Not hitting FG (too high!)

I recently brewed a Black IIPA which went from 1.084 to 1.025 using two packets of S-05 and probably inadequate aeration... Has anyone had luck with bringing the gravity down by racking a beer like this onto a new cake or stepping up a new starter a few times and pitching?

I mashed at 150F so I don't think that is the issue. I have a cream ale finishing up in primary which I was thinking may work well as a S-05 cake to rack onto...

Any thoughts?

You got 70% attenuation, which is a bit low for us-05, but might be just about right for a high gravity ale, espcially depending on your fementation conditions and recipe. But pitching new or more yeast won't do the trick. It's probably just done. Your best bet would be to ramp up the temp to low 70's, and give it a gentle swirl to put some yeast back in suspention. If after a few days it's still at 1.025, that's all you're going to get.

My most recent Black IIPA went from 1.084 to 1.024... The beer has been there for a week or more so it's just done. I tasted a sample and it was great, not cloy or anything.

1.025 is not bad coming from 1.084. Should be a good beer.

I was stuck at 61% attenuation with S-05 recently....I swirled (rather agressively, I wanted to get all the sediment back into suspension), and let sit for one more week.

Gravity dropped a good 6 points, so I'm happy!

Taste it, if it's still has a lot of sweetness to it, give it a swirl and up the temp a few degrees. If that doesn't work, pitch an active starter (doesn't have to be huge, a liter is plenty).

That is almost exactly the FG I would expect on that big a beer mashed at 150. If I wanted to go lower than that I would have mashed at 147 for 90 minutes. That would get it to the mid-teens depending on the grain bill.

dontman said:

That is almost exactly the FG I would expect on that big a beer mashed at 150. If I wanted to go lower than that I would have mashed at 147 for 90 minutes. That would get it to the mid-teens depending on the grain bill.

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Most of the people doing a similar recipe recommended 152-154 and achieved the 80%AA I was looking for, and I've regularly gotten 83% AA from a 150F mash on other recipes...

cladinshadows said:

Most of the people doing a similar recipe recommended 152-154 and achieved the 80%AA I was looking for, and I've regularly gotten 83% AA from a 150F mash on other recipes...

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I really can't speak at all for other people, I'm just saying that if I was doing a mash with your OG and mash temp that your FG would be pretty much what I would expect to see.

I guess next time I'll be shooting for a 147F mash! Thanks for the replies everyone...

I like the 147° idea on the high gravity. Plus, what was your percentage of specialty malts? Regardless of mash temp, you're not getting maltose from the specialty malts, anyway.

It was 80% pale, 10% munich, 5% carafa III, 5% crystal 60L.

I suppose with my normal IIPA's I rarely have over 6% crystal/dextrin and I usually include some sugar, so it shouldn't surprise me that this turned out the way it did.

cladinshadows said:

I rarely have over 6% crystal/dextrin and I usually include some sugar

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Yeah, I'd say that helped your high(er) FG.

I'm absolutely certain the beer is going to taste good though.

I do not use dry yeast but I made a IIPA with White labs 001 mash at 152 and it went from 1.081 to 1.012 This of course is with a healthy starter.

BigNastyBrew said:

I'm absolutely certain the beer is going to taste good though.

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Yeah I am greatly looking forward to it.

As far as pitching rate, I used (2)-11 gram packets of properly rehydrated S-05...

I degassed the real thing (Stone's 11th Anniversary / Sublimely Self-Righteous) and the gravity is indeed 1.016 versus my current 1.023. If I don't like mine as much, I'll just mash at 147F and not be lazy with my aeration next time.