer. Each yeast is different.

Heck yeah! Thank you!

If anything I learned lessons for brew #3!

 

[Megary]

I’ll go out on a limb here, as one who has only moderate experience with S-04. It may be a forgiving yeast as HVM says, but no way did you get 90% attenuation from it. I’m going with big FG measurement error. Let it go 2 weeks and confirm FG with a hydrometer. I wouldn’t worry.

 

[Donoroto]

Hey All! I'm so grateful to the community here, as well as the tools of BF.

I'm making my second beer, an ESB I'm calling "Wizard Ale" after the very funny Worthikids video (link) of the same name. The guys at my brewing shop put together a DME "kit" of sorts based on the "Programmer's Elbow" recipe from "Brewing Classic Styles". The book recipe OG said 1.056 FG 1.015, ABV 5.4%. When I put my actual ingredients into BF's recipe generator (as it differed ever so slightly) it predicted a OG 1.066, FG 1.017, ABV 6.5%. Okay, no big deal.

I brewed, and foolishly didn't take a hydrometer reading myself because I had just brought home my BRAND NEW TILT. So exciting. However, my actual (calibrated) OG was 1.063. Not bad. I let biology take its course and watched the gravity fall lower, lower, lower. Right now I'm 6 days in and by my estimation and data fermentation concluded on day 3 @ FG: 1.006. Woah. ABV is calculating at 7.5%.

Two questions:
1. What happened here? Is it a problem?
2. If I am "at" my target FG (either in recipe or in BF) should I pull the plug (metaphorically speaking) and bottle right then? Or should I just let it go the two weeks my first kit (Northern Brewer) told me to go? Everything had precipitated out on the second day and while there were still some CO2 bubbles in the airlock most of the activity had stopped.

Attached is my temp + SG + pH / time graph. There is a temp spike due to me being overzealous with my heating pad + inkbird + blankets (it was 0 degrees in my basement last time I brewed, and I probably overcorrected for this brew but the spike never got over the recommended temp for the yeast). Any help or answers to the two questions would be great!

Thank you!

Do not trust the FG reading from the tilt. It is likely very inaccurate. Use a hydrometer.

The tilt is an excellent tool to see that gravity is stable, but take the numbers -especially after fermentation - with a chunk of salt. Take a hydrometer reading and let us know the real FG...

 

[SOFTBOY]

Take a hydrometer reading and let us know the real FG...

1.011 is my hydrometer reading. Tasting notes of apple pie, caramel, and RP-1 Rocket Fuel! It's strong but I like it! I'll let it clarify for a week then bottl'it up!

Thanks for the help everyone! Tilt is a good tool for monitoring, but not for hard measurements.

 

[Sandy Feet]

How much simple sugar was in that thing? 1.011 is normal for S-05, but for S-04? That rocket fuel taste is probably from too much simple sugar.
An ESB is normally a balance between malt and hops, and the the Fullers yeast used for that style doesn't attenuate worth a shit. Those beers should be somewhere close to the low/mid 5s.
If you found something you like, that is great, but not exactly to style.

 

[Minbari]

1.011 is my hydrometer reading. Tasting notes of apple pie, caramel, and RP-1 Rocket Fuel! It's strong but I like it! I'll let it clarify for a week then bottl'it up!

Thanks for the help everyone! Tilt is a good tool for monitoring, but not for hard measurements.

Just keep an eye on it. Even if you decrease the OG by 5pts, that is 90% attenuation. S04 wouldn't do that alone.

Guess what people, and myself are hinting at. You might have some wild yeast in there. That green apple and rocket fuel taste is an indicator

 

[HighVoltageMan!]

Just keep an eye on it. Even if you decrease the OG by 5pts, that is 90% attenuation. S04 wouldn't do that alone.

Guess what people, and myself are hinting at. You might have some wild yeast in there. That green apple and rocket fuel taste is an indicator

Green apple flavor can be acetaldehyde, which occurs commonly in yeast, especially lager yeast. It can clean itself up toward the end of fermentation. Higher fermentation temperatures, low pitch rates, yeast stress, etc. will increase the chances of this compound ending up in beer. The more active the fermentation, the higher the temperature will rise, increasing the chance of producing some other alcohol than ethanol, creating a rocket fuel flavor. It's likely this will subside with time.

SO4 can be a beast. The finish gravity is likely going to stay at 1.011, so 82% attenuation is something the yeast is capable of doing.

 

[SOFTBOY]

Green apple flavor can be acetaldehyde, which occurs commonly in yeast, especially lager yeast. It can clean itself up toward the end of fermentation. Higher fermentation temperatures, low pitch rates, yeast stress, etc. will increase the chances of this compound ending up in beer. The more active the fermentation, the higher the temperature will rise, increasing the chance of producing some other alcohol than ethanol, creating a rocket fuel flavor. It's likely this will subside with time.

SO4 can be a beast. The finish gravity is likely going to stay at 1.011, so 82% attenuation is something the yeast is capable of doing.

Haha I was being hyperbolic (hyperglolic? a-cha-cha-chaaa) when I said rocket fuel, I was commenting on the strength of the drink itself. But yeah! I'll keep an eye on it. I also don't think it's *green* apple, but just like...nice apple strudel apple. This is my second brew, and easily my most "monitored" one so far so we'll see how it goes!

Thanks again for the responses!

 

[Bigbre04]

I’ll go out on a limb here, as one who has only moderate experience with S-04. It may be a forgiving yeast as HVM says, but no way did you get 90% attenuation from it. I’m going with big FG measurement error. Let it go 2 weeks and confirm FG with a hydrometer. I wouldn’t worry.

Diastaticus infection would do it, but that is a fairly unlikely thing in homebrewing i would assume. We saw staticus infection drop gravity down close to 0 P eventually, usually the can would pop before it got that far down...sad stressful laughter....

 

[WesBrew]

Temp got pretty high, fast and most of the attenuation in that one day. Too high and too fast. You might have some fusel alcohol in there. You'll know if you have a bit of harsh alcohol flavor peeking through. If gravity continues to drop, as noted above, could be a wild yeast issue. If temp regulation is difficult, can you ferment under pressure?