looking for the truth

OK, I am a newbie to AG but so far I have not had any major screw ups - my beers are palatable. I am just looking for the truth here. I can hit SG targets into the fermenter with a process that has been successful to date and I religiously ferment ales in the LOWER range temps ( even lower than White lab specs say is recommended for the yeast) and continue to miss my FG targets into keg by what I think are modest numbers. SO, here is the question. Should I just let my ferm temps creep up to have even longer than I have fermentations to consume my fermentables to hit my FGs?? I oxygenate/pitch larger than rec yeast quantities etc and only have these active 24 hour ferms then DONE! I am alittle frustrated and this cant be that complicated. What gives here?? Help if can, please. thanks, doc

Are you hitting the mash temps? Possibly you are overshooting that and getting less fermentable sugars. Maybe you need to check your thermometers.

thats whats weird - I did miss temp once big time and mashed at about 160 and the result was certainly thin/less mouthfeel etc but I have even nailed the temps/extracted almost cane syrup out and still feel like I stall at these low ale ferm temps. Just scared to let temps creep up at expense of nasty off flavors/esters etc??

Thats the right idea. On a typical ale, I'll ferment aroun 65ish for 5 days, then slowly ramp up to room temp (~70). When the bulk of fermentation is done, warming it a bit helps the yeast make that last little effort. I've never noticed off flavors using this method.

Also are you doing AG or extract? With extract, you are locked into the fermentability of the wort they give you. In AG, you can adjust mash temperatures according to how fermentable you need the wort to be.

Also, out of curiosity, how far off are your actual FG's from the expected?

Doing AG but by kits thus far. Fixing to change that to own recipes and will adjust accordingly. I consider my FGs to be way off as if supposed to hit 1.021 am coming in at 1.03 -1.04 ranges??

Before anything else, I would definitely double check the thermometers, and the hydrometer.

Definitely will check instruments cause just dont make sense to my little mind.

Yeah. Even if you're underpitching, there's no reason you should be so far under. How cool are you keeping them?

docmoran said:

thats whats weird - I did miss temp once big time and mashed at about 160 and the result was certainly thin/less mouthfeel etc but I have even nailed the temps/extracted almost cane syrup out and still feel like I stall at these low ale ferm temps. Just scared to let temps creep up at expense of nasty off flavors/esters etc??

Click to expand...

That's wrong right there if the thermometers are telling the truth. It should have tasted heavier/maltier at a higher temp due to less fermentable sugars. This would explain the final gravity being off, but maybe your taste buds are shot?