Breaking the 1.018 barrier

[ilikeguns]

Long story short, I've only had one batch that has ever fermented past 1.018 in my 18 months of brewing my 5 gallon IPAs. Beers taste pretty good, but would like for them to go further.

It seems that whether or not i'm doing extract or all grain, mashing at 147 or 154, thermapen or dial thermometer to test my temperatures, shaking or 60 seconds of an 02 wand, ferm chamber or ambient air, fermenting at 62 or 70, 1272/1056/1968 yeast, one smack pack or three, tap water or poland spring.. etc.. nothing seems to make a difference... they all seem to finish at around 1.018-1.020.

Is there a variable that I'm missing here? My SGs are usually in the 1.07 - 1.09 range so am i being unrealistic about getting down to 1.014 territory? I know IPA/DIPAs that are around there, just trying to figure out where I am going wrong.

 

[Lyikos]

The cheap kitchen thermometers are often miscalibtated. Try to mash 5 degrees lower on the next batch and see how low it turns out. You can also try mashing longer than an hour and see if that helps.

 

[fartinmartin]

I am guessing mashing a bit high and getting unfermentable sugars
Fermenting temp ? I guess your figures are the ambient so the wort will be about 5degs C above that.
Those two combined and its finishing early, just my guesses.

 

[BadWolfBrewing]

have you literally tried all of those things?

You sure your gravity reading is accurate?

What's the grain bill? A lot of specialty grains in there will reduce the fermentability.

How are you measuring the SG? Refractometer or hydrometer?

Have you tried pitching a starter at high krausen?

I usually get around 80% attenuation for IPAs. That puts a 1.070 down to 1.014.

 

[ilikeguns]

@lyikos That was my first guess too, however I just switched to a Thermapen for this last batch and both thermometers were showing the same temp.

@fartinmartin I didn't think that 151 was too high but for my next batch I will do 146 to see if that helps.

@badwolf Sorry, to clarify.. I have tried all of the above but not all simultaneously. I did an ipa that was about 1.090 SG about 9 days ago and it's still only at 1.020. I know thats early, but typically my beers are done fermenting by this point and if i'm lucky will chew off another point.

Gravity reading is done with several hydrometers that i check calibration with tap water.

Grain bill was two row and a pound of honey malt for this one, but i've been failing at this recipe lately: http://www.bertusbrewery.com/2012/11/ipa-clone-series-firestone-walker.html

The only thing I think left to try is pitching the starter at high krausen like your recommend.. typically i make a starter, chill for a few days and decant the wort, then leave it out for a few hours on brew day to get up to temperature.

After i typed this all out, i did a calculation on last weeks brew from 1.09 to 1.02 is 77% attenuation.. I've never actually calculated it all out before but it looks like i'm getting the listed max attenuation for this yeast. I also had been using 002/1968 a lot which i'm reading is only listed at 70% max attenuation which also could be a contributing factor. The Double Jack clone link that was posted earlier, the brewer was getting 87% out of 002/1968 which was part of the baseline for my expectations.

This all leads to another question.. is it possible to overcome the stated attenuation on the package if I use more yeast? I'd been following Mr.Malty but maybe I need an even bigger starter.

Sorry for the long winded post w/ even more questions, and thanks for all the help!

 

[g-star]

Try a higher attenuating yeast like WLP001 or WLP007 at 1M cells/ml/*Plato, use pure O2 for 90 seconds, mash at 148F for 90min and add 8-16oz of plain table sugar (as a syrup) just after high krausen.

If this doesn't work, you have a serious anomaly on your hands.

 

[porterpounder]

Have you tried replacing some of the base malt with some simple sugar. Start with .5-1 lb and see where it take you. That usually drys it right out.

 

[AerationStation]

I say screw it, if it tastes good at 1.018 then who cares about chasing a number

 

[TexanRudeboy]

Have you tried replacing some of the base malt with some simple sugar. Start with .5-1 lb and see where it take you. That usually drys it right out.

I agree with this.

 

[Bearfoot]

Have you tried replacing some of the base malt with some simple sugar...That usually drys it right out.

+1.

Corn Sugar adds a dryness to my single and double IPA's that I love.

 

[ilikeguns]

I say screw it, if it tastes good at 1.018 then who cares about chasing a number

i like good beer.. i love great beer. Just trying to improve!

I want to avoid adding sugar just yet, but this weekend is going to be an exercise in attenuation. Big active starter, low mash temps and 90 seconds of 02. I will report back with my results...

Edited to add.. i'm not opposed to the sugar, just trying to figure out the process first.

 

[TexanRudeboy]

i like good beer.. i love great beer. Just trying to improve!

I want to avoid adding sugar just yet, but this weekend is going to be an exercise in attenuation. Big active starter, low mash temps and 90 seconds of 02. I will report back with my results...

Why do you want to avoid using sugar?

 

[solbes]

Do you add yeast nutrient? I add 1/4 tsp to all of my standard gravity brews, 1/2 tsp to mod to high gravity brews, and 3/4 tsp to the two extreme gravity brews (RIS and Barleywine 1.102-1.114). $2 and it should last at least a year. If anything my beers finish a tad on the low side. No fancy aeration for me either, just pitch nice sized starters/washed yeast with a shaken bucket.

 

[AerationStation]

I don't think you chasing an SG is going to really improve the beer but to each their own.

If you really want to hit your desired fg you might want to do a forced ferment test to see if it's your wort production or a ferm issue. Just pull off some innoculated wort and let it sit at like 80F until its finished fermenting and check the SG.

If you still can't get down to your target, and your at the high end of the attenuation for the yeast, your recipe has some problems.

If the force test does get down then it could be a ferm problem. Just make sure you're fermenting at a stable temp for the first few days then ramp a couple of degrees at the end. You could also try rousing near the end.

Again, if your getting consistent, tasty beer then I think your good but best of luck!

 

[fartinmartin]

I now think you should make an easy moderate beer, instead of going for the big beers, crack an ordinary 4-5% beer first to bottom out your process.

 

[ilikeguns]

well, success! My IIPA finished up at 1.016. My primary hydrometer reads .003 high so i needed to adjust for that but it seems like bumping the temp up right when the fermentation slowed down seemed to bring it down a little further (like aeration station recommended). I may have been waiting a little too long to bump up the temp.

Batch 2 is fermenting away and sitting at 69 degrees after spending most of the time at 65 (i'm using 002 on this one).

I think my problem was/is a lack of consistency in my process and when I would correct one issue, i would slack on another area. Thanks everyone for the help

 

[Riot]

Doing a step mash with a rest at 145 for 30min then 155 for 30 min has worked very well for me to get a higher attenuation. I learned this missing my rest temp and taking a bit to yet water boiled to raise it, had an ESB finish at 1.006.

 

[ilikeguns]

Doing a step mash with a rest at 145 for 30min then 155 for 30 min has worked very well for me to get a higher attenuation. I learned this missing my rest temp and taking a bit to yet water boiled to raise it, had an ESB finish at 1.006.

interesting... never though about doing a step mash.. might be worth a shot, I just need to recalculate all my volumes in beersmith.

I opened up my latest brew (yet another IIPA.. although this one was unintentional) to dry hop and took a sample. 1.018.. This one was using 002 and mashed at 145 for 60 minutes.

Could water acidity be a factor? My wort generally is below 4.7 for first runnings (according to my cooled sample tested with strips).

On a side note.. all of my hydrometers are .002-.005 off.. I can compensate, but it drives me nuts.