Low attenuation

[chefpaul101]

Hello, need some help possibly, I Brewer this, and it seems to be stuck at 1.020. Wanted to get down to 1.012 ish. I made a 1 liter starter with wyeast British ale yeast. Wondering if it's to much speaciality malt... Mashed at 154 farenhight. Been ferment in for over a week, krausen dropped on day 3, been at 1.020 since then. I raised temp a wee bit to try and get the yeast coin again but to no avail... Thanks in advance


Name Time Gravity
1.00 lbs 8.06 % Caramel/Crystal Malt - 60L 60 mins 1.034
9.00 lbs 72.58 % Gambrinus ESB Pale Malt 60 mins 1.037
10.40 ozs 5.24 % Briess Aromatic Malt 60 mins 1.035
8.00 ozs 4.03 % Oats, Flaked 60 mins 1.037
4.00 ozs 2.02 % Special B Malt 60 mins 1.030
8.00 ozs 4.03 % Caramel/Crystal Malt -120L 60 mins 1.033
8.00 ozs 4.03 % Barley, Flaked 60 mins 1.032

 

[muels]

I get 1.016 when I plug that into Beersmith. Have you checked your hydro against distilled water. Be sure it reads 1.000

 

[muels]

I assume it's room temp but be sure to compensate for the temp of the beer.

 

[chefpaul101]

Yes to both. Checked on refractometer as well. Thanks for checking on beersmith.

 

[MVKTR2]

You're at
72.5% base malt
14% crystal malt
8% flaked adjunct
5% highly kilned special malt

Those aren't terrible numbers per se. My guess if everything, including ingredients, OG, FG, etc. has been measured properly is poorly oxygenated wort or quite likely it mashed at a higher temp than 154. A high mash temp combined with that much crystal and flaked malt could easily push you high by the 4 or more gravity points suggested by muels. Depending on your water even it could be the source of the problem? How familiar are you with AG brewing, do you know your system well? The problem lies somewhere ... it can be hard to find it though, especially through ye ole interweb.

 

[SanPancho]

Raise the temp and rouse the yeast. Spin /shake the fermenter and make sure you break up the yeast cake to try and get some of the dormant yeast back into suspension and hopefully it'll get you down to the FG you're looking for soon. I'd raise the temp at least 5 degrees.

 

[muels]

How long was your mash? Maybe you didn't get full conversion and that is impacting your attenuation. Did you do an iodine test?

 

[chefpaul101]

Yes did an iodine test, mashed for 1 hr. I raised the temp and tried to rouse the yeast on day 5, I even re pitched some yeast. I've been ag brewing for around a year, done maybe 20 batches, maybe the temp was a fit higher, used a different thermometer than usual. I had another beer stop at 1.020 two batches ago, it was a nut brown, I dry hopped to combat the sweetness, turned out ok, got better in the keg after week 2

 

[chefpaul101]

Haven't investigated water

 

[chefpaul101]

Thanks for ur help

 

[pdxal]

1.020 after a week of fermentation and not using a refractometer to measure gravity?
Wait another week and check the gravity again, then report back. I'll bet more time will do it.
Some other things to consider- fermentation temp is 64-72°F for that yeast, that's a greater than average amount of less fermentable/specialty grist, mash temp may be a factor if not accurately measured.

 

[chefpaul101]

I checked with hydrometer and refractometer. It's been steady at 68 throughout fermentation. I'll let it ride another week. Just my concern is lack of krausen so early, dosnt seem to be fermenting at all anymore