Belgian Tripel not hitting FG

Hello,
I made a Belgian Tripel about a week ago...pitching temp was 72 using SAF t-58. Fermentation has been at 68-69 degrees. My recipe calls for a 1.081 OG which I hit...the FG is supposed to be 1.021, but I have been stuck for 3 days at 1.032. Any suggestions on dropping the FG? Im headed to the beer store later, so any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks a lot!
Chris

Bring the temp. up. Get the temp up to around 75°-77°F and gently rock primary vessel a few times to stir up the yeast.

extract? PM? AG? if it was the latter two, what was your mash schedule like?

malkore said:

extract? PM? AG? if it was the latter two, what was your mash schedule like?

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Yes, this is an important point. You are currently at 60% attenuation, though it unlikely that this is already close to your limit of attenuation, it could be if you had temperature issues with the mash or used a fairly unfermentable malt extract.

For I while now I have been stressing fast fermentation tests. These are side fermentations done with a large pitch of yeast compared to the amount of wort. I find them especially helpful for large beers where the yeast can easily give up towards the end. I currently have a Doppelbock in the secondary that is hovering around 6 *P (~1.024) while still being to sweet. From the FFT I know that its terminal gravity is 3.2 *P and that I want it to finish around 4.0 *P. I'll try to fix this by adding some more kraeusen later this week.

Here is what you can do. Take a sanitized bottle and fill it halfway with a sample of the beer. Pitch a pack or half a pack of dry yeast (any ale yeast will do) top with tinfoil and keep it warm. Shake it occasionally to resuspend the yeast and take a hydrometer reading once there is not more activity left (it lays completely still w/o bubbles). This should be the terminal gravity of the beer and you may want to let it finish slightly above this gravity to keep some sweetness.

Here is article that might help: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Understanding_Attenuation

Kai

How much yeast did you pitch? What temp is it at now?
You could try a few fixes, adding more yeast, warming it, rocking it, adding brett...

Your recipe or process could be at fault. With more info we can try and help you avoid the problem in the future.

I used a kit from my local homebrew store...Niagara Traditions. It is an extract kit. I used Safbrew t-58...the temperature is now at 68. I was thinking of raising the temperature but not sure how to regulate adding heat to it over an extended period of time. Would a space heater work?
Just out of curiousity, what would happen to the beer if it doesn't reach the targeted FG? Would it just be sweeter with less ABV? Just a question. Thanks for helping out a noob!

inkslinger82 said:

I used a kit from my local homebrew store...Niagara Traditions. It is an extract kit. I used Safbrew t-58...the temperature is now at 68. I was thinking of raising the temperature but not sure how to regulate adding heat to it over an extended period of time. Would a space heater work?
Just out of curiousity, what would happen to the beer if it doesn't reach the targeted FG? Would it just be sweeter with less ABV? Just a question. Thanks for helping out a noob!

Click to expand...

With the extract brews your FG is really based on the extract. Some extracts just don't ferment that far down. You could try brewing the same recipe with a different extract. Or try replacing some of the extract with corn sugar (keep it close to 15% of the total fermentables). 68˚F should be plenty warm for the yeast, I wouldn't raise it any more.

That being said 1.032 is mighty high FG for this beer. Check that your hydrometer is accurate (it should read 1.000 in water) and recheck the beer. If you are bottle conditioning don't bottle it at that high of a gravity. You should pitch more yeast and try getting the gravity down a lot lower. For a OG of 1.081 you should be pitching 15g of dry yeast (rehydrated in water, rehydrating in wort does harm to the yeast, always rehydrate per the manufacturers instructions).

The beer may still come out great, but it'll be better next time.