Black Imperial IPA FG too high...HELP!!

[HOPtuary]

So ive had a Black IIPA in a secondary dry hopping for the past week, original gravity was 1.076. I transferred it when the gravity was at 1.023 and i took another hydrometer reading last night before kegging it and it was still at 1.023. I tasted the beer and it tasted great. Is there anything i can do now to kick it down anymore? It has been stable fore about 2 weeks so I didnt see any harm in kegging it last night even tho it was slightly high. Thanks

 

[dschoemaker]

You could try repitching with a champagne yeast. However, 1.023 is not that bad, I would vote for leaving it alone.

Dave

 

[DoWBrewer]

I would leave it alone and keg it. Next time leave it in your primary until you get to your final gravity or it stabilizes. You have a lot more yeast available on the primary yeast cake. You can also swirl the fermenter and/or raise the temp slightly to the get the yeast back into solution and active. The only other trick that I know of is to boil up some sugar and add it to the fermenter. The yeast will get very active eating the simple sugar and seem to also consume some maltose along the way.

 

[HOPtuary]

Great! Thanks for the tips. I wasnt too worried just wanted to pick the masterful brains on hbt. It was in the primary for 3 weeks so I usually try not to let my IPAs go longer than 3 weeks before racking to the secondary.

 

[winvarin]

What makes you think it is too high? A FG of 1.023 from a start of 1.076 is 70% AA. Not bad attenuation at all for a big beer. Depending on the following things, you may be done:

- yeast choice - what did you use? We can figure out where you are in the expected attenuation range from there.

- pitching rate - big beers require a lot of yeast and aeration. Did you make a starter or pitch enough healthy yeast based on your starting gravity?

- fermenting temps - what temp did you ferment at in relation to the desirable temp for the yeast?

- grain bill - a lot of specialty grains will add gravity but not fermentable sugars.

- if all grain - what was your mash temp? Higher mash temps favor the creation of long chain dextrines. They are less likely to be fermented by most yeasts. But they are also not perceived by the taste buds as "sweet". I have a robust porter on tap now that was mashed at 156f and fermented with a British yeast. It went from 1.063 to 1.020. But instead of sweet, it finishes full bodied and roasty.

 

[HOPtuary]

I used 1056 for my yeast and made a 2L starter i believe. I was going off of Beersmiths target FG of 1.015. The room i keep my fermenting beers in is around 68F. This did have a few specialty grain like Carafa II. From the small smaple i tasted last night while checking gravity i definely got a roast, hoppy flavor which was exactly what im looking for. Im sure my worry was caused by Beersmiths target FG.

What makes you think it is too high? A FG of 1.023 from a start of 1.076 is 70% AA. Not bad attenuation at all for a big beer. Depending on the following things, you may be done:

- yeast choice - what did you use? We can figure out where you are in the expected attenuation range from there.

- pitching rate - big beers require a lot of yeast and aeration. Did you make a starter or pitch enough healthy yeast based on your starting gravity?

- fermenting temps - what temp did you ferment at in relation to the desirable temp for the yeast?

- grain bill - a lot of specialty grains will add gravity but not fermentable sugars.

- if all grain - what was your mash temp? Higher mash temps favor the creation of long chain dextrines. They are less likely to be fermented by most yeasts. But they are also not perceived by the taste buds as "sweet". I have a robust porter on tap now that was mashed at 156f and fermented with a British yeast. It went from 1.063 to 1.020. But instead of sweet, it finishes full bodied and roasty.

 

[HOPtuary]

Ok so I have been cold crashing the Black IPA for the past 3-4 days and I just double checked the gravity and it was 1.030. When I had checked the beer last a few weeks ago it was around 1.023 but had a layer of krausen on it so i let it go untilt he krausen went down. Do you think the beer has stratified and that I should go ahead and keg the beer? I am planning on dry hopping it at room temp for 3-5 days and then putting it the keezer.

 

[Setesh]

Ok so I have been cold crashing the Black IPA for the past 3-4 days and I just double checked the gravity and it was 1.030. When I had checked the beer last a few weeks ago it was around 1.023 but had a layer of krausen on it so i let it go untilt he krausen went down. Do you think the beer has stratified and that I should go ahead and keg the beer? I am planning on dry hopping it at room temp for 3-5 days and then putting it the keezer.

Did you account for the temperature of the sample? Colder liquids are more dense. Your hydrometer is calibrated for a certain temp. It should say on it what that temp is but is probably 60 or 68. Let the sample warm up to that temp before taking a reading or it won't be accurate.

 

[HOPtuary]

Oo geez I didn't even think of that. Doh!!! So I should double check it again tomorrow or should I just keg it bc it could only have gotten better, right?

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[Setesh]

Oo geez I didn't even think of that. Doh!!! So I should double check it again tomorrow or should I just keg it bc it could only have gotten better, right?

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Just use this here fancy tool to correct your reading:

http://www.brewersfriend.com/hydrometer-temp/

 

[HOPtuary]

Thanks for the tool but i think the beer must have stratified over the past few weeks bc with the tools correction only drops it to 1.029. I have put the fermenter bucket up by the vent with a blanket around it to help warm it up. So do you think i should warm her up and check tomorrow or keg going off my older reading?

 

[Setesh]

Thanks for the tool but i think the beer must have stratified over the past few weeks bc with the tools correction only drops it to 1.029. I have put the fermenter bucket up by the vent with a blanket around it to help warm it up. So do you think i should warm her up and check tomorrow or keg going off my older reading?

If it were me I would keg it since you are happy with the taste. 70% AA is pretty good, and with a keg you don't have to worry about bottle bombs anyhow. Like winvarin said, there are factors which can limit attenuation. Mash temperature, the kind of extract you use, pitch rate, yeast strain, yeast health, and definitely transferring too soon will all effect how far the yeast will go.

 

[HOPtuary]

Great!! In the process of it!!