First 2 brews not reaching expected FG...

[j1n]

So my first 2 brews i did all grain and everything went as expected.

I hit the OG of 1.064 for my IPA, all temps were spot on, no issues other than a little bit more volume but i hit OG so i didnt really care too much. i rehydrated the 05 yeast @ 90 degrees, waited 15 min then pitched it. fermentation temps were between 65-70 i think 1 day it went to 72 cause it warmed up outside which effected my house temps. i checked the FG today which makes it almost 3 weeks in primary and the FG is @ 1.025. Im not sure why the FG is so high....

My other batch the OG was higher than expected. was aiming for 1.047 but got 1.057. i figured it would come out high since the first one was high but evened out due to using more water accidentally. this one has been fermenting for 2 weeks and right now the FG sits at 1.029. used the same type of yeast (05) and was fermenting in the same spot so same temps. not sure why my FG is so high. Yeast was new and had exp date of 2015 on both. re-hydrated per instructions i saw online.

Not really sure what i did wrong......

Edit: id like to also add that i used yeast nutrient in the boil. i shook the crap out of the carboy to aerate it before pitching.

 

[jekeane]

You may be under pitching your yeast or not aerating enough before storing.

For the 1.064 beer 1 pack of 05 yeast is a low pitching rate assuming you rehydrated it properly and got enough oxygen into your wort. mr malty yeast calc says you want 13g of yeast and I assume you 05 is the 11.5g pack

For the 1.057 1 pack if all goes perfectly is just barely enough. The calculator says you want 12g.

 

[chemman14]

What are your mash temps? Are you sure about the accuracy of your thermometer?

 

[j1n]

You may be under pitching your yeast or not aerating enough before storing.

For the 1.064 beer 1 pack of 05 yeast is a low pitching rate assuming you rehydrated it properly and got enough oxygen into your wort. mr malty yeast calc says you want 13g of yeast and I assume you 05 is the 11.5g pack

For the 1.057 1 pack if all goes perfectly is just barely enough. The calculator says you want 12g.

Crap i didnt account for the amount of yeast. you're right it is 11.5g packet.

What are your mash temps? Are you sure about the accuracy of your thermometer?

Yeah mash temp on both were spot on. think one was 154 and the other 152. used 2 thermometers 1 digital, 1 analog. PH was 5.3 on 1 and 5.2 on the other. Taken with digital ph/ppm meter not color drops.

 

[brewbama]

I vote yeast as well.

 

[jro238]

I don't think it is a problem with pitch rate since you are pretty close to the recommended (although pitching a little more yeast in the future might be a good idea).

What mash temp are you using and are you sure that your thermometer is calibrated?
How much of your grain bill is unfermentable malts?

 

[masskrug]

I don't think the yeast is the problem. I've dry sprinkled one packet of 05 on 1.075 beers before without an issue.

What did you re-hydrate with, and why at 90'?

 

[PeteNMA]

The difference between 11.5g of yeast and 13g is academic. That's not your problem.

What was your grain bill and mash schedule? Also you are using a hydrometer to measure your FG? A refractometer is not accurate with alcohol in solution.


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[j1n]

I don't think it is a problem with pitch rate since you are pretty close to the recommended (although pitching a little more yeast in the future might be a good idea).

What mash temp are you using and are you sure that your thermometer is calibrated?
How much of your grain bill is unfermentable malts?

not sure. here is what i used:

IPA
11-lbs.-Rahr-2-Row
1-lbs.-Briess-Caramel-40

Amber ale
6.5-lbs-Rahr-2-row-Pale
2-lb-German-Munich-Malt
1-lb-Caramel-60

I don't think the yeast is the problem. I've dry sprinkled one packet of 05 on 1.075 beers before without an issue.

What did you re-hydrate with, and why at 90'?

Re-hydrate with just water that i boiled. i waited til it got to 95 degrees. it was actually 95 not 90 when i hydrated. ive read a few places to hydrate yeast between 95-105. i choose to add the yeast at the lower end of the temp range they gave.

The difference between 11.5g of yeast and 13g is academic. That's not your problem.

What was your grain bill and mash schedule? Also you are using a hydrometer to measure your FG? A refractometer is not accurate with alcohol in solution.


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I did use a refractometer. How can i take an accurate measurement with it? i do not have a hydrometer. i got one since i figured it would be easier to measure gravity with a few drops.

 

[TechyDork]

You need to get a hydrometer to measure your FG. I believe that a refractometer is not accurate once alcohol is present, but may be wrong on that as i only use a hydrometer. Use your refractometer to get your pre boil gravity, and your OG post boil.

