SG High Going into Secondary

[brewerbeev]

This pertains to a fairly high OG IPA extract recipe I brewed two weeks ago. Here's the recipe:

1# Crystal 40L (steeped 20 min at 154F in 2.5 gal water)
4# Extra Light DME
4# Light DME
.75 oz Warrior (15% AAU, 60 min)
.50 oz Centennial (10% AAU, 35 min)
.25 oz Simcoe (13% AAU, 30 min)
Wyeast 1056 w/ 1L starter

1.00 oz Centennial (10% AAU, dry hop 7 days)
1.00 oz Simcoe (13% AAU, dry hop 7 days)

This was a full volume boil for those of you thinking the hop measurements seem low. Measured OG was 1.074, expecting a FG of around 1.017-18 for about a 7-7.5% ABV IPA.

I allowed it 2 weeks in the primary and decided to xfer to secondary at that point. Fermentation began at about 12-18 hours in and was very active for almost 5 days. At two weeks, any visible fermentation had stopped and when popping the lid off it was clear the krausen had dropped. I took a refractometer reading and it came out to 1.036, which obviously seemed high. I considered leaving it in the primary for another week but didn't since there seemed to be very little fermentation taking place at that point. Can I expect the SG to drop at all while in the secondary or am I going to end up with an overly-malty IPA?

Thanks!

 

[hercher]

Your refractometer reading probably isn't accurate, as I have found that it doesn't read fermenting or fermented beer right. Use a hydrometer.

Just because your krausen dropped doesn't mean fermentation is complete. Yes, it is possible that your SG will continue to drop as there is still plenty of yeast in suspension in your beer.

 

[JLem]

Refractometers are not accurate when alcohol is present - alcohol has a different coefficient of refraction, which most refractometers are not set up to account for. There are mathematical ways of correcting the reading, but even these are not particularly good, especially as the ABV goes up. Use hydrometer for FG and keep the refractometer for brewday use (OG, preboil gravity, etc)

Chances are that your actual FG is much closer to what you expected.

 

[brewerbeev]

Ha....thanks. That is what you call a "doh" moment. I should have realized that the refraction of light through a sugar solution is going to be different than a solution with alcohol in it. I'll pull out the hydrometer.

 

[brewerbeev]

Hydrometer showed 1.017. Right where I wanted to be. Thanks guys.

 

[Denny]

This spreadsheet corrects refractometer readings post fermentation. It's the most accurate one I've seen.....

http://seanterrill.com/2011/04/07/refractometer-fg-results/

 

[peterj]

Why such low hops for an IPA? And why no flavor or aroma hops at all? I guess if that's how you like it, that's cool, but it doesn't seem like it would turn out much like an IPA. It's like you're reverse hop bursting.

Also, this is just personal preference too I suppose, but I wouldn't have used a secondary. I feel that secondaries are rarely necessary or useful.

 

[JLem]

Why such low hops for an IPA? And why no flavor or aroma hops at all? I guess if that's how you like it, that's cool, but it doesn't seem like it would turn out much like an IPA. It's like you're reverse hop bursting.

Also, this is just personal preference too I suppose, but I wouldn't have used a secondary. I feel that secondaries are rarely necessary or useful.

There's 2 ounces of dry hops in there, so it is not devoid of flavor/aroma hops....though I don't necessarily get why both the 30 and 35 minute hops...is one a typo?

 

[peterj]

There's 2 ounces of dry hops in there, so it is not devoid of flavor/aroma hops....though I don't necessarily get why both the 30 and 35 minute hops...is one a typo?

That's true I guess. I've just never seen an IPA recipe with no late hop additions to the boil. I feel like there is only so much you can get with dry hopping.

 

[brewerbeev]

One of those is a typo. The 30 min addition should say 10. As for secondaries, there are several schools of thought on the matter as I'm sure you'll all agree. I rack to a secondary purely to clear the beer and especially if it's going to sit a while. It's a method I prefer using and has improved my beer IMHO.

 

[brewerbeev]

Also, as stated in the original post, this was a full volume boil, which results in greater hop utilization. That is why hop amounts seem low to some of you. Beersmith was used to estimate about a 67 IBU beer and after tasting a bit I'd say that's pretty close.

 

[JLem]

Also, as stated in the original post, this was a full volume boil, which results in greater hop utilization. That is why hop amounts seem low to some of you. Beersmith was used to estimate about a 67 IBU beer and after tasting a bit I'd say that's pretty close.

I don't think it was a bitterness-IBU thing, but a hop flavor/aroma thing. I think people are use to seeing a lot more late addition hops in their IPAs.

 

[Yooper]

I don't think it was a bitterness-IBU thing, but a hop flavor/aroma thing. I think people are use to seeing a lot more late addition hops in their IPAs.

Right. It should be plenty bitter, but I think it's lacking flavor hops.

 

[brewerbeev]

Well this is how we learn I guess. It had decent aroma going into the secondary but you're right in that flavor was lacking somewhat. I guess I'm hoping the dry hops will help out with that. If it doesn't turn out great then I can always learn from it and make another batch.