Final Gravity for IPA - what is too high?

Recently brewed an IPA, that I mashed at 154, OG around 1.070, 70IBU....pretty straightfoward. It looks like the FG is going to be around 1.020, despite pitching an active two liter US-05 starter!

I am wondering what peoples experiences are with IPA and final gravity. I think 1.020 is the absolute maximum FG for an IPA to be decent, but I think 1.013 to 1.016 is usually where I like them.

What are all of your preferences for FG on IPA's?

My IPAs have been ending up at 1.013 - 1.015. A DIPA ended up at 1.018 but it started at 1.081.

BendBrewer said:

My IPAs have been ending up at 1.013 - 1.015. A DIPA ended up at 1.018 but it started at 1.081.

Click to expand...

What did you think of the DIPA? Was 1.018 too sweet for you? Did it seem out of style?

I thought it was great and so did the judges. It took first place in the IPA category which included all IPA and DIPAs.

Make an extract one at that gravity and you'll be delighted at 1.020.

Try amylase enzyme. It consistently gets me an extra 5-10 points when I have a beer finish higher than I wanted. Just drop 1 teaspoon into your 5 gallons and let it sit several more days.

To answer your question though I would consider 1.020 high for an IPA. Maybe not a IIPA, but definitely for an IPA.

Mine was OG 1.064 and FG 1.010 and upper 60s IBU. I didn't think it was perfect but I think the changes I will make have more to do with the hop schedule than trying to change the FG.

Well, I think I have found the problem. I am brewing an APA today, went to fire up my digital therm and it was on the fritz. I would be willing to be that I mashed far to high on this one..like in the 160 range.......US-05 is a trooper and it sure is trying. I suppose I could throw some enzyme in.

I got a new therm.

Maybe I will warm it up to 70 ambient and add some sugar, that is also a nice way to get your gravity down.

My extract AIPA settled around 1.20 FG, I blame it a combination of extract/my first batch/poor aeration/cold temps

permo said:

Well, I think I have found the problem. I am brewing an APA today, went to fire up my digital therm and it was on the fritz. I would be willing to be that I mashed far to high on this one..like in the 160 range.......US-05 is a trooper and it sure is trying. I suppose I could throw some enzyme in.

I got a new therm.

Maybe I will warm it up to 70 ambient and add some sugar, that is also a nice way to get your gravity down.

Click to expand...

Two things. First, wait till it is done fermenting then think about ways to "fix" it. Two, I made the Lagunitas Clone by Can You Brew It, mashed at 160 and fermented with 1968(whatever the english yeast they use is) and it went from 1.060 to 1.016, which is what it called for. Had I used US-05 it would have gotten lower.

That said, if you pitched a healthy starter (which isn't needed with dry yeast, but good on you) and accidentally hit 160 on a 1.070 beer, on my system I would get to about 1.015-1.018 FG. That is what my system would do and hopefully yours is somewhat close to that.

Otherwise, 1.020 is the absolute highest on any sort of IPA, IIPA, IIIPA I would ever go. I don't care if you are making a beer that is 1.100 or 1.200, if you are going to call it IPA, get it down below 1.020 or else call it a Barleywine. Extract brewers don't mind this as it is tough to get below 1.020 even on smaller beers, but make sure to up the hops to help keep the beer in balance.

My last extract IIPA went to 1.080-1.014 with US-05. So it may be more difficult on occasion to get below 1.020 with extract but I wouldn't make a blanket statement that it is the extract that causes that.

Could it trend high with extract more because (with obvious exceptions )extract brewers have a higher percentage of inexperienced brewers and may more often underpitch than AG brewers?

+1 to that. I wrote out all of that, but decided to just keep it more blankety

Matt Up North said:

Two things. First, wait till it is done fermenting then think about ways to "fix" it. Two, I made the Lagunitas Clone by Can You Brew It, mashed at 160 and fermented with 1968(whatever the english yeast they use is) and it went from 1.060 to 1.016, which is what it called for. Had I used US-05 it would have gotten lower.

That said, if you pitched a healthy starter (which isn't needed with dry yeast, but good on you) and accidentally hit 160 on a 1.070 beer, on my system I would get to about 1.015-1.018 FG. That is what my system would do and hopefully yours is somewhat close to that.

