Repitching S-04 ?!

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hector

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Hi there !

I use Safale S-04 and I have always encountered "the curse of 1.020" .

I let my previous batches ferment at 66 F , but this time it's fermenting at about 70 F . I'm going to repitch if it stops again at 1.020 .

Has anyone ever done that with this strain ?!

Hector
 
You can repitch if you want to but if there are no more fermentables in the beer it won't do anything. Your beer already contains billions of yeast cells and adding just a few more isn't going to make much difference. What recipe did you use? Extracts?
 
You can repitch if you want to but if there are no more fermentables in the beer it won't do anything. What recipe did you use? Extracts?

By my previous batches the O.G. was 1.050 and F.G. was 1.020 .

They were brewed using light DME , bittering Hops and distilled water .

The batch which is now fermenting , started from 1.052 . I used light DME , Crystal malt , bittering Hops and spring water for brewing this batch .

My DME contains 64% Maltose .

Hector
 
By my previous batches the O.G. was 1.050 and F.G. was 1.020 .

They were brewed using light DME , bittering Hops and distilled water .

The batch which is now fermenting , started from 1.052 . I used light DME , Crystal malt , bittering Hops and spring water for brewing this batch .

My DME contains 64% Maltose .

Hector

many times extract brews stop around 1.02. it's not a yeast issue, it's because of the extract. repitching will only add more yeast if this is the case, yeast that won't have any sugar to ferment because the beer is already fermented out as far as it can.
 
many times extract brews stop around 1.02. it's not a yeast issue, it's because of the extract.

The attenuation of S-04 is 70-75% .

As I said , my DME contains 64% maltose and there should be about 20% sucrose as well .

So , I think there is enough fermentable sugar available for the yeast to ferment down to 1.012-1.014 .

Hector
 
The attenuation of S-04 is 70-75% .

As I said , my DME contains 64% maltose and there should be about 20% sucrose as well .

So , I think there is enough fermentable sugar available for the yeast to ferment down to 1.012-1.014 .

Hector

That's assuming none of it got caramelized during the boil. If it gets altered it some of it becomes unfermentable.
 
That's assuming none of it got caramelized during the boil.

I use the "late addition method" .

30% of the DME at the beginning and the rest for the last 15 minutes .

Do you still think that it could be because of caramelizing ?!

Hector
 
The attenuation of S-04 is 70-75% .

As I said , my DME contains 64% maltose and there should be about 20% sucrose as well .

So , I think there is enough fermentable sugar available for the yeast to ferment down to 1.012-1.014 .

Hector

actually, the atten % of 04 is closer to 74-80%, but your extract is 64% fermentable if it's not boiled. assuming caramelization was limited in the boil, your wort was around 64% fermentable, take say 75% attenuation from s-04, and there's no way you're gonna hit 1.012. something like 1.018-1.02 seems much more likely with an extract beer using the ingredients you are. even with the yeasts that are known beasts, like safale, i regularly find that my extract brews stop in the high teens maybe 1.02. it's just how it goes with many extracts.
 
even with the yeasts that are known beasts, like safale, i regularly find that my extract brews stop in the high teens maybe 1.02. it's just how it goes with many extracts.

If that's really so , what is the best way to reach 1.012-1.014 with an extract batch ?

By the way , my previous batches always tasted watery .

Hector
 
If that's really so , what is the best way to reach 1.012-1.014 with an extract batch ?

By the way , my previous batches always tasted watery .

Hector

i'd say the best way to get a low FG with extract is to use fresh, quality DME. doing late extract additions is also a good idea. when i brew PM i add all the extract late or at flameout. when brewing with all extract, i add half at the beginning and half at flameout. don't get me wrong though, alotta times with extract brews they just stop in the high teens, even when you do everything you can to ensure fresh extract and limit caramelization in the boil. the high FG with many extract brews is actually one of the main reasons i started brewing PM beer most of the time.
as far as the watery taste, couldn't tell ya for sure. some of the things that cause thin/watery brews are low OG (like just not enough in the malt bill to flavor the beer), over carbonation can make beers thin and water-y, a overly low FG can make a beer seem thin (but you're posting about high FGs, so i doubt its that). it could also be the water you're using, are the brews water-y or are you actually tasting your water in the beer? (like does the beer taste a lot like the water you use?)
 
it could also be the water you're using, are the brews water-y or are you actually tasting your water in the beer? (like does the beer taste a lot like the water you use?)

I meant , if that was because of caramelizing and so on , then it should have tasted sweet to some extent . But , it was always watery .

Although , it was for 3 Weeks in the Primary and then bottle conditioned for 5 Weeks .

I was also suspicious of distilled water which I used by my previous batches . Therefore , I used spring water for brewing the existing batch .

Hector
 
I was also suspicious of distilled water which I used by my previous batches . Therefore , I used spring water for brewing the existing batch .

Hector

spring water's great, i use it a lot for lighter beers. distilled, i'd stay away from unless i was adding minerals to the distilled to replicate some region's water.
when i first started, i had some beers come out water-y, in my case it was due to over carbing my brews, i was using the 5 oz that come with kits, or just doing 5 oz when i didn't use a kit. i've since found out that 5 oz is a lot for 5 gal of most styles of beer, started using a priming calc to get the right amount of sugar for the batch and the water-y flavor has not since surfaced.
 
when i first started, i had some beers come out water-y, in my case it was due to over carbing my brews

I always use calculators to determine how much Dextrose I need for priming . I started with 2 ( as the Volume of CO2 in the Beer ) , then by the next batch I went up to 2.2 and by the third batch went up to 2.4 and THAT was a satisfying carbonation for me , however , the Beer didn't have a good body .

Anyway , I'll try to rouse the yeast cake as the fermentation slows down ( probably on Sunday evening ) and hope it will work for me this time .

Hector
 
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