Something went wrong. Nothing drastic, unless you are the kind of person that likes their beer to have a million IBUs and and ABV roughly equivalent to the US GDP, it just didn't ferment as much as I hoped.
I am of course talking about my latest homebrew effort, a smoked chocolate stout, into which I chucked black malt, smoked malt and unsweetened cocoa powder, as well as whole Fuggles hops.
The OG for the first carbaby was 1.038 and the SG after 3 weeks sat in the fermenter was 1.018, which gave me an ABV of just 2.7%. But here is the rub, I tasted the sample I used for the gravity, and it tastes pretty damned good, rather close to Guinness to be honest.
I will get round to bottling the stronger version, the OG was 1.046, hopefully tonight after work, but I am wondering why the fermention was so low and what effects this will have on body and flavour?
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I haven't brewed a beer with such a low OG but I have heard from some Utah brewers (I think it was on The Brewing Network) that the trick with making a low OG brew not feel lifeless and thin is to end with a higher than normal FG. Seems that you just supported their comments.
ReplyDeleteShame that it isn't what I intended - I was aiming for almost double the ABV. As long as it tastes good, I am not too worried about the alcohol content.
ReplyDeleteI have just done my first batch - friday afternoon. Bit concerned on the lack of fermentation ):...(not enough sugars/malt, i don't know?)but its still bubbling away. I have taken no gravity reading, but will leave it in the primary for 3wks before secondary. As long as it's drinkable :) I used danstar yeast and I have heard its a tricky one to get going,so here's hoping.
ReplyDeleteI have the same view as you - if it has a low abv, its not such a problem, as long as its drinkable.
Cheers!
Steviee