my witbier only went to 1.014

[Djlunchbox]

damn it. i'm off by a few. i was really hoping for 1.010. OG was 1.050.

so..... why? i have a guess, but don't know if i am correct here.

1. i fermented at a steady 62-65*. that was the ambient temp in my kitchen. maybe the yeast wanted closer to 70ish?
2. not long enough of a starter. i used a smack pack, popped it 16 hours before, quickly cooled a little wort, mixed the pack in, let sit for 1.5 hours and pitched at 70*. i think i needed to make a better starter?

this was in primary for 3 weeks exactly, wyeast 3944

any ideas? and is there some sort of calculator that i can punch my recipie into and determine what my FG should be?

 

[McGarnigle]

That's not far off, and you cannot always expect 80% attenuation, which is somewhat high. Was this an extract batch? Those often have more unfermentables. I'd also had that you don''t always want the highest attenuation possible.

Am I interpreting this correctly, that it was a starter for 1.5 hours? That is too short.

 

[Djlunchbox]

yes, extract, and a partial mash. i'm reading up on creating a proper starter next time

 

[Potter1]

There you go.
What flavors are you getting from that yeast at those temps?

 

[Djlunchbox]

hard for me to tell at this point. i added extra sweet orange peel to the boil, and no bittering hops. the half a bottle i sampled at bottle time was sweet and a slight orange smell, and a nice little sharp bite right as you swallow. in a few weeks i will be able to tell better. the sample i tried did have some dextrose in it, so i'm sure that added sweetness. do you think with a proper starter i could have gained those 4 points extra, or was it just the yeast strain being itself?

 

[Piotr]

Don't worry 1.014 is quite OK. My best Witbier finished at FG=1.018, scored 42 points and won gold medal for me.

I usually ferment my witbiers at 68F for a week, then I rise the temp to ~72F.

 

[sp1365]

Sounds like the yeast strain to me. Going from 1.050 down to 1.014 is 71% attenuation which is just about at the low end for the yeast. Wyeast puts the attenuation of 3944 in the range of 72-76% or for your case somewhere between about 1.014 -1.012.

Also remember that once you carbonate your beer the carbonite bite will cut some of that residual sweetness you may be tasting when trying your samples.

 

[hoppymonkey]

yes, extract, and a partial mash. i'm reading up on creating a proper starter next time

You were lucky to get it down that low with extract. I never had an extract bacth get under 1.018, but that inproved after moving to AG.

 

[Benny Blanco]

Make a proper starter next time not only for better attenuation, but to avoid any off flavors the yeast might spew out from such a slow start.

 

[Djlunchbox]

ah cool, ok. i feel a little better. is there an attenuation calc out there somewhere?
this is my 5th extract batch ever, and the highest FG i've ever had. so it made me worry.

on a side note, where can i find info on local competitions?

 

[Benny Blanco]

Attentuation is just a matter of yeast and your process so it's something you get used to given what you brew.

As far as competitions go your local homebrew club is your best bet. If you don't have one in your area then you probably don't have too many competitions close to you either :/

 

[sp1365]

ah cool, ok. i feel a little better. is there an attenuation calc out there somewhere?
this is my 5th extract batch ever, and the highest FG i've ever had. so it made me worry.

on a side note, where can i find info on local competitions?

Attenuation % = [(OG-FG)/(OG-1)] x 100

If you have a program like BeerSmith (and I am assuming other programs) then there should be an Attenuation Calculator as part of the program.

Good Resource for finding competitions (Local or Otherwise): BJCP Competition Schedule

 

[GilaMinumBeer]

I'd say 80% is pretty dang good.