Final Gravities ending at 1.020 !!??!!??

WHy would I have 2 consecutive batches ending at 1.020. Isn't that fairly hi? Why would they be the same?

What was the recipe, what yeast did you use, what were fermentation temps, did you aerate before pitching, and did you use a starter?

Did you do extract? Batches I do with an liquid extract percentage above 50% rarely get below 1.018 even with proper pitching rates.

It's called the 1.020 curse, a lot of beers tend to peter out at 1.o2o. Sometimes all you need to do is rouse the yeast by gently swirling the fermenter once. And raising the temp a bit. Wrapping it in a blanket or a sleeping bag is usually enough.

lots of thoughts on it here

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f37/1-020-curse-63896/

Thanks Rev, et al. What about the (amylase???) enzyme some people are refering to??

kegtoe said:

Thanks Rev, et al. What about the (amylase???) enzyme some people are refering to??

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If you use an enzyme just to try to go 5 or 10 points towards your fg, you will find out that it will China Syndrome and keep going and you will end up waaaay below your fg and with extremely dry beer. You can't really control the outcome with that stuff.

Anything from 1.020 and below is nearly finished. And as long as your fermentation is actually done at 1.020 you can bottle. And many fermerntations are done between 1.010 and 1.020, and often just warming and sworling willl get you the few points lower that you need.

I wouldn't mess with adding anything else.

THanks. And to answer the questions, i have only done extracts, i have used both dry yeasts and smack packs with a starter. It seems to be more of a problem with the dry yeast i guess, looking through my notes. I do the rehydrating thing.

Our house (in Northern Minnesota) Varies from 63 during the day when we are at work to 68 at night when we get home to save energy. Are these constant temp swings bad for fermenting beer or is 5 degrees not enough to matter.

I wouldn't add anything and just call it a lower alcohol beer. They still taste damn good at 1.020, they're just missing some booze.

kegtoe said:

THanks. And to answer the questions, i have only done extracts, i have used both dry yeasts and smack packs with a starter. It seems to be more of a problem with the dry yeast i guess, looking through my notes. I do the rehydrating thing.

Our house (in Northern Minnesota) Varies from 63 during the day when we are at work to 68 at night when we get home to save energy. Are these constant temp swings bad for fermenting beer or is 5 degrees not enough to matter.

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thats a good range, for some yeasts the 63 might be a little low for some (varies by style) but I wouldn't say it would be too low. But then again, thats ambient temp. My current batch is sticking in a 60* room and was fermenting at 66* I say give it a swirl and see if that helps it drop out - just don't raise the ambient temp too much because then you'll be getting some differnet flavors you probably didn't expect.

I had a Christmas Ale start out with 1.080 and last I checked it was sitting at 1.035 after 17 days at 66 degrees. I need to get it down to 1.010 so I warmed it up to 70-71. It still looked like it needed some help so a fellow HB suggested I add a drop of Beano. What does that do?

I would at trying to keep your temp within +/- 1 degree if possible. You might need to add some equipment to do this but I feel it is very important to avoid temp swings during fermentation. I have used dry yeast many times and get in the .008-.010 rang with no problem so I do not think it's all the dry yeast fault.

hmm, this is the yeast i used with the same yeast packet number
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/nottingham-yeast-128940/

fredbeard said:

I had a Christmas Ale start out with 1.080 and last I checked it was sitting at 1.035 after 17 days at 66 degrees. I need to get it down to 1.010 so I warmed it up to 70-71. It still looked like it needed some help so a fellow HB suggested I add a drop of Beano. What does that do?

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It breaks down longer chain sugars into something yeast can consume. However, once you've set those wheels in motion they never really stop and you'll end up with a very dry and potentially flavorless beer before too long.

Don't use Beano. Rouse the yeast to get fermentation started again.