low OG and high FG

[mattmack]

Hi all. I have a question and I'm sure I already have the answer from what I've read on other posts, but here we go...
I brewed an all grain Edmund Fitzgerald Porter on 9/21/13. Mashed @ 155 deg for 1 hr. Initial hops I had a boil over thanks to one too many Yoopers Ale. My OG was 1.042 @ 85deg. (too low. should be 1.057). I had good fermentation after 24 hours.
Took another SG on 10/7/13 which was 1.020 at 75 deg (too high should be 1.012). Just took another SG on 10/25/13 which was 1.020 as well. I'm guessing I didn't pitch my yeast correctly (Wyeast 1968).
Is there anything I can do to lower the FG or should I just carb, drink and chalk it up to experience?

 

[duboman]

The low Og is probably due to combination of poor crush and poor process. The high FG could be due to mashing to high.

Are you sure your thermometer is calibrated properly, you may have mashed higher than you think and 1 or 3 degrees can make a big difference.

Are you using a hydrometer and is it calibrated as well, meaning 1.000 in distilled 60F water?

You mentioned using 1968, did you make a starter? At what temp did you ferment. This yeast likes to drop early like a rock, have you tried to raise the temp and rouse the yeast, this can be effective with this strain.

 

[mattmack]

Thanks for the quick response. I just checked my notes and yes my initial mash temp was 160 deg for 1/2 hour then i dropped it to 150 for 1/2 hour. No I didn't make a starter which I'm kicking myself for. I fermented at 75 deg because I have no place cooler than that in my house. (I live in the desert). I think I just rushed though the process and made mistakes along the way.

 

[duboman]

If the temp was 160 for the first half hour then yes, most of the conversion had already taken place so that explains a lot ad yes, a starter with liquid yeast is always recommended but even so with that high a temp you have a much less fermentable wort.

You fermented kind of high for the strain as well, especially since internal temps can be 5-10 degrees higher during active fermentation. Consider using a swamp cooler set up to maintain better temps.

 

[mattmack]

Thanks much. I'll just bottle it, drink it and do better the next time!

 

[jro238]

Just a note about starters...

1 (healthy) smack pack has a perfect amount of cells to ferment a 1.040 5 gallon batch, so you didn't need one at all for this batch. When you make higher gravity beers in the future is when starters become more important.

+1 on using a swamp cooler. An ambient temperature of 75 can make decent beer, but you will almost always have extra esters and possibly fusil alcohols in your finished product (excepting high temp yeast, like belgian saisons here). Almost all beers will be improved by getting fermentation temp down to a max of 70 or 71 (high 60s is more ideal for most yeasts).

 

[duboman]

Just a note about starters... 1 (healthy) smack pack has a perfect amount of cells to ferment a 1.040 5 gallon batch, so you didn't need one at all for this batch. When you make higher gravity beers in the future is when starters become more important. +1 on using a swamp cooler. An ambient temperature of 75 can make decent beer, but you will almost always have extra esters and possibly fusil alcohols in your finished product (excepting high temp yeast, like belgian saisons here). Almost all beers will be improved by getting fermentation temp down to a max of 70 or 71 (high 60s is more ideal for most yeasts).

Sorry, pertaining to answer #1, not necessarily true: example: I am brewing a 1.041 traditional English Bitter this week using WY1028 with a date of 10/13/13 and it required a 1.5L starter, not sure how much healthier or fresh you are going to get a pack of yeast

A starter IMO is always recommended for liquid yeast at anything greater than 1.030 OG

 

[jro238]

Sorry, pertaining to answer #1, not necessarily true: example: I am brewing a 1.041 traditional English Bitter this week using WY1028 with a date of 10/13/13 and it required a 1.5L starter, not sure how much healthier or fresh you are going to get a pack of yeast

A starter IMO is always recommended for liquid yeast at anything greater than 1.030 OG

Checking with mr malty it looks like they do in fact recommend a 150B cells for 1.040 so a 1.5L starter.

My comment was based on a brew strong podcast I was listening to where (I think) they had on one of the people from white labs. He was saying that their yeast vials were calibrated for 5 gal of 1.040 wort.

Regardless, a starter will never hurt your fermentation. By the same token, your beer really won't suffer too much when pitching one packet/vial as long as it has a gravity below 1.040-1.050 or so. I would say to get the fermentation and mash temp under control before trying to worry about starters