Trappist Ale fermented out dry

[CharlesKelley]

I brewed a Trappist/Abbey Ale using a kit and some White Labs yeast. OG was right at 1.068, FG at 1.006 or so. It tastes pretty dry--much dryer than I anticipated for this recipe.

Does anyone have any advice for ending up with a higher FG? I think it would help the flavor.

 

[tom9d]

What was in the kit?

 

[TyTanium]

Sounds perfect to me. May just need some age.

But if you want it higher next time, change up your mash schedule (mash higher) or increase crystal. Neither of which sound like good ideas for a Belgian.

 

[CharlesKelley]

What was in the kit?

6.6 lbs of Briess LME, some flavoring grains, and a little (2 lbs?) of DME. I'd have to go back home and look at the recipe to be sure.

I guess my question really boils down to "how do you predict the FG?" It seems to me that the yeast is going to generally keep eating and producing alcohol until it reaches some environmental limit like too much alcohol or too little sugar or oxygen. How do I predict that going in? My FG ended up lower than predicted in the recipe. And it is definitely beer. Pretty good all things considered. But it could be a little better.

 

[DrummerBoySeth]

Commercially available homebrew yeasts have characteristics that will tell you how they will affect the finished beer. In this case you may want to try a yeast with a lower "attenuation rate"

The "attenuation" of a given yeast is an indication of how much of the available sugar the yeast can eat. Low attenuating yeasts have attenuation rates in the low 70% range, while higher yeasts can go into the high 70's or even approach 80% on some of the super-high-gravity special strains. If you are looking to make a beer that has a higher FG, then a less efficient yeast may give you a little more residual sweetness at the end of fermentation.

As for predicting the FG, brewing software like Beersmith or BrewersFriend allow you to input your recipe and see how different yeast strains affect the final gravity of the finished beer, or how different hop varieties will affect the bitterness level. Good brewing software is an invaluable tool in helping you make brewing decisions, rather than brewing guesses!

 

[TyTanium]

Style & yeast give you a pretty good estimate, especially with extract.

I say well done on getting a 1068 brew down to 1006.

 

[beergolf]

Belgian yeasts can go pretty low sometimes. I did a Dubbel that got low like that. At first it was very dry, but after some time in the bottles the flavor profile improved and it turned out to be a very tasty brew. Let it sit and taste one every once in a while. It will change (that is a trait of Belgian yeast) for the better. You will be surprised.

 

[CharlesKelley]

Thanks everyone. It has only been in the bottle 3 weeks. So I will give it another 2 or 3 and then see.

 

[nanofreak]

I agree to time in the bottle should help. A little surprised though that an extract batch like that got so low without the help of sugar. Do you know what yeast you used?

 

[bkl63]

What was the targeted OG and FG of the kit? With kits it is possible to be fairly far off as the water addition can take time to work into the wort

 

[40watt]

That's pretty impressive for extract.

 

[dbhokie]

Time in the bottle..though if you are looking to increase maltiness, and body, you can add adjunct malts such as carapils/Dextrine, and other more "specialty" malts that end up with more non-fermentables. If you were doing all grain I would say raise the temperature of your steep as well, hit more into Beta-Amylase than alpha.

I recently did a Belgian Golden Strong, and it finished at 1.005. Which is completely acceptable for that type of style and in my case desirable for my end product, which has a wonderful taste and is terribly refreshing and dangerous due to its 10.2 percent ABV content. The kit you got may not have really been aiming for a full bodied trappist ale. Trappist is more about place of origin than style, many of them are somewhat similar, but there are quite a few differences between them. I believe and I'm sure someone will correct me if I am wrong that there are technically only 7 trappist abbeys, and they have a trademark right to the title, though some do "lease" their names to outside breweries, many such as Orval employ full time brewmasters that are laymen.

 

[CharlesKelley]

I agree to time in the bottle should help. A little surprised though that an extract batch like that got so low without the help of sugar. Do you know what yeast you used?

I forgot that I did add Candi Sugar. So that can explain the low FG.

What was the targeted OG and FG of the kit? With kits it is possible to be fairly far off as the water addition can take time to work into the wort

OG was spot on at 1.068. The FG was predicted to be 1.012 to 1.018 IIRC.