Arrogant Bastard clone stuck at 1.024?

I brewed an AB clone (or close enough for my purposes, anyways) with an OG of about 1.074. It was a 5-gallon batch (maybe slightly more, but not much) and I pitched a fresh packet of rehydrated Danstar Windsor (I know...). Fermentation started off rather vigorously, within a matter of hours, with the airlock bubbling several times per second. After maybe 2 days, the airlock activity stopped. I have heard horror stories about Windsor finishing at unacceptably high gravity, so to be on the safe side, on day 3, I pitched a yeast cake of US-05 from a previous 2.5 gallon batch.

Fast forward one week (so 10 days total in primary), and I was planning on racking to secondary today and letting the beer sit in secondary for another week or three. But when I took my hydrometer reading, I only got 1.024 (and perhaps higher if I account for the temperature being almost 90 outside where I took the reading). So I am going to wait a while and hope that the yeasties finish this beer a little lower than 1.024.

For what it's worth, BrewMate says I am supposed to finish this particular recipe at 1.018. Honestly, I'm not sure exactly what 6 points means in terms of how accurate the recipe will taste compared to how it's supposed to taste. What I do know is that I am coming in about 0.7% ABV lower than I intended to, but my main concern is flavor.

My question is, should I bother pitching more yeast, give the yeast I already pitched more time to do their work, or just accept the fact that my FG will be 1.024? I have a couple 7-gram packets of the new Sterling English Ale that I could pitch, or some champagne yeast. I don't know how much good it would really do, or if I would just be wasting yeast at this point. Thoughts/comments/ideas/opinions?

My Dead Guy Clone with US-05 appears to have bottomed out on 1.023 from an OG of 1.074. Last brew it had OG of 1.072 and FG of 1.021.
Not sure if this is any help to you.

Don't worry about pitching anymore yeast, if the yeast you've got in there already can't do I'd be surprised if any more will help, and will only lend the risk of oxidation. Frankly, 6 points isn't that bad. What did the sample taste like? I've had plenty of beers wind up 6 or more points off (both high and low) and more often than not I think it would be hard to tell the difference if I didn't know going in.

It looks like right now you're at 68% attenuation, which isn't awful not knowing what your recipe was like. Plus, 10 days is still fairly quick for a beer that's a little towards the higher side. Give it another couple of weeks and come back to it then. If its still at 1.024, I'd say bottle it and drink up!

^ Thanks. That's what I was leaning towards, but I assumed it would be at or near 1.018 by this point.

Can you please give us some feedback on how this one turns out and if it is any good post your recipe. I would like to do an AB. If anyone else has a good AB recipe preferably partial mash that would be appreciated.

Absolutely. The recipe isn't perfect, but it's pretty close to some of the other AB clone recipes I've seen. Most of them use Cara 90 or 120 instead of 80, though. Anyways, Recipe was:


6 lbs. 2-Row
5 lbs. Liquid Malt Extract - Extra Light
1.5 lbs. Crystal 80

1.5 oz Chinook (11.4% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil)
1.0 oz Chinook (11.4% Alpha) @ 15 Minutes (Boil)
0.5 oz Chinook (11.4% Alpha) @ 5 Minutes (Boil)

1 Tsp. Irish Moss @ 15 Minutes (Boil)
1 Whirlfloc tablet @ 15 Minutes (Boil)
1/2 Tsp. Wyeast yeast nutrient @ 10 Minutes (Boil)

Single step Infusion Mash at 152ºF for 60 Minutes. Sparge at 170ºF.
60 Minute Boil, with LME added during last 15 minutes.
Fermented at 68°F with 1 packet Danstar Windsor and a US-05 yeast cake.