Otherwise, 1.020 is the absolute highest on any sort of IPA, IIPA, IIIPA I would ever go. I don't care if you are making a beer that is 1.100 or 1.200, if you are going to call it IPA, get it down below 1.020 or else call it a Barleywine. Extract brewers don't mind this as it is tough to get below 1.020 even on smaller beers, but make sure to up the hops to help keep the beer in balance.

Click to expand...

I had to make a starter, I wash my yeast so I had to step up a washed sample. You bet it was a healthy starter, an entire gallon that I stepped up over the course of a week with 1.045 OG starter wort.

I am quite sure it is a fermentability issue. I am going to wait another week and if I am not below 1.020 I will take some measures. However, I am sure the hoppiness of this brew would balance it nicely at 1.020....70+ IBU of some not so delicate hops (chinook...)

Well, after 9 days this thing is done fermenting. OG = 1.075 and FG = 1.020 IBU = 70 or so. What shall I do with this thing? Drink it at 1.020 and hope it's good or toss in a little amylase?

I know the yeast is good, I added 11 oz of honey and the yeast at that stuff up in a day, it is surely a high mash temp with unfermentables in the wort.

Also, another question. I got this grain and my LHBS and his crush is not the greatest, can having a little to large of a crush effect wort fermentability?

permo said:

Well, after 9 days this thing is done fermenting. OG = 1.075 and FG = 1.020 IBU = 70 or so. What shall I do with this thing? Drink it at 1.020 and hope it's good or toss in a little amylase?

I know the yeast is good, I added 11 oz of honey and the yeast at that stuff up in a day, it is surely a high mash temp with unfermentables in the wort.

Also, another question. I got this grain and my LHBS and his crush is not the greatest, can having a little to large of a crush effect wort fermentability?

Click to expand...

Well, if you added 11 ounces of honey and the yeast ate it, maybe they were pooped out for the fermentation, or accustomed to the honey and not maltose? Just a thought. 11 ounces of honey seems like something that would seriously stress yeast, particularly before they actually start on fermenting the wort.

Crush won't affect wort fermentability.

I don't think you'll get much more out of that yeast. You may want to add some fresh yeast, to see if it'll start up again, and if not at least you'll have fresh yeast for bottling if that yeast is done for.

I would NOT add amylase. Your beer may turn out too dry. You only want to drop a few more points anyway, at most.

ArtVandelay said:

My last extract IIPA went to 1.080-1.014 with US-05. So it may be more difficult on occasion to get below 1.020 with extract but I wouldn't make a blanket statement that it is the extract that causes that.

Could it trend high with extract more because (with obvious exceptions )extract brewers have a higher percentage of inexperienced brewers and may more often underpitch than AG brewers?

Click to expand...

I agree that the inability of extract to go below 1.020 is overstated. I have made two extract w/ steeping grains batches that ended at 1.011 or below. My IPA that I mentioned earlier in this thread went from 1.064 to 1.010 and somewhere between 2/3 and 3/4 of fermentables came from extract.

I'm not denying that people are having problems, I just wonder what variable causes them to have problems while my batches finish right where I want them to. It could be the brand of extract or old extract or it could not be extract related at all.

YooperBrew said:

Well, if you added 11 ounces of honey and the yeast ate it, maybe they were pooped out for the fermentation, or accustomed to the honey and not maltose? Just a thought. 11 ounces of honey seems like something that would seriously stress yeast, particularly before they actually start on fermenting the wort.

Crush won't affect wort fermentability.

I don't think you'll get much more out of that yeast. You may want to add some fresh yeast, to see if it'll start up again, and if not at least you'll have fresh yeast for bottling if that yeast is done for.

I would NOT add amylase. Your beer may turn out too dry. You only want to drop a few more points anyway, at most.

Click to expand...

I didn't add the honey to the boil. I added the honey to primary after the maltose fermentation was complete. I measured gravity of 1.023, after 5 days of fermentation and the yeast was starting to fall out of suspension. I added the honey, because I like it, and because I wanted to see if the yeast would wake up. The yeast at that honey up in no time.

Maybe I will make a small nottingham starter and add it to the beer while it is fermenting and see if I can drop a few more points?

Right now I am leaning towards dry hopping the crap out of it and just going with 1.020 as the gravity.

well, after 1.5 weeks I am right at 1.020....now here comes the million dollar question.

