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Author Topic: Commercial Beer FGs (tested with an Easy Dens)  (Read 2989 times)

Offline narcout

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Commercial Beer FGs (tested with an Easy Dens)
« on: October 02, 2021, 11:40:37 am »
I purchased a 2nd generation Easy Dens recently, and I've been testing the final gravities of some commercial beers and a couple of wines as well.  I thought I'd post them in this thread in case anyone else found them interesting.  All the measurements are temperature compensated as per the Specific Gravity 20/20 function.

Beer:

Sierra Nevada Pale Ale: 1.011
Sierra Nevada 2021 Octoberfest: 1.012
Smog City 10th Anniversary IPA: 1.008
Bitburger 2021 Festbier: 1.013
Astra Urtyp (Pilsner from a brewery in Hamburg): 1.008
Saison Dupont: 1.004
Rochefort 6: 1.010
Rochefort 8: 1.008
Duvel: 1.006
Westmalle Tripel: 1.014

Wine:

La Ferme Rouge Le Gris 2020: 0.990
Kumusha Cabernet Sauvignon 2020: 0.994

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Offline tommymorris

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Re: Commercial Beer FGs (tested with an Easy Dens)
« Reply #1 on: October 02, 2021, 02:05:11 pm »
Thanks. That’s cool.

Offline fredthecat

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Re: Commercial Beer FGs (tested with an Easy Dens)
« Reply #2 on: October 02, 2021, 02:56:02 pm »
thank you so much for that info. i tried making a thread a while back about commercial beers CO2 levels, but it didnt catch on.

very interesting. sort of surprised about the westmalle tripel. i thought it would be lower.

Offline erockrph

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Re: Commercial Beer FGs (tested with an Easy Dens)
« Reply #3 on: October 02, 2021, 09:05:30 pm »
thank you so much for that info. i tried making a thread a while back about commercial beers CO2 levels, but it didnt catch on.

very interesting. sort of surprised about the westmalle tripel. i thought it would be lower.
I was thinking the same thing about the Tripel.
Eric B.

Finally got around to starting a homebrewing blog: The Hop Whisperer

Offline fredthecat

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Re: Commercial Beer FGs (tested with an Easy Dens)
« Reply #4 on: October 02, 2021, 10:39:18 pm »
thank you so much for that info. i tried making a thread a while back about commercial beers CO2 levels, but it didnt catch on.

very interesting. sort of surprised about the westmalle tripel. i thought it would be lower.
I was thinking the same thing about the Tripel.

just did the math, that would be an OG of about 1.083 for 9.5% ABV and an FG of 1.014. something like 82% attenuation. 20 Plato

Offline denny

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Re: Commercial Beer FGs (tested with an Easy Dens)
« Reply #5 on: October 03, 2021, 08:57:57 am »
thank you so much for that info. i tried making a thread a while back about commercial beers CO2 levels, but it didnt catch on.

very interesting. sort of surprised about the westmalle tripel. i thought it would be lower.
I was thinking the same thing about the Tripel.

just did the math, that would be an OG of about 1.083 for 9.5% ABV and an FG of 1.014. something like 82% attenuation. 20 Plato

The OG is listed in BLAM as 1.076.
Life begins at 60.....1.060, that is!

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Offline fredthecat

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Re: Commercial Beer FGs (tested with an Easy Dens)
« Reply #6 on: October 03, 2021, 09:31:37 am »
thank you so much for that info. i tried making a thread a while back about commercial beers CO2 levels, but it didnt catch on.

very interesting. sort of surprised about the westmalle tripel. i thought it would be lower.
I was thinking the same thing about the Tripel.

just did the math, that would be an OG of about 1.083 for 9.5% ABV and an FG of 1.014. something like 82% attenuation. 20 Plato

The OG is listed in BLAM as 1.076.

well i... did the math. based on that FG

Offline erockrph

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Re: Commercial Beer FGs (tested with an Easy Dens)
« Reply #7 on: October 03, 2021, 10:21:31 am »
thank you so much for that info. i tried making a thread a while back about commercial beers CO2 levels, but it didnt catch on.

very interesting. sort of surprised about the westmalle tripel. i thought it would be lower.
I was thinking the same thing about the Tripel.

just did the math, that would be an OG of about 1.083 for 9.5% ABV and an FG of 1.014. something like 82% attenuation. 20 Plato

The OG is listed in BLAM as 1.076.
That seems really low for a 9.5% beer. You'd need to hit an FG in the 1.007 range to hit the labeled 9.5% ABV. Any chance that number is from before the sugar is added?

FWIW, Merchant du Vin (the importer) lists an OG of 1.080. That would imply an FG around 1.012, which sounds reasonable and within spitting distance of the EasyDens result.
Eric B.

