92% Attenuation, too much yeast??

[mnags]

I'm making an IPA with an OG of 1.066 and just racked to the secondary and it was 1.005 with an apparent attenuation of 92%. I added a starter of WLP001 and another vial of WLP001 because I wasn't confidant about the starter (it was my first attempt at a starter). I assume it does, but will too much yeast contribute to the high attenuation? I was hoping for an FG around 1.012.

 

[Shred]

I'm making an IPA with an OG of 1.066 and just racked to the secondary and it was 1.005 with an apparent attenuation of 92%. I added a starter of WLP001 and another vial of WLP001 because I wasn't confidant about the starter (it was my first attempt at a starter). I assume it does, but will too much yeast contribute to the high attenuation? I was hoping for an FG around 1.012.

It shouldn't. Once the ferments bled are gone they're gone. Was this all grain or extract?

 

[mnags]

It was all grain and mashed at 149.

 

[Culbetron]

Too much yeast doesn't lead to too much attenuation.

Things that might cause over attenuation:
1. Mashing at too low a temperature
2. Fermenting at too high a temperature
3. Poor hydrometer usage/ a miscalibrated hydrometer
4. An infection

 

[ColoHox]

That temperature will give a highly fermentable beer.

 

[mnags]

I was fermenting at 63. Also, I was originally going for an imperial IPA and an OG near 1.080, that's why I mashed at a lower temp. I obviously didn't hit that OG but that's a different story..

 

[mnags]

And I double checked the hydrometer and it is accurate.

 

[Shred]

I'm surprised you got down that low, but the 149F definitely contributed. I did a 1.078 IIPA a couple weeks ago that I mashed at 151 and only got down to 1.015.

 

[PeteNMA]

Are you using a measuring tube with your hydrometer? I know that my hydrometers, if just dunked into the bucket read at least .04 above the reading I get when I sample into a tube and can get at eye level with the hydrometer scale.

 

[Yooper]

I mashed an IPA at 147, because I wanted to get a dry finish and it had some simple sugars in it as well, and it finished at 1.002!

Now I mash IPAs at about 152, and IIPAs at 150, and I still get the IIPA to finish at 1.008 or so.

 

[mnags]

Are you using a measuring tube with your hydrometer? I know that my hydrometers, if just dunked into the bucket read at least .04 above the reading I get when I sample into a tube and can get at eye level with the hydrometer scale.

Yea I use a measuring tube with the hydrometer. And thank Yooper, I'll try mashing at a slightly higher temp next time.

 

[PeteNMA]

Fair play. I only asked because I know I've caught myself out with that in the past!

 

[mnags]

Fair play. I only asked because I know I've caught myself out with that in the past!

Yea that's a good point, never thought about that. I may have done that in the past but I'll keep it in mind going forward thanks.

 

[Little_Lebowski]

Kinda want to breath some new life into this thread. My IPAs as of late have all been finishing up 1.009 and under. So dry which does nothing for sweetness to help bolster the hops and bitterness. I've been trying to mash at 152 but have noticed my gravity coming out of first runnings have been a decent amount lower than expected. So the mash and attenuation have been working in combination to create a dry IPA without much body. I've had to be very very careful with my hop use too because with the dryness they've gone too bitter very easily.

Just looking for some simple advice for enhanced body and elevate my FG closer to 1.015

 

[millsbrew]

One trick I've read is brewing at 152/153 and then adding some simple syrup to the end of the boil. This will help leave some unfermentables (aka sweetness) and add the dryness some people like.

 

[Jeffmizrahi]

Kinda want to breath some new life into this thread. My IPAs as of late have all been finishing up 1.009 and under. So dry which does nothing for sweetness to help bolster the hops and bitterness. I've been trying to mash at 152 but have noticed my gravity coming out of first runnings have been a decent amount lower than expected. So the mash and attenuation have been working in combination to create a dry IPA without much body. I've had to be very very careful with my hop use too because with the dryness they've gone too bitter very easily.

Just looking for some simple advice for enhanced body and elevate my FG closer to 1.015

Are you using any specialty grains with your IPA? Using more specialty grains will give you beer more body as they are unfermentable. Something with unfermentable sugars like crystal malt will raise your fg and give it a bit more body

 

[Little_Lebowski]

I've shied away from using any crystal malts. I mean I will use carapils in small amounts but maybe I'll start adding in a touch of caramunich or caravienna. The only downfall is I don't want the added color from those malts as i prefer my IPAs nice and yellow gold

 

[tofuguy]

Try the same recipe at 155 and see what happens. It maybe the mash is actually lower than 152.

 

[jan_b19]

Did you use sugar?

 

[Little_Lebowski]

So just kegged my last brew. OG was a 1.070 and finished up ~1.008-1.010. No corn sugar added. Mashed at 152 for 60 min. 2L starter gigayeast VT IPA into 5 gallons. Luckily I added about a pound of carapils and used a 2:1 chloride to sulfate ratio which seems to really help with perceived body but damn! I can't keep my beers from drying out this low. I guess I'm going to have to start mashing up around 154/155 and see what happens. I'm using a calibrated thermometer on my spike kettle and also a thermopen to take temps in the mash tun. This is frustrating for sure. Especially when I have to overcompensate in beersmith to the tune of the software estimating an FG of 1.023.

70% 2 row
20% white wheat
6% carapils
4% honey malt

I've been having horrible efficiency issues lately too. I used to use the blichmann auto sparge with the ball float and got great results. I stopped using it earlier last year as my numbers started to decrease and I thought it was channeling during the sparge. So, I switched to batch sparging but don't think I ever really nailed down the process and I'm half tempted to go back to the fly sparging process with the blichmann. Ugh... frustrations.