Curse of the 1.02?

I made a partial mash that contained:

4lb Light DME
8oz Honey malt
8oz dextrin
1lb crystal 20
1lb Marris Otter

1lb of the DME was added at the start of boil, the other 3lbs were late additions. Got an OG of ~1.053. Fermentation was vigorous within 24 hours and has been sitting in the fermenter for 8 days. Used Safale S-04.

I took a sample to test the SG and got just a hair under 1.02. Beer still tasted a little sweet and since I'm off the expected FG of 1.014 I swirled the fermenter and sealed it back up hoping to redistribute the yeast in case they went dormant on me. And hopefully it'll bring the SG down some more.

It's possible I messed up the mash (was having some trouble getting the temp right) and got too many unfermentables out of it. Whatever. I'm transferring over to secondary and doing some dry hopping no matter what on Friday. It's still beer.

But it got me thinking. I've seen the phrase "curse of the 1.02" said quite often around here recently, specifically in the case of people doing malt extracts. Is getting stuck at 1.02 a common issue, and what is the reason for it?

Well you've used a pretty good yeast. How old was the DME? After I went all grain I noticed I got better attenuation with all of my yeasts.

The very last extract IPA I made finished at 1.02 with Pacman.

I haven't had that problem since I switched to all grain.

devaspawn said:

Well you've used a pretty good yeast. How old was the DME? After I went all grain I noticed I got better attenuation with all of my yeasts.

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1lb of the DME was a few weeks old as a leftover from my previous batch, but was kept in an airtight bag. The other 3lbs were fresh. Anything to be lost/gained by swinging by the LHBS and picking up another packet of yeast to throw in (minus the couple dollars of course)?

I encountered this curse on 2 of my first 3 batches. I ended up repitching yeast on both batches....I ended up hitting my target gravity on one, the other only came down a couple more points.

How is your fermentation temp control?

In my opinion, the 1.020 curse has to do mostly with malt extract and underpitching. First, extract usually contains unfermentables. For example, Briess malts already contain carapils. On top of this, you added dextrin malt AND crystal. As far as underpitching, one 11g packet is usually enough for a 5 gal 1.050 batch as long as you rehydrate it properly. Otherwise, use this pitching rate calculator.

http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html

dpittard said:

How is your fermentation temp control?

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It's in my living room, which this time of year stays between 61 and 64 ambient. I don't have the equipment to do any control beyond that.

That can significantly hinder your fermentation progress. If you decide to re-pitch, be sure to get about 10 grams of Go-Ferm and follow the instructions on that when rehydrating the yeast. You might drop a few more points. The worst case scenario is that it changes nothing and you are out a couple more bucks.

rocketman768 said:

In my opinion, the 1.020 curse has to do mostly with malt extract and underpitching.
http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html

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+1 to this. I had many extract beers that finished around 1.020. I tried DME and LME and tried different maltsters but only some of my beers went below 1.020. In this case it looks like it may have been the fermentation temp. You can try this which I've read on this site before. Get a cheap aquarium heater and see if you can put you fermentation bucket into a larger bucket that you can fill with water. Try to adjust the temp on the heater so that the water around the fermentation bucket is about 70. Hopfully it can wake the yeast up. Good luck.

cercueil said:

+1 to this. I had many extract beers that finished around 1.020. I tried DME and LME and tried different maltsters but only some of my beers went below 1.020. In this case it looks like it may have been the fermentation temp. You can try this which I've read on this site before. Get a cheap aquarium heater and see if you can put you fermentation bucket into a larger bucket that you can fill with water. Try to adjust the temp on the heater so that the water around the fermentation bucket is about 70. Hopfully it can wake the yeast up. Good luck.

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The fermentation temp should be correct for the yeast I used. Safale S-04 suggested temp range is 59 to 75. Ambient temp never fell below 61 and was usually at 64. Granted, 70 would be more ideal, but I've never had this problem before using the same yeast under similar (or colder) conditions.

How did you handle the Maris Otter?

i.e., what was the possible 'mess up'

McGarnigle said:

How did you handle the Maris Otter?

i.e., what was the possible 'mess up'

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I might not have mashed it at the right temp. I misjudged the strike water temp so the temp was too low. I tried to adjust, which brought the temp up too high. Seeing as how the maris otter was only 1lb, it shouldn't have had too much of an effect, but I thought it might be a possibility.

bonzombiekitty said:

I might not have mashed it at the right temp. I misjudged the strike water temp so the temp was too low. I tried to adjust, which brought the temp up too high. Seeing as how the maris otter was only 1lb, it shouldn't have had too much of an effect, but I thought it might be a possibility.

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Yeah, I doubt that's it.

waldoar15 said:

The very last extract IPA I made finished at 1.02 with Pacman.
I haven't had that problem since I switched to all grain.

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rocketman768 said:

In my opinion, the 1.020 curse has to do mostly with malt extract and underpitching. First, extract usually contains unfermentables. For example, Briess malts already contain carapils. On top of this, you added dextrin malt AND crystal. As far as underpitching, one 11g packet is usually enough for a 5 gal 1.050 batch as long as you rehydrate it properly. Otherwise, use this pitching rate calculator.

http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html

Click to expand...

I think these posts are your answer. The extract you start with deserves some consideration when formulating recipes. The fermentability and ingredients that are used to create the extract play a significant role in your final product. You may be adding dextrins upon dextrins. If you bring up the fermentation temp and the gravity stays the same, your done. I have thrown back many 1.020 beers with delight. I use Briess for example. the details (as much as they provide) below.

CBW® Golden Light

Lovibond FAN Unique Characteristics/Applications
4.0°
(8 °Plato) LME 3500
DME 4200
(syrup As-Is) Excellent light-colored pure malt extract. Use alone for light-colored beers, or with specialty malts to brew beers of all styles. Excellent for boosting gravity and yeast propagation.
Ingredients: Base Malt, Carapils® Malt.

also... http://www.brewingwithbriess.com/Assets/PDFs/Briess_PISB_CBWGoldenLightDME.pdf

I swung by the LHBS after work and got another pack of yeast and dumped it in there. At worst I'm out a couple dollars. I'll move over to secondary on saturday morning I think. I have too much cooking to do friday night.