High final gravity with S-33. Rack now or wait?

So I brewed up an IPA with whatever ingredients I had on hand in the midst of Hurricane Sandy, so I dubbed the batch "Hurricane IPA". I used the safbrew S-33 dry yeast. The gravity reading came in at 1.018-1.019 today after 3 weeks in the primary. Also, I added the 8oz of dextrose after exactly 1 week in primary, so it had 2 weeks to ferment that out. Now, I am looking to dry-hop this bad boy and get it in the keg as soon as possible so I am just wondering if this is too high of a FG to start dry-hopping and then racking. I have read that S-33 doesnt attenuate as much as say US-05 or even the S-04 so I know a higher FG is expected, I am just trying to avoid having a cloyingly sweet, under-attenuated IPA. Here is the recipe in case it is needed.

Original Gravity: 1.064

Ingredients:
12 lbs Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 80.3 %
1 lbs Munich Malt - 10L (10.0 SRM) Grain 2 6.7 %
8.0 oz Carafoam (2.0 SRM) Grain 3 3.3 %
8.0 oz Wheat, Torrified (1.7 SRM) Grain 4 3.3 %
7.0 oz Caramel/Crystal Malt - 40L (40.0 SRM) Grain 5 2.9 %
1.00 oz Simcoe [12.90 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 6 35.6 IBUs
0.50 oz Simcoe [12.90 %] - Boil 20.0 min Hop 7 10.8 IBUs
0.50 oz Amarillo Gold [10.40 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 8 7.1 IBUs
1.00 oz Citra [11.40 %] - Boil 10.0 min Hop 9 11.4 IBUs
0.50 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 10 2.3 IBUs
0.50 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 11 3.6 IBUs
1.00 oz Amarillo Gold [10.40 %] - Aroma Steep 0.0 min Hop 12 0.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Simcoe [12.90 %] - Aroma Steep 0.0 min Hop 13 0.0 IBUs
1.0 pkg SafBrew Ale (DCL/Fermentis #S-33) [23.66 ml] Yeast 14 -
8.0 oz Corn Sugar (Dextrose) (0.0 SRM) Sugar 15 3.3 %
1.00 oz Amarillo Gold [8.50 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days Hop 16 0.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Citra [12.00 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days Hop 17 0.0 IBUs
1.00 oz Simcoe [13.00 %] - Dry Hop 7.0 Days Hop 18 0.0 IBUs

I gave the hyrdo-sample a taste and it was definitely a little sweet and green tasting. However, I find it hard to judge what my beer will finally become based off of green-tasting hydrometer samples.

Also, the zombie dust clone I brewed a while back had a FG of 1.017 (with S-04) and was one of my favorite brews yet. Not too sweet at all and perfectly dry. So maybe this will still turn out fine, just looking for insight from anyone who has experience using this yeast, especially in an IPA, since this is my first time using it.

Had horrible results with S-33 too. Stuck at 1.030 for about 3 weeks. Started at 1.065. I ended up pitching a pack of nottingham, and it finally stopped at 1.020 after a total of two months. So I racked it to secondary to try to spur it along. No change after additional two weeks.

Now its been 2.5 months. Im sick of waiting so I bottle with 2.5 vol co2. I open one after two more weeks, now three months since starting.

Gusher. Im like WTF is this? I degass a sample and check gravity. It has fallen to 1.016. So basically I now have a carb of 4.5 vol or so. And the beer sucks.

Long story short, not a fan of this yeast.

Edit: I should add I tried this yeast in a cider and it sucked too.

It's possible you may have mashed a little high and didn't get the full attenuation you expected. Your FG is a little high but if it's been there for a few days without moving it's probably done and safe to move forward. You can try and gently rouse the yeast and raise the temp to see if you can squeeze a few more points out of it. It is probably a little sweeter then you would prefer for an IPA but it will probably be great once hopped, conditioned and carbonated!

I mashed at 150 as I usually would with an IPA so I dont suspect the mash. I am going to move the bucket upstairs into a warmer room and see if the agitation/increase in temp gets me any more points. Is it safe to have a 4-5 week primary in a bucket though? I have done this plenty of times in a carboy but never in a bucket, which is why i was looking to rack sooner than later.

Bisco_Ben said:

I mashed at 150 as I usually would with an IPA so I dont suspect the mash. I am going to move the bucket upstairs into a warmer room and see if the agitation/increase in temp gets me any more points. Is it safe to have a 4-5 week primary in a bucket though? I have done this plenty of times in a carboy but never in a bucket, which is why i was looking to rack sooner than later.

Click to expand...

As long as you haven't been opening up the fermenter frequently and disturbing the CO2 blanket, it should be fine for a bit longer or if you can add some CO2 to the vessel.

I opened the lid twice over the course of the past 3 weeks. Once to add the sugar after 1 week, and then again today for the quick gravity sample. I am thinking of leaving it for another week upstairs at around 75 degrees and then dryhopping in the primary for another week, totaling 5 weeks in the bucket.

Just an update, so I moved my bucket upstairs where it was sitting around 75 degrees. After a week I took a reading and it had dropped down to 1.010!! I dryhopped on monday and will be racking to the keg this coming monday. I will let you guys know how it turned out in about 2-3 weeks.

I've been reading a lot of bad reputation from S-33 here on the forum. I think that it was bad luck or no patience. I'm a great fan of this strain specially for high gravity english barleywine (1.100), I had brewed one with 1.092 OG and "stucked" at 1.033 by one month, I gave it a chance, my two homebrew dudes were been skeptical about it and even cogitated pitching some US-05 to finish the estimated hit, that was 1.020. I said NO! And yes, the yeast progressively reach 1.025 by the end of the second month, at this point, already in secondary. I think that I've stressed my strain, pitching only 1 package of dry S-33 with 2 spoons of yeast nutrient for a 5gal recipe. But the beer turned into great!!! I do recommend this yeast, specially if you are brewing some malt bomb beer that needs some extra time to ferment. Something I need to say, this yeast has a refining capability! The final beer has a round taste and aroma, no diacetyl, no harsh alcohol. I have only good experiences with S-33, as I said, my homebrew dudes simply don't rely on it, I think I'm a shaolin monk when the matter is to wait it become ready!

I completely agree with you MK2MS. I did need to heat the fermenter up a bit and wait a full 5 weeks but the IPA finally got down to 1.010 as I said and tasted great! I can see how this yeast is a test of patience, but it definitely paid off in the end. The beer was very clean and actually had a nice subtle yeast character compared to the bland/clean finish of US-05. I will most likely use S-33 again at some point now knowing how to handle it properly.

Old post, but very helpful. I am doing a Barley wine (OG 1.091) and the readings were:
2 days after pitching: 1.035 (corrected reading - I use a refractometer)
3 days: 1.035
5 days: 1.035
9 days: 1.035 (I went crazy, looking for solutions and then found this post, thank you guys!)
17 days: 1.031
18 days: 1.031
19 days: 1.023
21 days: 1.015
26 days: 1.012
Now, I am waiting for a few more days to get it stable.
Hope this helps.