English Yeast and Crystal Malts

So, where to begin. I brewed an ESB which turned out to be more of a SB because I didn't go as dark and decided to leave out a late hop addition.

6.6 lbs LME Coopers light
8 oz Crystal 40
8 oz Crystal 60

Steeped the grains in 3 quarts of water for 1/2 hour ranging from 155 to 160.

added 1 can, 3.3 lbs of LME and 3 ounces of Fuggles 4.7 % AA for 60 minutes

1 can 3.3 lbs of LME @ 15 minutes.

Ice bath until ~75

Pitched WLP-002 English strain and let sit in cool box where it fermented between 62 and 68 degrees for 3 weeks, bottled last night. The beer tasted great while flat and warm but the residual sweetness was apparent. I only carb'ed with 1 cup of DME to be closer to the 1.5 to 2 volumes that is typical of English Ales but more resembles a milder American Amber.


So- my question revolves around my FG. OG was 1.052 and FG should have finished out at 1.014 but was just over 1.02. I have heard that the efficiency of the English strains aren't as high as an American strain but I'm also thinking that my higher mash temp of the specialty grains resulted in fewer sugars being developed. To really be a more drinkable session beer I need to dry it out some more.

Points to critique:

Is high FG due to the high mash temp of the grains? I'm thinking no because I had 6.6 lbs of fermentables in the extract.

Is the FG more related to the fact that I used an English yeast?

I pitched a warm vial but no starter- was my FG probably more a function of my pitching rate or stain used?

On the plus side it's a beer I'll serve people who aren't as used to the more "in your face" flavors of homebrew and break them in slowly. ^^

At 1.020, I'm worried about bottle bombs. May want to store these somewhere easy-to-clean for the next month or so. Approach w/ caution.

Yeast of nearly any strain should not finish quite that high, especially WLP002. I don't think it was the specialty grains... I'm not sure what made your fermentation stick.

Yeah, to be closer to style and avoid bombs I went with less priming sugar. My bottles should be good up to 3 1/2 volumes so I'm not too worried but yes, they're in an area where they should be ok if they burst.

You need to pitch a starter- Some English ale yeast is so flocculant that you often need a good size starter or else the little yeast that are present often deep sixes before all the sugar is converted and you end up with high FG beers. I had this happen with Wyeast Special London Ale yeast and had an FG of 1021.

Also-your crystal is a consideration: then high mash temp and quantity could have left alot of unfermentables- the extract is already converted but the grains that you steep can vary, hot mash= more complex malt.

At least the gravity might drop in the bottle a bit

Jaeger48 said:

Is high FG due to the high mash temp of the grains? I'm thinking no because I had 6.6 lbs of fermentables in the extract.

Is the FG more related to the fact that I used an English yeast?

I pitched a warm vial but no starter- was my FG probably more a function of my pitching rate or stain used?

On the plus side it's a beer I'll serve people who aren't as used to the more "in your face" flavors of homebrew and break them in slowly. ^^

Click to expand...

The only grains you added were crystal malt. These contribute color and flavor, but do not generate fermentable sugars, so they will raise the FG a bit, but not up to the value you mentioned. Technically, you were steeping, and not mashing.

It is quite possible that the problem could be caused by the yeast. Without making a starter, you would almost certainly be under pitching. Also, WLP002 (my favorite yeast) is highly flocculant, and I have had several brews where it has settled out before it has finished fermenting. When this happens, I rouse the yeast by swirling the fermenter to resuspend the yeast. I ferment at 68 degrees, and rouse if the fermentation seems to have stalled. It's very unusual to not have finsshed by the end of 3 weeks, but your temperature varied between 63 and 68. The 63 could slow things down a bit, and encourage premature flocculation.

-a.

No starter this time but I will in the future.

ajf said:

It is quite possible that the problem could be caused by the yeast. Without making a starter, you would almost certainly be under pitching. Also, WLP002 (my favorite yeast) is highly flocculant, and I have had several brews where it has settled out before it has finished fermenting. When this happens, I rouse the yeast by swirling the fermenter to resuspend the yeast. I ferment at 68 degrees, and rouse if the fermentation seems to have stalled. It's very unusual to not have finsshed by the end of 3 weeks, but your temperature varied between 63 and 68. The 63 could slow things down a bit, and encourage premature flocculation.

-a.

Click to expand...

I wanted to avoid hot fermentation byproducts- I also checked my gravity after 10 days- same as it ended some 10-11 days later.

I'm not saying that getting the temperature down to 63 is wrong. Just that it may encourage the yeast to flocculate, and stop working before the job is finished. If that is the case, then rousing would get it going again.

-a.