Hey everyone, I'm looking for a possible solution to a FG issue I'm having.
OG: 1.060
Malt Bill:
9Lb Pearl Malt
0.5Lb Crystal 40L
0.6Lb Carapils
178F mash in; 158F mash temp for 60 mins -> 157F when the mash was over.
Collected around 4 Gallons for boil (60 min boil)
I used a yeast started for 2 cups of water and 1/2 cup DME and Conan yeast that I've been using for several IPAs harvested from a fresh can of Heady months ago. It's worth noting the starter was from another starter that I refrigerated for over a month, poured off the fermented liquid and added fresh DME. The mason jar that I do my starters in was forming quite a bit of CO2 upon swirling and some krausen was forming (it was a last minute brew day so I didn't have a ton of time to get the yeast going - in my experience Conan is a savage yeast and 3-5 hours is plenty of time for a chilled culture to start destroying sugars)
I've also done this before and used this yeast several times with no issues. I never gave much of a damn about my FG/OG in the past and have been some very good IPAs with my Conan culture, so I don't think it's the yeast. I also added yeast nutrient during the boil.
I picked up a F**KTON of sulfur odors a few days into the fermentation which was horrifying, but after some research it's apparently not uncommon for this to occur with Conan - it dissipated within a day anyways and went back to the odors I expected.
Anyways, I pitched the yeast on 2.18.16. I'm definitely going to give the beer longer in the primary (another week perhaps), but in my past experience, Conan demolishes the beer to the FG of around 1.010 within a week. I only cared because I was going to dry hop a few days ago on the assumption the beer was finished - it seems to be stuck at 1.022FG. I gave the finished product a good stirring (careful of the minute O2 exposure everyone freaks out about
) with a sanitized spoon 2 days ago to resuspend the yeast, so hopefully that can get the job done. If in a few days it still hasn't budged, I'm going to spike the beer with some corn sugar and more nutrient + stirring. If that doesn't work, the dry hop will go on and the beer will be bottled.
It's also for sure worth mentioning that the beer still has an acrid bitterness that I taste in the wort immediately after the boil - this has usually been removed in a little over a week so there's definitely some yeast magic that needs to happen to finish the beer up. The beer was also remarkably clear before I gave it a stirring, so flocculation definitely occured.
I also ferment in my basement (59-64F depending on the day - we've had some arctic days here in MA...) to keep everything on the colder side to avoid the hefeweizen flavors that Conan can impart. This has worked in the past but I think it might've gotten too cold at some point during fermentation and caused the yeast to surrender near the finish line. It's currently trying to be finished in a warmer part of my house (again after resuspension), so hopefully that can kick the yeast back into shape.
Yet another side note, I took a small sample of the beer to get a storage starter going. A very tiny amount of the beer yielded a massive, aggressive fermentation in the starter, so it is definitely not yeast health.
And no, I seriously doubt it is contamination. I am a biology grad student and am OCD about sanitary/sterile technique. I wear sanitized gloves at every step after the wort is chilled for pitching. The flavor is that of a slightly unfinished IPA, not of an infected beer or a mixed fermentation culture.
Thank you for any help you can provide! I think I have a solid strategy to kick this thing down some points, but any and all input is welcome
OG: 1.060
Malt Bill:
9Lb Pearl Malt
0.5Lb Crystal 40L
0.6Lb Carapils
178F mash in; 158F mash temp for 60 mins -> 157F when the mash was over.
Collected around 4 Gallons for boil (60 min boil)
I used a yeast started for 2 cups of water and 1/2 cup DME and Conan yeast that I've been using for several IPAs harvested from a fresh can of Heady months ago. It's worth noting the starter was from another starter that I refrigerated for over a month, poured off the fermented liquid and added fresh DME. The mason jar that I do my starters in was forming quite a bit of CO2 upon swirling and some krausen was forming (it was a last minute brew day so I didn't have a ton of time to get the yeast going - in my experience Conan is a savage yeast and 3-5 hours is plenty of time for a chilled culture to start destroying sugars)
I've also done this before and used this yeast several times with no issues. I never gave much of a damn about my FG/OG in the past and have been some very good IPAs with my Conan culture, so I don't think it's the yeast. I also added yeast nutrient during the boil.
I picked up a F**KTON of sulfur odors a few days into the fermentation which was horrifying, but after some research it's apparently not uncommon for this to occur with Conan - it dissipated within a day anyways and went back to the odors I expected.
Anyways, I pitched the yeast on 2.18.16. I'm definitely going to give the beer longer in the primary (another week perhaps), but in my past experience, Conan demolishes the beer to the FG of around 1.010 within a week. I only cared because I was going to dry hop a few days ago on the assumption the beer was finished - it seems to be stuck at 1.022FG. I gave the finished product a good stirring (careful of the minute O2 exposure everyone freaks out about
) with a sanitized spoon 2 days ago to resuspend the yeast, so hopefully that can get the job done. If in a few days it still hasn't budged, I'm going to spike the beer with some corn sugar and more nutrient + stirring. If that doesn't work, the dry hop will go on and the beer will be bottled. It's also for sure worth mentioning that the beer still has an acrid bitterness that I taste in the wort immediately after the boil - this has usually been removed in a little over a week so there's definitely some yeast magic that needs to happen to finish the beer up. The beer was also remarkably clear before I gave it a stirring, so flocculation definitely occured.
I also ferment in my basement (59-64F depending on the day - we've had some arctic days here in MA...) to keep everything on the colder side to avoid the hefeweizen flavors that Conan can impart. This has worked in the past but I think it might've gotten too cold at some point during fermentation and caused the yeast to surrender near the finish line. It's currently trying to be finished in a warmer part of my house (again after resuspension), so hopefully that can kick the yeast back into shape.
Yet another side note, I took a small sample of the beer to get a storage starter going. A very tiny amount of the beer yielded a massive, aggressive fermentation in the starter, so it is definitely not yeast health.
And no, I seriously doubt it is contamination. I am a biology grad student and am OCD about sanitary/sterile technique. I wear sanitized gloves at every step after the wort is chilled for pitching. The flavor is that of a slightly unfinished IPA, not of an infected beer or a mixed fermentation culture.
Thank you for any help you can provide! I think I have a solid strategy to kick this thing down some points, but any and all input is welcome
