Raise FG in secondary?

My FG for my IPA was five points too low @ 1.012. I'm planning to secondary and dry hop, any chance of raising the gravity during this time?

1.012 is a near-perfect FG for an IPA.

does your recipe call for a FG of 1.017 or is this what a brewing software program such as beer smith calculated?

honestly, 1.012 is a terrific FG. 1.017 is overly-sweet and would mask the hop presence in your brew. i brew a lot of IPAs, and a 1.010 FG is even better than a 1.012 in my book.

i suggest leaving it be, dry-hop as planned, and enjoy. cheers.

joshualoomis said:

1.012 is a near-perfect FG for an IPA.

does your recipe call for a FG of 1.017 or is this what a brewing software program such as beer smith calculated?

honestly, 1.012 is a terrific FG. 1.017 is overly-sweet and would mask the hop presence in your brew. i brew a lot of IPAs, and a 1.010 FG is even better than a 1.012 in my book.

i suggest leaving it be, dry-hop as planned, and enjoy. cheers.

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Agreed 100%

I agree. !.012 is good for an IPA.

No need to try to fix something that is really not a problem. Let it go and enjoy the brew.

agree x4
I would rather have a drier IPA, around 1.012 than 1.017

x5 dont be silly i like og to be super low I want to push for a 1.000 lowest so far i got 1.004

The help on this forum is fantastic, thanks a lot all. I'll let you know how it turns out.

All.

So I am definitely taking all of your advice and NOT raising gravity in my ipa. I am curious though, if this was an issue, how does one go about raising gravity after primary fermentation, or is it a wash at that point? It is my understanding that if it were a problem it means there was not enough fermentable sugars in the wort, correct? Was there not enough yeast? (krausen blew through my airlock but after research I was informed that was not that bit of a deal) so to raise the gravity would one add some DME to the secondary, add sugar (or would that start carbonation) more yeast? Thanks again for the information.

silvergti said:

I am curious though, if this was an issue, how does one go about raising gravity after primary fermentation, or is it a wash at that point?

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you would add malto-dextrine or lactose which are unfermentable by ale yeast

silvergti said:

All.

So I am definitely taking all of your advice and NOT raising gravity in my ipa. I am curious though, if this was an issue, how does one go about raising gravity after primary fermentation, or is it a wash at that point? It is my understanding that if it were a problem it means there was not enough fermentable sugars in the wort, correct? Was there not enough yeast? (krausen blew through my airlock but after research I was informed that was not that bit of a deal) so to raise the gravity would one add some DME to the secondary, add sugar (or would that start carbonation) more yeast? Thanks again for the information.

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Once you hit FG it's anecdotal. It becomes a data point and it's what makes good note taking important.

"I used this grain bill with this much water with this yeast and fermented at this temperature which produced this OG and this FG. (if AG mash temp is critical too)."

Now, what do I want to change next time? What is the best way to do that? Modify the grain bill (make it more or less fermentable), change yeast for lower or higher attenuation, use some dextrose to dry it out (lower the FG), maybe do a partial mash in the low 150's to add some dextrins (non-fermentable sugars) to raise the FG on a portion of the wort.

If AG, should I change the mash temp, try a multi-step infusion, add some adjunct, etc...

It's almost endless...take good notes, you want repeatablility if you are trying to tweak a recipe.