Attenuation Problems

[pfranco81]

I am preparing to move my Nut Brown Ale to secondary for clearing. After 2 weeks in primary fermentation is all but done, so I decided to take a FG reading, it's at 1.016 (with temp taken into account). OG was 1.044.

I used (OG-FG)/OG to find my attenuation and got %63.6 .

I'm using Wyeast #1028 London Ale Yeast which is supposed to have 73-77% atten. Would the relatively higher temperatures I was brewing at account for this, or have I just not given it enough time? Also I drank the hydrometer sample and it was..... interesting.

Will the odd tastes mellow out with time? Will FG change at all during secondary or conditioning?

 

[Evan!]

Way, way too little information for anyone to be able to help you.

We need:

1. Recipe
2. Mash Schedule (if applicable)
3. Fermentation temps
4. Whether or not a yeast starter was utilized
5. Whether or not yeast nutrients were added
6. Last but not least, what aeration techniques you used

I used to have low attenuation. The two things that helped solve that problem were making HUGE (as in 2 liter) starters, and more importantly, I got an aeration kit from AHS. If you didn't aerate it enough, that could be the problem. But even then...1.016 isn't bad, and you might lose another few points before you bottle/keg it.

 

[pfranco81]

1.
Specialty Grains
0.25 lbs. Simpson's Chocolate
0.25 lbs. Dingemans Special B
0.25 lbs. Dingemans Biscuit
0.25 lbs. Briess Special Roast

Fermentables
6 lbs. Gold Malt Syrup

Boil Additions
1 oz. Challenger (60 min)
1 oz. Fuggle (1 min)

Yeast
Wyeast #1028 London Ale Yeast.

2. I'm extract so the schedule was, "boil the hell out of it for an hour. put in carboy."

3. My fermenation temps were up and down the 70s, I did what I could but got hit by a heat wave before the air-conditioners got in.

4. and 5. Nope

6. I shook the crap out of it for a few minutes, probably not enough.

 

[DeathBrewer]

you might not have gotten full attenuation, but don't know how fermentable that gold malt syrup is but that comes into play...you might have got almost all you could get out of it.

you're probably not going to get any more out of it, but you don't need to. 1.016 is good to bottle for that beer. what were the funny tastes? probably fruity tastes from the fluctuations in temp?

it'll be fine, i'm sure. give it a few weeks in the bottle and taste again.

 

[pfranco81]

Yeah, they weren't necessarily bad flavors, just... interesting. I guess you could say fruity. I'll just secondary until it clears and then bottle till delicious. I'm very impatient and a big drinker, this "hobby" is torture.

 

[DeathBrewer]

just gotta get a few more batches under your belt and keep on brewing! you won't be able to catch up with yourself eventually

 

[Got Trub?]

Agree with Deathbrewer. There is a huge variation in fermentability for malt extracts. In Ray Daniels book there is a table with some extracts he tested himself and got from 44 to 64%

 

[Denny's Evil Concoctions]

It's also entirely possible your yeast could use a rousing via the swirling carboy method. Though 1028 is a medium floccualting yeast so it should have had yeasties still in suspension.

Besides extract with high amounts of unfermentables in it there is also the possibility you carmalized some of the extract, ususally this occurs when thick extract is heating at the bottom of the kettle and not fully mixed in.