Very high attenuation with WLP002

I brewed an IPA ~3 weeks ago and just kegged it tonight. It smells great, seems a bit thin -- but carbonation will change it some. It went from 1.063 -> 1.010 with WLP002. 84% apparent attenuation. I usually get pretty good attenuation (70% - 75%) out of this yeast, but this is crazy. Thoughts? (it's not infected)


I fermented at 64F and let it rise to 66F over 3 days, then rested at 68F while dry hopping. The malt bill is based on the Union Jack CYBI recipe -- so my mashing was 60m @ 145F, then stepped up to 155F for 15m.

Process wise, I vorlauf/drain the initial wort without raising the temp (~25m). Then I add in the sparge water (~5g) to raise up to 168 then repeat. While this is happening my original wort is not getting heated. Am I creating really really fermentable wort by letting it sit?

I used a properly sized stir plate starter (per Mr Malty) and pushed oxygen for ~1 minute through a stone before pitching. This was also the first batch where I used an oxygen stone -- I used to use the shake method. That said, I did some measurements prior on flow rate, etc and don't believe it was over oxygenated.

What % conversion did you have after the 15 minute rest at 155? I like to take a refract reading and compare it to what the 100% conversion gravity should be at that given water to grain ratio. If it's not over 95% converted, the mash sits until it is. You may need to rest for 75 or 90 min next time at 145F or 30 min at 155F. Conversion isn't happening very fast at 145F. How much heat did the first runnings loose while they sat and waited for the rest of the runnings?
I did a similar step mash on my Flower Power IPA imposter recipe. 144F for 90 min and 155 for 15 minutes. After the 90 minute rest, there was 95% conversion and then after 15 minutes at 155F, it went up to 99%. That gave 77% attenuation with Wyeast 1099 Whitbread.

bolts said:

I fermented at 64F and let it rise to 66F over 3 days, then rested at 68F while dry hopping. The malt bill is based on the Union Jack CYBI recipe -- so my mashing was 60m @ 145F, then stepped up to 155F for 15m.

Process wise, I vorlauf/drain the initial wort without raising the temp (~25m). Then I add in the sparge water (~5g) to raise up to 168 then repeat. While this is happening my original wort is not getting heated. Am I creating really really fermentable wort by letting it sit?

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Mashing low at 145F + no mash out is probably what's making your wort so fermentable. Heating the first runnings could help a bit. Once you start runing off into the brew pot, turn on the heat. It will stop conversion and it will save some time getting the pot up to boiling.

i mashed an ESB recipe at 151.
something like 12lb maris otter
1lb ambermalt
~ 1.5 lbs dark crystal malts

i was worried about attenuation which is why i mashed kinda low.

the beer went from 1.063 to 1.012, the yeast was pretty much done in 4 days.
i decanted 2300ml of starter, pitched the slurry and had krausen in less than 8 hrs.

i was pretty surprised.
seems this yeast can attenuate just fine if you use it right.
i'll be mashing higher in the future.

cookietruck said:

i mashed an ESB recipe at 151.
something like 12lb maris otter
1lb ambermalt
~ 1.5 lbs dark crystal malts

i was worried about attenuation which is why i mashed kinda low.

the beer went from 1.063 to 1.012, the yeast was pretty much done in 4 days.
i decanted 2300ml of starter, pitched the slurry and had krausen in less than 8 hrs.

i was pretty surprised.
seems this yeast can attenuate just fine if you use it right.
i'll be mashing higher in the future.

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Nearly 7% ABV! that's a big ESB

Everybody's equipment and process varies so you will need to tune your mash temps for your set up. I've just moved up to a 10 gallon set up and I'm slowly learning my system all over again. Trial and error. Enjoy the journey.

maida7 said:

Nearly 7% ABV! that's a big ESB

Everybody's equipment and process varies so you will need to tune your mash temps for your set up. I've just moved up to a 10 gallon set up and I'm slowly learning my system all over again. Trial and error. Enjoy the journey.

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yeah.
i was expecting the FG to be about 1.016-1.018
oh well. i'll drink it

I made a batch of ESB with some washed wy1968 (same as wlp002) and got some crazy attenuation. Went from 1.060 to 1.004, no kidding! It was not infected and I mashed at 155F. It's actually a pretty good beer, more like an English IPA than a ESB, and surprisingly smooth for 7+% abv.

People are always worried they wont get good attenuation from this yeast, but I have never had a problem getting 75-80%. Though, once in a while I get one that attenuates wayy to much.

maida7 said:

Mashing low at 145F + no mash out is probably what's making your wort so fermentable. Heating the first runnings could help a bit. Once you start runing off into the brew pot, turn on the heat. It will stop conversion and it will save some time getting the pot up to boiling.

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.

I use a lot of 002, and almost always get 80 - 85% attenuation.

-a.

I used 002 in an english nut brown and I got 78.5% attenuation.
Mashed at 150-151 for 70 minutes.

This was much higher than I expected and the beer is more dry than I would have liked but totally drinkable!

I have been using a lot of the wyeast equivalent and get a consistently high 75% average. Has messed up a few beer because the mild I was making has no body at all. Mild 1.039 - 1.010(71%), English blond, 1.049 to 1.011(77%). Fullers 1845, 1.063 to 1.016(73%), ESB 1.051 to 1.010(79%), brown porter 1.057 to 1.009 (83%).

You can see the mild was the lowest attenuation, but for a beer with as much crystal as it had, it was a little crazy. Mild was disappointing, rest turned out good, Porter was a little dry too, actually did well at comp as a robust porter.

I think this yeast is labeled a little weird, mainly because most brewers show this similar 75%...my fullers clone was spot on at 73%, exactly what the brewer gets.

WLP002 is my "go-to" yeast for a lot of beers. I like the character that it gives Pale Ales and IPAs. On occasion it tends to go nuts and hit over 80% attenuation. This has happened to me when I used pure oxygen to aerate the wort. I try to keep to the manual aeration when my OG is 1.060 or below.

S-04 is a good one too that i get the same results from

I get similar results from S-04 too, takes a little longer to get started and doesn't floculate as well. I like 002 more because the beer clears really fast.

I have been using pure O2 as well. I am going to take the suggestion on my next brown porter, big fan favorite, at 1.009 not as good.

I just did a AG Nut Brown ale with a OG: 1.051 and mashed for 60 minutes at 154 deg F. Was shooting for a final gravity of 1.015 to 1.017. Actual FG was 1.012 using a 1.5 L starter of the WLP-002. Had a vigorous fementation for the first few days and then shook the container a couple times a day to reduce CO2 and rouse the yeast. Fermented at 68 deg F raising to 70 deg F.

However, the air lock continued to bubble (once every 3-5 minutes) for another 7 days. I tasted the beer prior to bottling and did not detect any infections and beer is very clear.

Tyru007 said:

I just did a AG Nut Brown ale with a OG: 1.051 and mashed for 60 minutes at 154 deg F. Was shooting for a final gravity of 1.015 to 1.017. Actual FG was 1.012 using a 1.5 L starter of the WLP-002. Had a vigorous fementation for the first few days and then shook the container a couple times a day to reduce CO2 and rouse the yeast. Fermented at 68 deg F raising to 70 deg F.

However, the air lock continued to bubble (once every 3-5 minutes) for another 7 days. I tasted the beer prior to bottling and did not detect any infections and beer is very clear.

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Did you use O2?

No to the O2. I chill the wort in the kettle and then do a lot of splashing on the transfer into the carboy.