Big Beers Finishing High

[ProfessorBrew]

I'm an extract brewer (for now), and I've noticed several of my attempts at bigger beers are finishing too high (in the 20s). All of my brews with an ABV of under 6% finish great, but the bigger ones are finishing high and end up being too sweet.

Does that mean I need a yeast starter? Are there certain types of yeast that are better for stronger beers?

 

[pabloj13]

I'm an extract brewer (for now), and I've noticed several of my attempts at bigger beers are finishing too high (in the 20s). All of my brews with an ABV of under 6% finish great, but the bigger ones are finishing high and end up being too sweet.

Does that mean I need a yeast starter? Are there certain types of yeast that are better for stronger beers?

If you are doing big beers and using liquid yeast, you should be using starters. Also search on this forum for "1.020 curse".

 

[cmybeer]

Haha...I remember this problem very well. Sickly sweet Barleywines and RIS before I read anything about yeast.

In short the answer is yes; yeast starters are essential unless you want to buy a handful of individual packages of yeast to get enough for a high gravity wort.

Plug the starting gravity of your last big beer into this calculator to see how much you underpitched by. http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html

 

[HopJuicer]

What og are we talking? Also is there certain yeast you are noticing this with? I try to make a starter for anything over 1.06 but that doesn't always happen. Aeration is very important too!

 

[cmybeer]

Aeration is very important too!

yet another good point that I used to avoid because it was extra work. It is also worth noting that extract brews tend to finish higher than their all grain counterparts. Especially the ones with Dark Extract. You could help counter this by adding corn sugar in place of some of the malt

 

[beergolf]

Extracts can finish low if you aerate well and pitch a good healthy starter.

When I was doing extract brew I never had a problem. I have had them finish as low as 1.003.

Plenty of healthy yeast and proper fermentaion temps will solve the problem.

 

[ProfessorBrew]

Dunkelweizen start at 1.062 and finish at 1.021; a Scotch Ale start at 1.076 and finish at 1.028 and most recently my own strong summer ale started at 1.072 and finish at 1.021.

That same strong summer ale started at 1.068 last summer and finished at 1.013. It was an amazing brew last year but not nearly as good this year. Far too sweet!

 

[MrManifesto]

You definitely need a yeast starter for big beers, that and proper O2. I ended up buying an aeration stone and those O2 tanks for welding. Yeah it's like $60 but I get proper oxygen every time and it only takes the turn of a knob.

 

[ProfessorBrew]

Are you talking about aeration prior to pitching? Once you pitch, are you supposed to still aerate?

 

[MrManifesto]

Are you talking about aeration prior to pitching? Once you pitch, are you supposed to still aerate?

Some really huge beers call for an additional shot of O2 after 12 hours or so. I don't typically brew beers that big, so I give it 60 sec of pure O2 right before pitching.

 

[duckmanco]

Although you do need starters for liquid depending on wort amount and Plato, if you are an extract brewer, I'd highly recommend replacing some of the extract with sugar, corn or cane, and for big beers I'd go as high as 10%. That amount will bring the finishing gravity way down without adding any body.

I feel like a broken record recommending it, but it doesn't seem to be terribly popular. If anything, with big extract beers it should be mandatory

Give it a shot next go round. It will dry the beer out, be cheaper than the extract, and it flat out works. Also, for clean ales try using Nottingham yeast if you haven't. Those two together will rid you of your attenuation problems, that's for sure. My .02

 

[ProfessorBrew]

Funny that you mention the yeast, duckmanco. I brewed that strong summer ale last year with Nottingham and it finished great. This time I used Safale and it finished higher.

 

[ChessRockwell]

Although you do need starters for liquid depending on wort amount and Plato, if you are an extract brewer, I'd highly recommend replacing some of the extract with sugar, corn or cane, and for big beers I'd go as high as 10%. That amount will bring the finishing gravity way down without adding any body.

I feel like a broken record recommending it, but it doesn't seem to be terribly popular. If anything, with big extract beers it should be mandatory

+1 what he said! For some styles, Belgians especially, up to 20% is necessary. Even for an IPA, I've found it very helpful to use up to 10% simple sugar, without it they just end up too malty no matter how big of a yeast starter you make and how many hops you throw in.

 

[MrManifesto]

belgian yeasts needs a little more attention, temp wise, as well. if you're not giving them the conditions they like, you won't end up where you wanna be.

 

[cm02WS6]

My last three extract brews, all with 1056 and OG between 1.052 and 1.061, have finished with 81%-82% attenuation. This is with properly sized yeast starters, 60 seconds pure O2, and fermenting in the mid 60's. Granted, these are not particularly "big" beers, but finishing beyond the published range of the yeast gives me confidence that the "1.020 curse" is not the extract's fault. Took me several under-attunuated brews to figure it out though....