Can't get under 1.020 FG! WTF am I doing wrong?

[CajunChuck]

I have a climate controlled garage, IE it won't get below 60 degrees F most of the time. That being said, most of my final gravities on my home brews end around 1.020. I have 2 different devices that I use and they are similar in readings. They taste fine, a touch sweet, but are drinkable.

Most of the brews I have done now are brown/pale ales and oatmeal/Irish stouts. Should I bring it inside the house where it is in the upper 60/lower 70 temp range from now on? The existing brews fermenting, should I bring them inside, warm them up and repitch some yeast? Thanks in advance for the help!

 

[bruteforce]

Whats your OG? All grain or extract? Lots of crystal malts?

 

[kev211]

What yeasts are you using? What were your O.G.'s? 60 degrees is pretty cool for a lot of yeasts. Even if you are using yeasts that like the lower temp range, I would still definitely bring them inside after primary/active fermentation for a good diacetyl rest.

 

[theonetrueruss]

Need to know recipe, original gravity, process (all grain? extract?), and specific yeast strain to help.

 

[jschein]

You may also want to look at your garage temperature, do you have big swings. You said it doesn't get below 60 most of the time so at one point it could be 68 but overnight it may go below 60.

 

[bransona]

If it's extract, you can't help it. I don't understand it, but the wall is 1.020

 

[madscientist451]

Get a Walmart thermometer for a couple of bucks and put it out in the garage next to your fermenter and keep an eye on it, are you fermenting in the low 60's or high 60's?
When it stops at 1.020, you can bring it in and see if it finishes up, then compare the taste doing it that way to just leaving it out there. But you may have wort problem not a temperature problem, that is you have a wort that will only ferment to 1.020 no matter what you do. So put in here your grain bill, mash temp, your process, SG, what yeast you are running and any other details.

 

[d3track]

And keep it off the concrete

 

[CajunChuck]

Whats your OG? All grain or extract? Lots of crystal malts?

SG around 1.050 or 1.055. All have been LME + Grain.

 

[schatzke]

With extracts you can't get below 1.020?
I don't know what I did right/wrong but I think all the extract beers, be it kits or recipes I built finished below 1.020
(I do ferment in warmer temps though. 64-72

 

[CajunChuck]

What yeasts are you using? What were your O.G.'s? 60 degrees is pretty cool for a lot of yeasts. Even if you are using yeasts that like the lower temp range, I would still definitely bring them inside after primary/active fermentation for a good diacetyl rest.

A majority have been dry yeast Salafe 04 or 05. I brought my last 2 batches inside and they are still bubbling in the fermentor.

 

[Cyclman]

Do you inject oxygen, back when I used extract regularly this got me below 1.020.

 

[CajunChuck]

Do you inject oxygen, back when I used extract regularly this got me below 1.020.

I do not inject O2 or aerate with a stone. I do agitate heavily when I transfer to fermenter. Even during the summer and it was in the 70s in my garage I could not get under the 1.020 mark.

 

[slym2none]

With extracts you can't get below 1.020?
I don't know what I did right/wrong but I think all the extract beers, be it kits or recipes I built finished below 1.020
(I do ferment in warmer temps though. 64-72

Sometimes. Extract has a tendency to get to around 1.020 and stop, sometimes. I think most of the time, it acts normal, but we hear about the "wall" more.

I personally never had a batch stop at 1.020, but others have. It's weird.

 

[Cyclman]

One other thought, try a different brand of extract. One limitation of extract is the mash profile is beyond your control. A different brand could have a more fermentable mash profile. I have also used light DME rather than darker, controlling color with steeping grain, this could make it more fermentable also.

 

[raysmithtx]

Are you using a refractometer or a hydrometer for your measurements?

 

[fermentationguy]

Used a refractometer for measuing both SG and FG and no matter what I brewed I always ended up with the same FG. Finally realized that the refractometer can't measure accurately once alcohol is present. Went back to measuring FG with a hydrometer and problem solved.

 

[BrewSRQ]

Good to see you figured out your problem, what is your fg now?

 

[slym2none]

That's not the OP...

 

[FatDragon]

That's not the OP...

But it's almost undoubtedly the problem.

Unless it's spelled out in the OP, always ask the stupid questions first.

 

[CajunChuck]

Are you using a refractometer or a hydrometer for your measurements?

Both

 

[TheMadKing]

Are you using 100% reverse osmosis filtered water?

 

[CajunChuck]

Are you using 100% reverse osmosis filtered water?

Hahaha. Yeah right! ;-)

 

[Yooper]

SG around 1.050 or 1.055. All have been LME + Grain.

That's it, then.

I had the same issue. So many of my LME batches had the "1.020 curse". It's fine, and the beer is fine, so don't worry about it. But I've had dozens and dozens of beers with LME finish forever at 1.020. It still made good beer, but it's disconcerting for sure. It seems to be just a limitation with some of the extract brands and the lack of fermentability.

I read today that Briess' rye LME is 75% fermentable (according to Briess on their website) so that made me feel better, knowing it wasn't me but a limitation of the extract product.

 

[CajunChuck]

That's it, then.

I had the same issue. So many of my LME batches had the "1.020 curse". It's fine, and the beer is fine, so don't worry about it. But I've had dozens and dozens of beers with LME finish forever at 1.020. It still made good beer, but it's disconcerting for sure. It seems to be just a limitation with some of the extract brands and the lack of fermentability.

I read today that Briess' rye LME is 75% fermentable (according to Briess on their website) so that made me feel better, knowing it wasn't me but a limitation of the extract product.

Solid. This thread has fulfilled it's mission. Yooper has TONS of pull so yeah. Thank you allll that replied.