CaptYesterday
Well-Known Member
So back in June (6/21) I brewed Jamil's Oktoberfest from Brewing Classic Styles. I began with 5.5 gallons at 1.056 and pitched the decanted remains of a 1 gal starter of Wyeast 2206. After fermenting for 2 weeks at 50 F (did the modified Narziss where I chilled it to 40 and racked into another carboy) it had a gravity of 1.030.
At this point I decided to wait a few more days to see if the gravity got any lower. It did not, so on July 9th ( a Thursday, and this is important) I moved the carboy from the fridge to a swamp cooler for a diacetyl rest where I raised the temp t 65 F.
Shortly thereafter I was encouraged to travel 6 hours away for the weekend to see some friends I had not seen since graduation in May. I tossed one last 2 liter of ice into the swamp cooler and said a quick prayer, then left on Friday.
When I returned on Sunday evening then aquarium temp strip on the carboy read 82 F and in all likelihood was several degrees higher than that. So, I sanitized my wine thief and discovered that my gravity during the course of a 4 day diacetyl rest had dropped an amazing 24 points, leaving me with a final gravity of 1.006 and an apparent attenuation of 89%.
So, the lesson is...
Don't leave town for 4 days during July while your beer is at the mercy of ambient temperatures.
I bottled it tonight after a 2 month lagering period. It was thin and dry on the tongue so I wound up adding some Maltodextrin during bottling. Here's hoping that adds some mouthfeel back to this beer. Rant over, and my sixer of Lagunitas IPA is almost over as well.
At this point I decided to wait a few more days to see if the gravity got any lower. It did not, so on July 9th ( a Thursday, and this is important) I moved the carboy from the fridge to a swamp cooler for a diacetyl rest where I raised the temp t 65 F.
Shortly thereafter I was encouraged to travel 6 hours away for the weekend to see some friends I had not seen since graduation in May. I tossed one last 2 liter of ice into the swamp cooler and said a quick prayer, then left on Friday.
When I returned on Sunday evening then aquarium temp strip on the carboy read 82 F and in all likelihood was several degrees higher than that. So, I sanitized my wine thief and discovered that my gravity during the course of a 4 day diacetyl rest had dropped an amazing 24 points, leaving me with a final gravity of 1.006 and an apparent attenuation of 89%.
So, the lesson is...
Don't leave town for 4 days during July while your beer is at the mercy of ambient temperatures.
I bottled it tonight after a 2 month lagering period. It was thin and dry on the tongue so I wound up adding some Maltodextrin during bottling. Here's hoping that adds some mouthfeel back to this beer. Rant over, and my sixer of Lagunitas IPA is almost over as well.