Finally got around to starting a homebrewing blog: The Hop Whisperer

Offline denny

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Re: Commercial Beer FGs (tested with an Easy Dens)
« Reply #8 on: October 03, 2021, 10:44:44 am »
thank you so much for that info. i tried making a thread a while back about commercial beers CO2 levels, but it didnt catch on.

very interesting. sort of surprised about the westmalle tripel. i thought it would be lower.
I was thinking the same thing about the Tripel.

just did the math, that would be an OG of about 1.083 for 9.5% ABV and an FG of 1.014. something like 82% attenuation. 20 Plato

The OG is listed in BLAM as 1.076.
That seems really low for a 9.5% beer. You'd need to hit an FG in the 1.007 range to hit the labeled 9.5% ABV. Any chance that number is from before the sugar is added?

FWIW, Merchant du Vin (the importer) lists an OG of 1.080. That would imply an FG around 1.012, which sounds reasonable and within spitting distance of the EasyDens result.

My version of Westmalle tripel starts at 1.076 and finishes around 1.006.  Not that it has anything to do with the commercial version. No, the number is not pre sugar.  Feel free to look it up nd double check me.  I may be misremembering.

ETA: yes, I was indeed misremembering!  Stan says1.081 OG, 88% attenuation, and 9.6%  And for those who think Brelgian beers are fermented hot, it starts at 64F and is allowed to rise to 68F.
« Last Edit: October 03, 2021, 10:51:05 am by denny »
Life begins at 60.....1.060, that is!

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Offline narcout

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Re: Commercial Beer FGs (tested with an Easy Dens)
« Reply #9 on: October 04, 2021, 11:40:33 am »
thank you so much for that info. i tried making a thread a while back about commercial beers CO2 levels, but it didnt catch on.

very interesting. sort of surprised about the westmalle tripel. i thought it would be lower.
I was thinking the same thing about the Tripel.

It really surprised me as well, so I picked up a second bottle to test yesterday and got the same result.

The non-temperature corrected SGs were 1.013 at 75.11° and 1.013 at 75.21°.  The app is temp correcting the first measurement to 1.014 but not the second.  I don't know why.  Something else to keep in mind is that the listed accuracy for specific gravity is 0.001.
Sometimes you just can't get enough - JAMC

Offline fredthecat

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Re: Commercial Beer FGs (tested with an Easy Dens)
« Reply #10 on: October 04, 2021, 12:22:42 pm »
thank you so much for that info. i tried making a thread a while back about commercial beers CO2 levels, but it didnt catch on.

very interesting. sort of surprised about the westmalle tripel. i thought it would be lower.
I was thinking the same thing about the Tripel.

It really surprised me as well, so I picked up a second bottle to test yesterday and got the same result.

The non-temperature corrected SGs were 1.013 at 75.11° and 1.013 at 75.21°.  The app is temp correcting the first measurement to 1.014 but not the second.  I don't know why.  Something else to keep in mind is that the listed accuracy for specific gravity is 0.001.

we see the labels on a typical beer can that say 5% ABV (not sure if america uses ABV or ABW?) and assume that is 5.00% from a reputable brewer.

there was testing done a few years ago that showed significant inaccuracy in ABV numbers in beers

https://www.ttb.gov/images/pdfs/2015-03-08-fy2016-results.pdf

so malt beverages are allowed an acceptable error of 0.3% ABV up or down from the stated. of 61 tested beers 28 were more than 0.3% higher and 10 were 0.3% less than stated.

thats more than half being significantly off. interesting.

who knows how westmalle maintains regularity. i bet if you tried a westm. tripel a year from now and tested it, you would get a very different score.

Offline Big_Eight

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Re: Commercial Beer FGs (tested with an Easy Dens)
« Reply #11 on: October 04, 2021, 12:50:07 pm »
Merica uses ABV lol...

Offline narcout

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Re: Commercial Beer FGs (tested with an Easy Dens)
« Reply #12 on: October 08, 2021, 05:29:02 pm »
Westmalle Dubbel: 1.011

Piraat: 1.014
« Last Edit: October 08, 2021, 09:50:34 pm by narcout »
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Offline erockrph

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Re: Commercial Beer FGs (tested with an Easy Dens)
« Reply #13 on: October 10, 2021, 08:18:04 am »
Westmalle Dubbel: 1.011

Piraat: 1.014
Someone is on a Belgian kick ;D

This is seriously good info. Any chance you have Rochefort Dubbel in your stash?
Eric B.

Finally got around to starting a homebrewing blog: The Hop Whisperer

Offline denny

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Re: Commercial Beer FGs (tested with an Easy Dens)
« Reply #14 on: October 10, 2021, 08:25:13 am »
Westmalle Dubbel: 1.011

Piraat: 1.014
Someone is on a Belgian kick ;D

This is seriously good info. Any chance you have Rochefort Dubbel in your stash?

Which one do you consider the dubbel?  6,8, or 10?
Life begins at 60.....1.060, that is!

www.dennybrew.com

The best, sharpest, funniest, weirdest and most knowledgable minds in home brewing contribute on the AHA forum. - Alewyfe

"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts." - Bertrand Russell