1.020 FG for IPA drinkable?

[don_bran321]

So I've been upgrading my equipment like crazy lately and fine tuning my brewing process with my EHerms build so on my last brew day my mash temp was a bit higher than I expected. it held steady at 157. I knew this was high but I didn't realize that it was going to be so high that I would have difficulty fermenting.
After 2 weeks it seems as though my fermentation has stuck at 1.020 with no obvious signs of activity.
Im going to let it sit for another week to see if it drops any but my question is if it doesn't drop and I keg this beer will it be drinkable?
Og was 1.052 so abv would clock at around 4.2% as is.

 

[Miraculix]

Have you ever thought of trying it yourself?

sry...

 

[ProblemChild]

well, I have done this with fantastic results. Others may be appalled, but here it goes.

Add a pack of Omega Bit 'o Funk Brett. Let gravityt reach 1.010 and bottle. Almost zero priming sugar needed. Will drive down FG and the flavor contribution during the time an IPA will be around is really quite good.

 

[don_bran321]

@ProblemChild that's actually a really good suggestion but I only have one fermenter and can't afford to make it a dedicated sour beer fermenter at the moment.
I toying with the idea of building a still for situations just like this so that it doesn't go to waste.

 

[ProblemChild]

@ProblemChild that's actually a really good suggestion but I only have one fermenter and can't afford to make it a dedicated sour beer fermenter at the moment.
I toying with the idea of building a still for situations just like this so that it doesn't go to waste.

No reason to make it a dedicated fermenter. Unless it is plastic, getting rid of the Brett is not hard. glass is very easy. A brew bucket only requires a proper star-san scrub and put the lid and the gasket in the dishwasher. hoses for transfer may need more attention however.

 

[pinkfloyd4ever]

Try the beer first. If it’s too sweet or full bodied, add a (rehydrated) packet of champagne yeast.

 

[leonardoreges]

For a standard IPA your OG is a little low and your FG is a little high.
But you can call it a session IPA and hit the style.
Just keg it. Hops may balance malt sweetness.
Leave things as they are, except for a dry hoping if you will.
Change things in your next batch.

 

[mirthfuldragon]

Try the beer first. If it’s too sweet or full bodied, add a (rehydrated) packet of champagne yeast.

Careful there. Champagne yeast is a "killer" yeast, which create a toxin that is fatal to non-killer yeasts, and champagne yeast is only capable of fermenting simple sugars (which it does very well and in a lot of harsh conditions). Champagne yeast won't handle complex sugars or dextrines, which are probably the cause of the high FG resulting from the high mash temperature. So it won't fix it and it will prevent anything else from fixing it.

For the OP, as others have said, taste it. What was the grain bill, yeast strain, age of yeast, and how did you pitch it? ABV alone is not really a good indicator. If you have a high IBU hop bill with some crystal malts, then you may have a balanced result. You might have something overly sweet or cloying.

Belle Saison yeast would probably take it lower (careful here - belle saison a diastaticus strain, so treat it like brett from a sanitation standpoint). If you used an older package of liquid yeast without a starter or a mis-handled dry yeast, pitching a pack of rehydrated dry yeast might help out as well.

 

[don_bran321]

yes I didn't hit the starting gravity I had hoped for but all of my IPAs have been session IPAs more or less. less yeast needed.

I'm afraid it's going to be too think or full bodied. I might try the champagne yeast. Thanks fir the feedback guys.
I was just kind of curious if anyone had good results with such a high fg before.

 

[don_bran321]

5lb US Pale Malt

4lb White wheat malt

2lb Flaked wheat

1/4 orange blossom honey

1lb Dextrose

I made a yeast starter with a pack of US 05 dry yeast(I know it's not necessary)

After 12 days or so I pitched another pack and raised temp to 72 bc it was stuck at 1.024.

I got 4 more points out of it but it seems to have stalled again

 

[Owly055]

What I would do is mix in a few teaspoons of AG300 Fungal Amylase and keg it, or bottle in EZ cap bottles as they are strong enough that they will never grenade, but rather they will vent pressure. The AG300 will work alongside the yeast and gradually bring the gravity down. You can also pitch something like Belle Saison, which attenuates more than most yeasts, and will bring the gravity down significantly. I kept AG 300 around for such things, though I no longer brew, and am getting rid of various equipment and supplies. You can find it on Ebay.
H.W.

