Lower ABV than expected

[Viejos Cañones]

The OG depends on whether the malt is fresh ground etc and I have no data. Do not look for alcohol, look for characteristics of what you are making, the rest you discover only with experience in the elaboration. My recipes may not give you the expected result, but it is a way to go and look for what you want.

 

[Cooper65]

Wowsers that 30c man it musta went crazy right at the start then nothing.

I didnt hit it with the blanket until about 4 days in... but yeah, she kicked off again!

 

[Cooper65]

The OG depends on whether the malt is fresh ground etc and I have no data. Do not look for alcohol, look for characteristics of what you are making, the rest you discover only with experience in the elaboration. My recipes may not give you the expected result, but it is a way to go and look for what you want.

That is great advice, thank you. Both batches tasted very good, and I enjoyed brewing them. I've just been trying to figure out where I have been going wrong in my process.

 

[GFHomebrew]

That is great advice, thank you. Both batches tasted very good, and I enjoyed brewing them. I've just been trying to figure out where I have been going wrong in my process.

Try a different sasion strain you'll get better attenuation I believe.

 

[Viejos Cañones]

Lo que puede controlar y tener parámetros aférrese y busque sabores , el alcohol, espuma, color vienen después.
Repita la misma receta y juegue con ella y vera soluciones y mejoras.
Siga adelante

 

[Viejos Cañones]

Lo que puede controlar y tener parámetros aférrese y busque sabores , el alcohol, espuma, color vienen después.
Repita la misma receta y juegue con ella y vera soluciones y mejoras.
Siga adelante

What you can control and have parameters hold on and look for flavors, alcohol, foam, color come later.
Repeat the same recipe and play with it and you will see solutions and improvements.
Move on

 

[Minbari]

I had wondered about that! The yeast says it is 100b cells, and the expected OG says it should need 110-170b cells. I hat thought that maybe I needed to pitch two packs of yeast instead of just one.

Or do a starter. Both will help get more yeast and closer to that target ending

 

[Megary]

Thank you guys so much for the input.

Ok, So there I was...

I brew in a Brewzilla, have an immersion chiller, and an Anvil SS bucket fermentor. My batch size is 5gal. All Measurements are in imperial units, and Tempratures are in F. I use a hydrometer for my gravity measurements

Recipe:
JALAPENO SAISON
OG: 1.058 FG: 1.011 ABV: 6.1% IBU: 21.6. SRM: 9.9 Mash ph: 5.8

FERMENTABLES
8lb Belgian- Pilsner
.5lb Aromatic Malt
.1lb Chocolate Wheat
.63lb Belgian Candi syrup
12.17oz (NT WT) Agave nectar

HOPS
.2oz CTZ 16% @60min
.2oz CTZ 16% @30min

OTHER INGREDIENTS
5 chopped jalapeno peppers (seeds removed)

I tumble the grains in the plastic bag to make sure it is all mixed in well.
Place the grain into a brew bag (keeps junk out of my pump) and place said bag into my 6gals of strike water at a temp of 152. Lower temp on Brewzilla to 147 (this keeps my mash at between 145-149) mash for 60min, stirring grains occasionally. At the end of 60min. lift grains out and sparge with 1gal of 120 degree-ish hot water.

Pre-boil gravity: (1.013)

Start boil, add 1st hops, let boil, add 2nd hops, let boil, add jalapenos at 10min. at 60min, flameout and add syrup and nectar.

Cool wort to 70 degrees, pull OG, (1.056), and transfer to fermentor.
I allow the wort to free fall about 24" from the Brewzilla into the fermentor to aerate the wort. I had "popped" my yeast at the start of the brew the brew day so it could come up to room temp. Pitch yeast, and add 6tsp of yeast nutrient to the fermentor. Cap and add airlock set to let it do its magic.

Avg. temp of area where fermentor sits was 68-70, let it work for two weeks. This last batch, I wrapped the fermentor with an electric blanket and monitored the temp to keep the temp at 86-87ish.

Pull FG, (1.026), and bottle.

Hope this helps,

"Pre-boil gravity: (1.013)"

I don't think that's possible. Not saying this is your issue, maybe just a measurement error, but your Pre-Boil gravity has to be much higher than this.

 

[Viejos Cañones]

I think you do the washing with a very low temperature. You can use 70-72C (160F) With cold water it costs to wash the grains. It only dilutes the boiling density. (1013). At that density it must boil for a long time to reach 1058.
Here you should check if the supplied data is correct. With density below 1035 I am not satisfied to conclude the maceration. You test with iodine? Is water dechlorinated? Look for a PH 5.2-5.4 For my PH5.8 is high.
Without knowing the yeast, it should be kept in the suggested temperature range. Give light protection. Do not let oxygen enter, once fermentation has begun.
This is what occurs to me after reading with a little more attention the data provided.

Cheers.

 

[Mark Farrall]

I get down close to 1.00 on the few times I've used one of those French Saison strains. I've listened to a bunch of people with far more experience speculating about head pressure or a need for O2 later than usual in the fermentation. There's no evidence, but it does seem to behave differently to other strains. After playing around a fair bit I've ended up using the same process for all the different saison strains I use.

Grist is a pilsner, something unmalted from the nut shop, generally spelt, and rye, 70%/15%/15%. I mash lowish, 65C/149F, for 90 minutes or more. I probably don't need that amount of time, but it's very relaxing just to set it and walk away.

For fermentation I wrap the hole at the top of the fermenter in aluminium foil until fermentation starts to slow down, then replace the foil with an airlock. I don't control the temperature of the beer, just the temp in the ferm chamber. I leave it at 20C/68F, the beer temp gets up to high 20s. Lots of others will push the temp up to 30C/86F at the time I put in the airlock, or higher. I find it amps up the esters to a level I don't enjoy, so I don't push it more than a few degrees at the end, if I even raise the temp at all. Though maybe I should push it. A bunch of my saisons have brett as well and they'd probably enjoy those esters.