FG 1.006 for IPA??? Help? Pointers?

Brewed Midwest's Hop head double IPA in a new cooler set up. Went wrong every which way. The false bottom became 'unhooked' when the locking nut and elbow came apart, had to pour the mash into a couple buckets, put everything together, pour mash back into the cooler. . .. this happened TWICE. Now to my questions, I mashed high 155ish, for 75 mins, and ended up around 1.070ish going into primary, used two packets of s-05, sat for two weeks, the gravity before going into secondary (dry hopping) was 1.006-.008. The beer smells very boozy and thin (to be expected with FG).

Malt bill:
14 lbs. Domestic 2-Row barley malt, 4 oz. Aromatic, 12 oz. Caramel 60L, 8 oz. Victory

Any reasons why? I assumed it would finish sweet because my mash temp was too high. I will report back with any other details I remember, just can't get my head around what happened.

HOw did you manage to keep the temp at 155 thru all that? I bet the temp fells both time you did that and resulted in a very fermentable wort. Did you mash out as well? Are positive both gravity readings were correct? That is crazy dry.

i'm gonna venture a guess that the mash temp dropped quite a bit while you were monkeying around

Your actual mashing temp was below 149*F for most of the "fixing and breaking mash tun" and pulled mostly fermentables out of your grain. no?

Although I've heard of others using S-05 an getting 85%+ attenuation (yours is closer to 88%).

Two packets of s-05? What was your volume when you pitched? 8 GAL?

Strike water was a little hot, even with pouring back and forth, twice(!) the mash was still between 153-155 even at mash out. Sparging was a pain in the ass as well, ended up collecting around 6.5 gallons for 70 minute boil, ended up with just at 5 gallons in the bucket. Prepared two packets ahead of time because I had predicted the SG to be a little higher than the 1.070, so pitched the whole measuring cup. Will report more details as I think of them.

edit: My bucket was sitting in a plastic keg bin with water half way up, down in the basement. The temp strip read 73 the whole first week.

Have you calibrated the thermometer and hydrometer? Are you adjusting for temp in your gravity readings? 2 dry packets is also a pretty heavy overpitch. That might help net the extra attenuation as well.

The real question is, though, how does it TASTE?

Are you saying it's too dry for you? If so then you can add MaltoDextrine when you bottle/keg, that will up the FG and give you more body without affecting the taste of the beer. I usually add 4oz for a 5gal batch if a beer is too thin for me.

I also had a similar experience with an APA I brewed using S-05. 1.006 gravity while racking to secondary for dry hop. Really made the bitterness come across. I to was wondering if I could add something to tame it a little when kegging. Lactose came to mind right away, but I didn't know what that would do to the style. Would the MaltoDextrine be better, and the 4 oz you spoke of was that by weight or volume. This is a five gallon batch that I will be sugar priming in the keg in about another week

Thanks,

Noob, first time poster, long time lurker!

MaltoDextrine adds no taste to the beer, just body & mouthfeel. 4oz is by weight.

I did the same kit a few months ago and wish mine had come down a little more from 1.010-12 as the only bad comment I've had on it is that it's a bit sweet, so you may be fine. Used the Wyeast 1056 with a starter. Not that it makes much of a difference, but I split the dry hop into 2 1 oz additions. One going into the secondary at 1.013 and the second about a week and a half later. Really good beer

WPStrassburg said:

I did the same kit a few months ago and wish mine had come down a little more from 1.010-12 as the only bad comment I've had on it is that it's a bit sweet, so you may be fine. Used the Wyeast 1056 with a starter. Not that it makes much of a difference, but I split the dry hop into 2 1 oz additions. One going into the secondary at 1.013 and the second about a week and a half later. Really good beer

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I'm with WP, I'm not sure that 1.008 is too low for this beer. If it were my beer, I don't think I'd mess with lactose or other additives - see how it turns out! Its not like this is the last batch you're going to make

wyzazz said:

MaltoDextrine adds no taste to the beer, just body & mouthfeel. 4oz is by weight.

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so the MaltoDextrine will add no sweetness, just the body/mouthfeel? I was only going to dry hop with 1oz cascade, but after the hydro sample/taste, I upped it to 2 oz to hopefully overcome some of the bitterness. I guess I'll give it another taste at kegging, and see how I end up. Just thought a little more sweetness will balance better. I mashed @ 153, I guess I better up that a few degrees next time, or try a different yaest strain. I use dry yeasts, nottingham seems to finish a few points higher than s-05, but that may not be enough. Maybe s-04 or windsor may be better?

lalnx said:

so the MaltoDextrine will add no sweetness, just the body/mouthfeel? I was only going to dry hop with 1oz cascade, but after the hydro sample/taste, I upped it to 2 oz to hopefully overcome some of the bitterness. I guess I'll give it another taste at kegging, and see how I end up. Just thought a little more sweetness will balance better. I mashed @ 153, I guess I better up that a few degrees next time, or try a different yaest strain. I use dry yeasts, nottingham seems to finish a few points higher than s-05, but that may not be enough. Maybe s-04 or windsor may be better?