 

[jro238]

Yeah, refractometers aren't accurate once you have alcohol in the beer. There are correction formulas out there but nearly everyone I have ever talked to has said they don't work very well.

 

[cease]

US-05 should be rehydrated at 80* +-6

(http://www.fermentis.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/SFA_US05.pdf)

That could be killing viable yeast. I brew an IPA with an OG of 1.065 frequently with 05 and hit .008 in 4 days at 68*. Always clean, low esters. Try rehydrating at 80* your next batch and see. In the meantime pitch half a packet of yeast to finish up your beer.


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[j1n]

You need to get a hydrometer to measure your FG. I believe that a refractometer is not accurate once alcohol is present, but may be wrong on that as i only use a hydrometer. Use your refractometer to get your pre boil gravity, and your OG post boil.

Thanks. another lesson learned as a new brewer.

Yeah, refractometers aren't accurate once you have alcohol in the beer. There are correction formulas out there but nearly everyone I have ever talked to has said they don't work very well.

Prob gonna go to my LHBS and pick up a hydrometer today.

I tried those calculators and i put the brix in and it seems like the FG is lower than what the refractomter is saying. but i tried a few different ones and they are all telling me different FG.

US-05 should be rehydrated at 80* +-6

(http://www.fermentis.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/SFA_US05.pdf)

That could be killing viable yeast. I brew an IPA with an OG of 1.065 frequently with 05 and hit .008 in 4 days at 68*. Always clean, low esters. Try rehydrating at 80* your next batch and see. In the meantime pitch half a packet of yeast to finish up your beer.


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Thanks for the tip. will rehydrate at lower temps next time. i might just go with liquid yeast and a starter next time. also gonna use a yeast calculator so i know how much i should be pitching.

 

[peterj]

90-105F is good for rehydrating all yeast. 80F would be ok too, but yeast prefer a temp of 90-105F. There's no way that temperature killed any of your yeast. This is a really good article/interview with a scientist from Danstar about this: http://koehlerbeer.wordpress.com/2008/06/07/rehydrating-dry-yeast-with-dr-clayton-cone/.

As people have said, if you want to be completely accurate with your FG you should get a hydrometer. If a ballpark number is good enough then the refractometer and a calculator is fine. I've observed them to be reasonably close. You could use the refractometer to take your readings a few days apart to know when to bottle and compare them to eachother, then take a hydrometer sample at bottling to get an accurate FG measurement.

You also don't really have to worry about aeration with dry yeast. The manufacturers incorporate enough lipid reserves into the yeast cell wall to last through the multiple generations created during a fermentation. The point of aerating is to give the yeast oxygen to create these lipids, but dry yeast already has them. I still aerate a little with dry yeast, but I don't worry about it as much as with liquid yeast.

Also, your pitch rate was perfectly fine. I would say once you get above 1.070-1.080 for 5 gallons you might want to think about pitching 2 packs but anything under that you'll be perfectly fine with 1 pack.

 

[j1n]

Thanks for the info Peter. Looks like i learn something new every day with brewing.

 

[peterj]

Thanks for the info Peter. Looks like i learn something new every day with brewing.

No problem! That's one of the best parts about brewing, well besides drinking delicious beer I guess!

 

[PeteNMA]

Glad we got you sorted. A hydrometer is worth the $10 or so that they cost. Buy two so you have a spare, they are fragile!

Personally I just leave mine in the fermenter. It saves time sanitising a measuring tube and makes for quick and easy gravity chevjs


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[clockwise]

Personally I just leave mine in the fermenter. It saves time sanitising a measuring tube and makes for quick and easy gravity chevjs

I've thought about doing this, but it just seemed weird to me. Guess I should embrace my weirdness.

 

[GilSwillBasementBrews]

Personally I just leave mine in the fermenter. It saves time sanitising a measuring tube and makes for quick and easy gravity checks


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I would worry about sediment resting on it giving me a falsely low reading. That's just me though. I also don't worry about sanitizing a cylinder as I don't add back my sample. Gotta give it a taste to see how it's coming along. I just pull a sample with a sanitized baster squirt it into the the the hydrometer came in get my reading then pour into a small glass and consume.



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[PeteNMA]

I haven't found that the hydrometer gets gunky, after the krausen has fallen I just wipe the stem if necessary to see the markings then keep checking as necessary. It certainly doesn't seem to affect the readings I get, I did do a quick cross check using a hydrometer tube and the only issue I found is that the angle of sight down into the bucket can make it look like it's reading low. Once you've calibrated your eyes to know where the liquid level actually sits on the hydrometer you won't have any problems IME


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[j1n]

So I kegged the ipa today and took a gravity reading with a hydrometer, the fg is 1.004 and abv is 7.9%.