 

[mirthfuldragon]

5lb US Pale Malt
4lb White wheat malt
2lb Flaked wheat
1/4 orange blossom honey
1lb Dextrose

I made a yeast starter with a pack of US 05 dry yeast(I know it's not necessary) After 12 days or so I pitched another pack and raised temp to 72 bc it was stuck at 1.024. I got 4 more points out of it but it seems to have stalled again

Random thought: are you certain it was dextrose, and not lactose? Lactose would explain (to some extent) the high FG and is unfermentable. There are lactose IPAs and I have had some good ones. Regardless, taste it and see how it goes. @Owly055's suggestion of amylase enzyme isn't bad either, but at this point you might be better off just calling it a learning experience depending on how it tastes.

You grain bill isn't too far off from lambics though, so throwing brett at it isn't a bad idea either (note: I like brett beers).

 

[TimmyWit]

I would leave it. I have intentionally mashed a NE IPA at 158 and ended up at 1.019. It came out great! I think a lot of folks have a perception that an IPA has to finish low to be good but now that you have one like this, you might find that you like it and if you do, you'll have a new tool in your toolbox.

 

[schematix]

I'll second (or third or fourth) the idea to taste it. Even if it sucks you will learn what 1.020 tastes like. One of the best things you can do to learn is to taste as many different things as you can. Sometimes they are for the worse, sometimes not.

I made a 1.070 IIPA once that ended at 1.020. It was REALLY hard to drink because it was so cloying.

But here my hunch is that you might have something equivalent to a session IPA. Might be a bit sweet but since you didn't have a big OG it could balance out.

BTW mashing where you did will give you around 60% AA most of the time. I'm a big fan of the Hochkurz mash for all beers. Can be as simple as 145-148 (beta rest), and then 158-162 (alpha rest), and then 170-172 (mash out).

 

[don_bran321]

Thank you Timmy. I really just wanted someone to tell me it could come out ok as is haha

I really like all the ideas everyone came up with though. I'm definitely going to pick up some amylase in case it happens again unintentionally.
@mirth Definitely corn sugar and not lactose. I'm not ready for all that yet.

 

[schematix]

Amylase is a bad idea unless you like making something thin and jet fuel like.

You could easily get 1.000

 

[don_bran321]

What would Amylase be used for then if it gives such a result?

 

[schematix]

If you have a grain bill with very low diastatic power (e.g. one low in or absent of barley or wheat) you may need to add it to the mash.

While it is true that if you created a wort high in unfermentable sugars, with a high final gravity, amylase can break those sugars down. But it is very capable of converting just about all the longer sugars into simple ones, and the yeast will go to town on it.

Best solution is to just get your mash tweaked in right. It's actually quite simple in the scheme of things, especially if you have control like in an EHERMS. Just don't mash so high and problem solved.

 

[jtp137]

Lagunitas IPA finishes around 1.020 they mash at 160 and I think its a pretty damn good beer

 

[TimmyWit]

Lagunitas IPA finishes around 1.020 they mash at 160 and I think its a pretty damn good beer

Where did you hear that? According to their website, OG = 1.059, ABV = 6.2%. If I’m not mistaken, that puts the FG between 1.012 & 1.013

 

[schematix]

Good catch Timmy.

 

[Sadu]

I've made my share of beers that finish high, some intentional, others not so much. My experience is that finishing high doesn't automatically mean bad beer.

If you used a lot of crystal malt and you finish high then yeah you run a real chance of it tasting cloying-sweet. But a base-malt or adjunct dominant beer at 1.020 can taste pretty great. It all comes down to balance, sometimes you finish sweet and the hops balance things out nicely. Other times it just tastes cloying-sweet.

My advice is to carry on as planned. You know what you did wrong so that can be fixed for next time and this batch could still be fine, a small IPA should have enough bitterness to balance out a bit of sweetness so you might get lucky.

 

[jtp137]

Where did you hear that? According to their website, OG = 1.059, ABV = 6.2%. If I’m not mistaken, that puts the FG between 1.012 & 1.013

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/can-you-brew-it-recipe-for-lagunitas-ipa.175370

http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/post1593/

 

[TimmyWit]

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/can-you-brew-it-recipe-for-lagunitas-ipa.175370

http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/post1593/

I’m sure that’s a good beer but those numbers don’t line up with what Lagunitas advertises

https://lagunitas.com/beer/IPA

If anything, this indicates that you can finish .05+ high and still come pretty close which should give OP a little more reassurance that his beer will be fine.

 

[jtp137]

I’m sure that’s a good beer but those numbers don’t line up with what Lagunitas advertises

https://lagunitas.com/beer/IPA

If anything, this indicates that you can finish .05+ high and still come pretty close which should give OP a little more reassurance that his beer will be fine.

Wonder of they changes it here is a link to the can you brew it episode for that beer recipe from the brewer
http://www.thebrewingnetwork.com/post1593/