Attempting to lower my FG

[CanadianQuaffer]

Hey guys,


I just racked a 1.062 OG ale to secondary. It had been sitting at 1.018 for the past week, so I knew it wasn't going to change by sitting in the primary any longer.

It tasted pretty good (overly malty though) and I was wondering if one of two things might drop the FG a bit (two additional ideas too!).

Idea#1 - mix up some of the yeast slurry with a sanitized spoon and dump it in the secondary and let it sit for another 2 weeks.
Idea#2 - condition the ale in the keg with corn sugar boiled in 4 cups of water instead of force carbing.
Idea#3 - both of those two ideas suck and one of you guys has a better suggestion
Idea#4 - live with 1.018 and try to figure out why that happened for the future.


Thanks guys,


Nick

 

[Stauffbier]

All grain or extract?

 

[CanadianQuaffer]

All grain.

 

[wailingguitar]

#1 is probably not going to help, chances are your beer is finished
#2 would only carb the beer, not affect the beer's actual FG
#3 your ideas don't suck, a sucky idea would be adding baking soda or paprika
#4 DING DING! We have a winner...

What was the recipe?

 

[bullinachinashop]

What temp are you at and what temp did you ferment at? Also what yeast did you use ?

 

[CanadianQuaffer]

The recipe was one I just made up on the fly, for an American Pale Ale.

8.5 lbs 2 row pale
1 lb Crystal
1 lb Carapils
.25 lb Torrified Wheat

Mashed in at 156F, ended Mash at 152F.

1 oz Nugget 60 mins
1 oz Cascade 0 mins

Pitched with one pack of S-05, dry.
I do have a feeling my wort wasn't aerated well enough though, if that has any bearing.

Nick

 

[DogTail]

You can try to shake/swirl up your carboy to get the yeast off the bottom and then put the carboy somewhere where it can finish fermentation at around 65° to 70°F. If any yeast is still active and there is still sugar to convert this is your best bet at this point.

 

[Fantastical]

I personally like a dry beer. I enjoy the malty part but without the sweet taste. I have found that pitching more yeast or making a starter and mashing at a lower temp are both key to a lower final gravity.

 

[MuchoGusto]

FYI - an attenuation rate of 70% is within range of the yeast you used. If you want to repeat this recipe and want a higher attenuation switch to a yeast with a higher range.

 

[pm5k00]

70% sounds about right for us-05 considering you mashed at 156 and had 2 lbs of crystal, next batch I would cut the carapils to 1/2 lbs and mash at 152, that should get you to around 77% AA.

 

[CanadianQuaffer]

Thanks for the input guys. All really good info!

 

[DrinkNoH2O]

I find that attenuation/FG has a lot more to do with the grain bill than anything else assuming you've had a clean and healthy fermentation.

I think having 2 pounds of crystal (1 lb Crystal,1 lb Carapils) is the culprit. Even though you started your mash at 156 you should still be getting at least 75% attenuation on a balanced recipe with US-05, that yeast is a beast.

As someone else mentioned, cut down the crystal (no need for carapils at all if you already have a pound of crystal, plus you already have wheat in there as well to aid in head retention). I think your FG will drop by at least 5 points next time.

 

[CanadianQuaffer]

Thanks Drink, that seems to be the general consensus.
I'll keep the crystal to a minimum for the next few batches and see what happens.

 

[trent]

ding ding ding. crystal has no place in APA, XPA, or IPA. I would even half the Carapils.

(well, crystal is ok <5%)