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Nah - Skip the malto. Or better yet, add malto to half the batch to try which one you like better. I use malto sometimes, but 1.06 is great for an IPA - it tastes thin now, it will get better trust me. S-05 tends to taste a bit tangy for the first few weeks after bottling for me, which could be described as dry or 'thin' I suppose.

It would be a cold day in hell for me to try Windsor or S-04 in an IPA. The last beers I made with either of those yeasts were by far the worst I have ever made. Especially Windsor - sickly sweet unless you have very low mash temps I think.

lalnx said:

so the MaltoDextrine will add no sweetness, just the body/mouthfeel? I was only going to dry hop with 1oz cascade, but after the hydro sample/taste, I upped it to 2 oz to hopefully overcome some of the bitterness. I guess I'll give it another taste at kegging, and see how I end up. Just thought a little more sweetness will balance better. I mashed @ 153, I guess I better up that a few degrees next time, or try a different yaest strain. I use dry yeasts, nottingham seems to finish a few points higher than s-05, but that may not be enough. Maybe s-04 or windsor may be better?

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Correct, no sweetness. You could just keg/carb as normal to see what it tastes like, and if you want more body boil up a bit of the maltodextrine and add it to the keg, purge, shake and taste. Keep in mind that carbonation will also add to the body of the beer a bit.

And the dry hops will fill in the flavor as well. You might want to get it cold and carbed for a little while before you try to change anything. It's easy enough to add something to the keg later, but you can't remove anything you add now.

I would personally be happy with a 1.070-1.006 IPA. My IIPA went 1.090-1.010 and I was stoked. I love US-05!

Aside from a boozy strong smell, the beer tasted fine. Very dry, very bitter. It is now on an oz of cascade and an oz of crystal. Looks good, should be kegged and carbed in a week or so. I will report back with results.

wyzazz said:

Correct, no sweetness. You could just keg/carb as normal to see what it tastes like, and if you want more body boil up a bit of the maltodextrine and add it to the keg, purge, shake and taste. Keep in mind that carbonation will also add to the body of the beer a bit.

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Thanks for all the help.

This I think will be my game plan let it ride. Then if I don't like it, I'll see if any of my friends do. If it needs a little help, I'll pop the top and monkey with it.

It may be just fine, it might just be my tastes. I am not a fan of overly bitter beers. I've had some double IPA's that to me leave a taste in my mouth that reminds me of that bile that comes up the next day after you've given yourself a mild case of alcohol poisoning

jjones17 said:

It would be a cold day in hell for me to try Windsor or S-04 in an IPA. The last beers I made with either of those yeasts were by far the worst I have ever made. Especially Windsor - sickly sweet unless you have very low mash temps I think.

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You should brew with what you like, to your tastes. That being said, your statement, strongly put, that you wouldn't use english yeasts in an India Pale Ale made me chuckle.

lalnx said:

I've had some double IPA's that to me leave a taste in my mouth that reminds me of that bile that comes up the next day after you've given yourself a mild case of alcohol poisoning

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I'm not a doctor, and I don't play one on television, but I think you should not give yourself a mild case of alcohol poisoning.

Definitely wait until it's carbed. Carbonation has a big effect on body.

as it cools, it pulls more fermentables out. i'd tertiary it, add some cane sugar and maltodextrine, let it sit for a couple weeks, and go for it

Well, I kegged this Saturday, and the gravity had finished down at 1.002 (s-05 yeast). At least the dry hopping seemed to help cover the bitter, so it seems drinkable, although with a 7% ABV you wouldn't want it "too drinkable"

I also kegged a honey wheat that same day that finished 1.002-1.003 using wb-06 yeast. Both fermented @68deg. I guess I need to bring my mash temps up I suppose, maybe 4 deg? Probably use honey malt instead of honey next time also. Why put expensive honey in there just to over dry my
beer.....

The honey wheat seemed to have very little flavor/body I ended up adding a vodka/lemon zest extract I had made up a couple weeks ago to help give it something to look forward to. We'll see how they are Labor Day weekend.