Today I am either going to throw in the dry hop or throw in amylase. I vote for the dry hop, but I would sure appreciate some advice.

update: I chose option C: I did both.

I dry hopped with 1 oz cascade, 1 oz chinook and 1 oz willamete and added 1/2 tsp amylase. Fermentation has resumed, it appears to be a conversion issue, my therm was bad.

After listening the Jamil podcast on AIPA, it appears as if some award winning IPA brewers actually dry hop intentionally while fermentation is still in progress.


BTW....3 oz dry hop

how did using amylase turn out? I ask because I have a IIPA that finished at 1.025 and I just pitched 1/2 tsp of amylase in there to hopefully take it down 5-7 points

I use WLP001 for my warrior/simcoe/amarillo IPA, mash at 155, ferment at 68, it starts out at 1.069 and it consistently finishes at 1.010 FG. 75 IBUs and I dry hop it with 50/50 cascade/chinook and I think it comes out delicious. I have heard of an article by Vinnie Cilurzo talking about the importance of low FGs in IPAs, although I have not been able to find the article myself, nor do I know his reasoning. If anyone else knows, please share. I do know his recipe in 8/09 Zymurgy has Pliny the Elder coming in at 1.011.

binaryc0de said:

how did using amylase turn out? I ask because I have a IIPA that finished at 1.025 and I just pitched 1/2 tsp of amylase in there to hopefully take it down 5-7 points

Click to expand...

It worked fantastically, final gravity = 1.011 and the beer is great.

Great! now I can RDWHAHB

binaryc0de said:

Great! now I can RDWHAHB

Click to expand...

1/2 tsp is certainly enough, and I even aerated the wort a little too. No off flavors and the beer is one of my best to date.

I am impressed with this enzyme. I have been challenged to brew some piss water, so I think I am going to brew a 1.035 OG, straight pilsen beer, mash it at 149 overnight and add amylaze to the fermenter and try to get it super dry. Pacman yeast.

+1 I have used Amylase enzyme in some stuck fermentations and it always works out great to get the FG to drop a few points. I have read that using Beano can dry out a beer too far but Amylese doesn't have the same effect as it contains onlly one of the two enzymes (beta I believe).

Doing an IPA right now that only came down to 1.020 after 10 days... considering doing the same thing, but that would likely end up making me keep everything in the primary for 3 weeks... too much for an IPA??

thanks,

my IPAs and IIPAs don't ever finish above 1.013. I managed to get my most recent IIPA, with an OG of 1.085, down to 1.013, it tastes nice and deceptively light. The trick is to mash low at 148, and to increase the fermentation temp a bit after high krausen. Nothing worse than a malt bomb IIPA, and for some reason, the east coast breweries haven't discovered that yet.

alcibiades said:

my IPAs and IIPAs don't ever finish above 1.013. I managed to get my most recent IIPA, with an OG of 1.085, down to 1.013, it tastes nice and deceptively light. The trick is to mash low at 148, and to increase the fermentation temp a bit after high krausen. Nothing worse than a malt bomb IIPA, and for some reason, the east coast breweries haven't discovered that yet.

Click to expand...

Ever try Ithaca Flower Power?

bovineblitz said:

Ever try Ithaca Flower Power?

Click to expand...

No, but ill definitely put it on my list!

when I think malt bomb IPA, I think Troegs Nugget Nectar, Weyerbacher Double Simcoe, and DFH 90.

Figure this is a more appropriate place to ask my question than start a new thread. Brewed an IPA 12 days ago, extract (+1lb of corn sugar), fermenting at 62 degrees. OG was 1.078. Took a gravity reading tonight, 1.022. Is this too high to finish or can I expect it to drop some more? And how do you properly rouse the yeast if need be? thanks. oh yeah, used a rehydrated pack of s-05.

This is a cool post from the past to come back and discuss. NEIPA has been the sole style I have been brewing of late. Looking back at the posts on this style from years back, it would seem that the 1.012 final gravity range was everyone's target but my experience with the style tells me that 1.017-1.020 seems to produce the best NEIPAS (for the record, I'm specifically talking about beers in the 7-8% ABV range). I have one kegged now that has a wonderful flavor but dried out to around 1.011 and it is definitely too dry for the best examples of the style. I am moving my next batch to a mash temp of 156 and may even go bolder at 158. Thoughts on this fellow NEIPA brewers?

