Cream ale fermented down to .002

[Home_alone1]

2 weeks ago I brewed a cream ale starting gravity 1.051 and today I checked it and it’s at 1.002. Tasted good. But way too attenuated . I mashed at 149 and used 20 percent flaked corn and used 2 packets of WLP029 per carboy . Fermented at 64 until Krausen dropped and then raised to 70 to let it finish out. I’ve used wlp029 before with this recipe except 10 percent corn and never had it go this low . Do you think this is a fluke with the yeast or maybe the additional corn made it go lower ?

 

[Aaron Beers]

I don't think it was a fluke with the yeast, per se, and I don't think you'll know what the real answer is based off a one-off batch. But...

You mashed at 149 which makes highly fermentable wort. The corn is going to provide mostly fermentable sugar and not much else compared to barley. The attenuations listed by manufacturers for their yeast are generally neither actual nor apparent attenuation, but rather, the attenuation exhibited by the yeast on some reference solution. So while White may list a 72-78% attenuation for WLP029, that doesn't mean you can apply those numbers directly to the wort you brewed.

Also, errors in hydrometer readings, since we're all human.

Bottom line, theres a bunch of factors, I don't think you're going to figure out which one resulted in the difference in FG from some previous batch you made.

Also, how's it a cream ale with no lactose?

 

[Home_alone1]

Cream ale does not have Lactose , it’s an older style of beer that was developed to compete with light lager and Pilsner here in the US of A!

https://www.bjcp.org/2008styles/style06.php#1a