Not Hitting FG

[jmilton1987]

All,

I understand this may not be that big of a problem, but on my last 4 beers I have had FG at 1.008 or below, these being a Bavarian Dunkelwiezen, 2 Belgian Singles, and a Smoked Marzen. I would not be concerned if it was just the ales b/c on all 3 of them I open fermented for primary; however the smoked marzen was brewed back in January and lagered until today. This was brewed and then placed in a fresh (never been used) bucket, then set in the basement and not looked at until today October 9th. I do not think I have an infection or brett b/c there are no off flavors just finishes dryer then normal. I do typically make a 1 liter starter to ensure vigorous fermentation but I would love to hear everyone else's opinions

 

[Yooper]

What were the mash temps and ingredients? Usually, mash temp and ingredients have more to do with attenuation than even the chosen yeast strain.

 

[jetmac]

Are you over-attenuating? If that is the case, I would say 1 of 2 things. Your mash temps were too low. Or, you didn't boil long enough, creating a lower than expected post boil gravity thus giving you a lower finishing gravity. Can you pull out your notes and provide a little more information about your process?

 

[jmilton1987]

I have most of my notes saved on a computer which bit the dust not too long ago. I know for the belgian singles I did mash very low like 148 but this was only 1 or 2 degrees below suggested (I followed the Northern Brewer Twisted Enkle Blonde). It was hot around time of fermentation (late June-July) and as I said 1 Liter starter with open primary. I did not end up with any extra volume post boil if anything I was a little shy I think for the planned 10 gal. I netted 9.5 gal.
The smoked marzen was the Northern Brewer Rauchbier kit and that was a stove top 5 gal boil extract kit. Also the Bavarian Dunklewizen was an extract bath. So any ideas?

 

[Yooper]

I mashed a beer at 147 once- it finished at 1.004! If I mash at 149 like for a Belgian, I would expect to finish at around 1.007 or so.

Mash temperatures and ingredients are the primary ways to manipulate fermentability of the wort.