High Final Gravity

[Bob869007]

I have a Pale Ale I let sit in the primary for two weeks. As I went over my records last night I realized that I had not checked my FG. I checked it and it was 1.016 It should have been around 1.009 The OG was 1.049 and I used SafAle US-05. I have never had this happen at all ever.

I have made this recipe and similar ones with the ssame techniques and the same yeast but for some reason this batch is stuck at 1.016

Can carmelization cause a beer to have a high FG?

Can a higher temperature during the mash cause this?

My mash temp was dead on at 154. So I don't think that was the reason. But I am curious as to whether or not the temperature at mash time will cause this.

I think this happened because the window was left open over night on the second day of fermentation. I closed it and warmed the room up right quick. It seemed to have no effect on the fermentation process.

Is this the cause?

Fermentation kept right on going for three more days so I figured all was normal.

Should I add some yeast nutrients and another packet of yeast?

Thanks in advance. Sorry about the length.

 

[enderwig]

What was your recipe? We really need it to help you diagnose your problem.

 

[Bob869007]

6 lbs Pale Malt
2.5 lbs Munich Malt
.4 lbs Crystal 20
.25 lbs Victory Malt

1 tsp citric acid (added before the mash)
1 tablet whirlflock (added at 20 minute hop addition)

.75 Ozs Magnum 14.2 AAU 60 minutes
1 Oz Centennial 9 AAU 20 Minutes
1 Oz Centennial 9 AAU 5 minutes

with an 81% efficiency it gives me 1.049 OG

The other batch of this finished out at 1.009 with the exact same yeast. Thanks.

 

[enderwig]

I don't see anything wrong with your recipe or your mash temp. How sure are you of your thermometers calibration? If it's off by 5 degrees that would explain your high final gravity. Is it a dial, glass, digital?

 

[Bob869007]

I don't see anything wrong with your recipe or your mash temp. How sure are you of your thermometers calibration? If it's off by 5 degrees that would explain your high final gravity. Is it a dial, glass, digital?

I anal about things. Mechanical: I check the temp reading by boiling water and adjusting as necessary. I do this every third batch or so. I just recheked it today it was a hair off 212 when the water was boiling. I have only had to adjust it once when I first got it because it was off by 5 degrees. I also have a digital but the sensor end is to short to use in my mash tun.

 

[enderwig]

The problem with calibrating in boiling water is, it may read perfect at 212, but be off 5 degrees at 150. I bought a glass lab termometer to calibrate my other thermometers with and have had no problems since.

If that's not the problem, I would suggest rousing the yeast to see if you can get a couple more points out of the ol buggers

 

[samorg42]

It seems like a lot of variables are in this mix. I did a Mirror Pond clone with washed/saved Wyeast 1072. The recipe called for O.G. 1048 and F.G. 1010. I followed proceedure as best I could on a windy day outside. I got OG 1058 and FG of 1020. The yeast acted less than vigorous and rousing didn't help much. When all was said and done, the beer tasted great but has too much head and is hard to pour. It also has more yeast than usual on the bottom of the bottles.
I'd like to say, "live and learn" but I am not sure what to take away from this. Re-pitch if the yeast is slow? or?

 

[samorg42]

When people talk about calibrating with boiling water they assume that the boiling point is 212F or 100C. If you live at any altitude your boiling point will drop considerably. We live at 6800 ft and got a BP of only 92.7C.

The problem with calibrating in boiling water is, it may read perfect at 212, but be off 5 degrees at 150. I bought a glass lab termometer to calibrate my other thermometers with and have had no problems since.

If that's not the problem, I would suggest rousing the yeast to see if you can get a couple more points out of the ol buggers

 

[zachattack]

I bought a glass lab termometer to calibrate my other thermometers with and have had no problems since.

My glass lab thermometer from NB is off by at least 6 degrees in boiling water. Don't assume it's not a POS just because it's labelled "lab thermometer".