Depends on the recipe, hops, hopping rates, your taste, etc.

I brewed a 5.5% IPA that finished at 1.022. It was a grapefruit bomb, crisp and easy drinkable.

I brewed a 7.1% that finished at 1.007 ( high on sulfate, Chinook and Columbus hops ) and I thought it was too dry, although it tasted very good.

I think it's relative from person to person, recipe and so many other factors. I would say anything between 1.010 and 1.020 would be OK.

Michael S. Henry said:

This is a cool post from the past to come back and discuss. NEIPA has been the sole style I have been brewing of late. Looking back at the posts on this style from years back, it would seem that the 1.012 final gravity range was everyone's target but my experience with the style tells me that 1.017-1.020 seems to produce the best NEIPAS (for the record, I'm specifically talking about beers in the 7-8% ABV range). I have one kegged now that has a wonderful flavor but dried out to around 1.011 and it is definitely too dry for the best examples of the style. I am moving my next batch to a mash temp of 156 and may even go bolder at 158. Thoughts on this fellow NEIPA brewers?

Click to expand...

I didn't notice the dates when reading, but the whole time I was thinking to myself that I design several of my IPAs to finish around 1.020, so why would this be a problem.

I think it is a matter of personal taste. I think 1.020 is way too high, but I confess I have never made an IPA (or any beer for that matter, even a 12+% Barley wine) that finished anywhere near that.

I like them dry and 1.008 is probably my upper limit for an IPA. But I like everything dry, I like really dry wines, and I find extra dry Champagne too sweet. There are also a lot of Commercial IPAs/PAs that I find just too sweet.

I think it is personal taste, but maybe I should try and make a couple of beers that finish a little higher to see how I like them.

I just kegged a Hopslam AG clone and it finished after 17 days at .022, I was concerned because the prior 2 batches finished at .012 and .017 It definitely tastes a sweeter than the first 2 batches and had I known about the amylase trick I would have used it. OG was .085 and yeast was 2nd generation 1056. Still totally drinkable but the difference is perplexing.

Just kegged an American IPA at 10.12 fg.Lots of hops in as well.Do you lot agree that i will be ok with these readings?

philipdesmondjohnson said:

Just kegged an American IPA at 10.12 fg.Lots of hops in as well.Do you lot agree that i will be ok with these readings?

Click to expand...

1.012 is a perfect FG for IPAs.

An old post but I thought I would add to the conversation in case someone has a similar experience to me. My sudo NEIPA brewed with wheat and oats consistently comes in at around 1.025 and 1.033. I use Kveik and brew at around 36C. I thought this was high but I checked out a NEIPA from a local brew pub and it comes in at about 1.030. It is 6.4% and a really good juicy NEIPA, a really awesome beer. So what gives?
Proteins and fats are not soluble in water so that should not impact the S.G. Well maybe the fermentation stuck, I doubt it the last batch had a real bite, my son asked me if I spiked it with vodka. Possibly my instruments, no I checked against a known solution and used two methods. If it were not for the brew pub having the same S.G. I would think it was me, but their beer has the same ingredient profile.

mankev said:

An old post but I thought I would add to the conversation in case someone has a similar experience to me. My sudo NEIPA brewed with wheat and oats consistently comes in at around 1.025 and 1.033. I use Kveik and brew at around 36C. I thought this was high but I checked out a NEIPA from a local brew pub and it comes in at about 1.030. It is 6.4% and a really good juicy NEIPA, a really awesome beer. So what gives?
Proteins and fats are not soluble in water so that should not impact the S.G. Well maybe the fermentation stuck, I doubt it the last batch had a real bite, my son asked me if I spiked it with vodka. Possibly my instruments, no I checked against a known solution and used two methods. If it were not for the brew pub having the same S.G. I would think it was me, but their beer has the same ingredient profile.

Click to expand...

Nothing gives. It's pretty common for hazies from commercial breweries to be north of 1.020, you need the extra gravity to provide boty the necessary mouth feel and to push the hops into juiciness.

1.033 is pretty high though! The highest I ever shoot for is about 1.025 and that's in 10-12% TIPAs.

I'm mostly impressed you're getting Kveik to crap out at like 58% attenuation. I can never get less than 80% out of mist strains even when I want to.