Overshot recipe OG, will my FG be higher?

[sherma]

I brewed this recipe a few weeks back: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f66/citra-pale-ale-oddsides-clone-375338/

OG per the recipe was 1.058, with expected FG of 1.012. When I brewed I got OG of 1.068.

I used WLP001 and after 3 weeks in fermentor, it is at 1.024.

Question is: If I overshot the recipe OG by 10 points, does that automatically mean my FG is going to be ~10 points higher than recipe FG?

 

[mcavers]

Not necessarily, and not likely in this case. It kind of depends on how your mash went (high temps = more dextrinous wort = higher FG) but WLP001 is a trooper of a yeast, and likely has more work to do. Chances are you have a stalled fermentation, which is really no big deal - warm it up a couple of degrees, rock the (sealed, CO2-blanketed) fermenter a bit to get some yeast back into suspension, and wait another week. Or rack it. That tends to get my fermentations moving again...

 

[sherma]

Not necessarily, and not likely in this case. It kind of depends on how your mash went (high temps = more dextrinous wort = higher FG) but WLP001 is a trooper of a yeast, and likely has more work to do. Chances are you have a stalled fermentation, which is really no big deal - warm it up a couple of degrees, rock the (sealed, CO2-blanketed) fermenter a bit to get some yeast back into suspension, and wait another week. Or rack it. That tends to get my fermentations moving again...

Should have put in the original: I've already roused the yeast and warmed it up about a week ago. Stayed at 1.024.

Yeah, 001 has always worked well for me. I had two other fermentors in the same space as this one, OG a couple points lower in both of those, and they both got down to 1.011. I think I must have messed up a temp reading or something with this one in the mash. Or maybe I didn't get full conversion. I usually mash for 60 minutes and don't check for conversion.

 

[TrickyDick]

Had a similar thing happen to me sort of.

Brewed a ESB 11 gallons, intended 1.055 OG. Ended up with 10.5 gal instead of 11, but a 1.059. Not because I boiled too long, however. I think its because of the 11 oz pellet hops I used, plus a bunch-load of hot break.
In addition to asking if there are any rules-of-thumb for hop calculation of wort loss from hops soaking it up, I wanted to ask about WHEN I should attempt to dilute the beer. I have 2 fermenters on, has 5.5 gal, the other 5 gal. I'd like to end up with two full kegs when I am done. Should I dilute in the fermenter? I am thinking yes so as to avoid the need to boil to deoxygenate the wort, then cool. Or could I just use some distilled water and pour into the fermenter? Sorry for thread hijack.

As to the OP, there can be many reasons for not hitting expected FG. Many yeasts you can look up the attenuation %, which is the expected % of the gravity "points" that can be fermented out I believe. Some yeasts will exceed these values. The mash itself as was pointed out can affect fermentablility and final gravity. underpitching can lower the apparent attenuation as can under-aerating the wort. Obviously is the temp has fallen too low in the fermenter, it can stall the fermentation. I have recently started to shorten my mash times, as I have noticed that I am getting complete conversion much sooner than published 60 minute mash times.

My vote goes for rack the beer and see what happens after another week. If its too sweet to drink you still have options. I've always wondered what an iodine test would do on finished beer- if it would work or not, to see if the mash was really too high and there are unfermentable sugars. Another option might be to add a drop of olive oil if you think that there wasn't enough aeration. Could also try pitching more yeast..

Good Luck

TD