Final Gravity Shocker

[StankAle]

Question on Final Gravity.....
I brewed Edwort's famous Haus Pale Ale about a week ago using Safale US-05 dry yeast. No starter was used I just poured the dry yeast into the carboy. I had a SG of 1.052 expecting a FG of about 1.012. I was shocked when I did a hydrometer check and saw my brew went all the way down to 1.006!! I fermented at a steady 66 degrees with the fermenter hitting a top temp of 70 degrees at the peak of airlock activity. Anyone have any idea how this happened and what I can do in the future to ensure that the yeast stops eating the sugars at a certain point?

 

[eriktlupus]

what temp did you mash at?

 

[Jesse17]

I'm not a AG'er yet, but I think that if you mash at too low of a temp, you'll get more fermentabls out of your wort, this is why a lot of brewers raise the temp at mash out, to stop the enzyme activity that is converting the starches to sugar.

 

[StankAle]

I mashed for 60 minutes @ 152. I also did a mash out before collecting my first runnings.

 

[brewt00l]

Highly fermentable wort + 70 degrees + US05 = attenuation out the wazoo

I did an amber ale two batches ago that I wanted to dry out a bit with nottingham and hit similar numbers.

 

[Funkenjaeger]

Regardless of what yeast you used, I'm surprised you got THAT much attenuation if you mashed at 152, rather than in like the high 140's... Assuming you trust your mash thermometer, try bumping up the mash temp next time. I've done the haus pale exactly as you described (152 mash, high 60's ferment, and US-05 yeast) and never gotten nearly that low - usually I'm slightly above target FG, for that matter.

 

[david_42]

I'd say your mash temperature was lower in spots than your measurements. I'd be tempted to check the calibration on the thermometer. I have three of them & they were all off in the same direction, so I was getting high FGs.

 

[Bobby_M]

Another factor in fermentability is the mash thickness. If you were up near 1.5 to 2qts/lb it would make it more fermentable as well.

 

[StankAle]

Thanks for the advice guys. My mash thickness was @ 1.3Qts per pound. I also just calibrated my thermometer. This one in indeed a mystery. I wonder how the brew will taste with such a high alcohol content. I wonder if the mouthfeel will be gone and if I will be able to enjoy thos cascade hops.

 

[zoebisch01]

Are you 100% certain of the Hydrometer reading? It is not terribly easy (at least in my experience) to get low like that. I mean heck, even with a really highly attenuating strain (like a Belgian WLP550 which hits up around 85%) that would have brought it into like 1.007 under very good conditions.

 

[StankAle]

You might be right about that. I will take another reading tonight when I get home from work. It will give me and excuse to have another taste test. I will post results.

 

[Kaiser]

I just started drinking my house pale ale and it finished at 1.008 (mashed at 152). A tad lower than I wanted it, but I still onjoy it a lot. It very "quaffing" as Ed would say.

Kai

 

[zoebisch01]

I just started drinking my house pale ale and it finished at 1.008 (mashed at 152). A tad lower than I wanted it, but I still onjoy it a lot. It very "quaffing" as Ed would say.

Kai

Lol 'quaffing' hehe.

 

[zoebisch01]

You might be right about that. I will take another reading tonight when I get home from work. It will give me and excuse to have another taste test. I will post results.

It's just something else to look at. While it is not absurd to think you'd hit that gravity, it is still pretty low but does happen. I personally haven't had it happen even with really high attenuating strains....at least not yet.

 

[StankAle]

Ok I did another hydrometer test last night. Sure enough it was at 1.006. I plan on bottling it later this week. I am very curious about how it will taste after a few weeks of bottle conditioning. Next time I might use a liquid yeast strain or mash at a higher temp.

 

[Kaiser]

Ok I did another hydrometer test last night. Sure enough it was at 1.006. I plan on bottling it later this week. I am very curious about how it will taste after a few weeks of bottle conditioning. Next time I might use a liquid yeast strain or mash at a higher temp.

Don't fix this high attenuation with the yeast, fix it with mashing. If you choose a yeast that gives up faster you will get more fermentable sugars left in the beer and they are sweeter tasting than the unfermentables that you would get from mashing higher.

Kai

 

[StankAle]

This is good advice Kai. Next time I will mash at a higher temp and use the same yeast.

 

[BierMuncher]

Ok I did another hydrometer test last night. Sure enough it was at 1.006. I plan on bottling it later this week. I am very curious about how it will taste after a few weeks of bottle conditioning. Next time I might use a liquid yeast strain or mash at a higher temp.

Don’t waste your money on a liquid yeast.

The mouthfeel will be fine with the Vienna and malt in there. I regularly get to 1.007-1.008 with the Safale-05.

Make sure and give those bottles 3 weeks at 70 degrees to carb up properly.