Over-Attenuated Golden Ale

[CDS]

British Golden Ale

Fermentables (4.94 kg)
2.57 kg - Pale Malt, Maris Otter 2.8 °L (52%)
1.83 kg - Pale Malt 2-Row 2 °L (37%)
540 g - White Wheat Malt 2.3 °L (10.9%)

Hops (112 g)
10 min - 24 g - Citra - 14.3% (19 IBU)
10 min - 4 g - Citra - 11.8% (3 IBU)
0 min - 28 g - Simcoe - 12.5% (6 IBU)

Hop Stand
15 min hopstand @ 180 °F
15 min 180 °F - 56 g - Simcoe - 12.5% (11 IBU)

Yeast
1.1 pkg - Wyeast Labs British Ale Yeast 1098

Mash Profile
High fermentability 151 °F - 60 min

Fermentation Profile Ale
68 °F - 14 days - Primary

Guys, I'm one week into fermentation, and my FG is 1.004. The OG was 1.051. Brewfather had predicted a OG of 1.050, and an FG of 1.013). This indicates an apparent attenuation of nearly 92%! I pulled a sample today and it visually looks very nice, and tastes fine (a bit "raw" but it's only a week old) so I don't think infection. I tested my hydrometer recently in distilled water and it was perfect, and am also using a Rapt Pill (which I don't completely trust - it gives wonky readings. it said the OG was 1.043, but it is saying an FG of 1.003).
I've never brewed this style, and never used 1098 before. Thoughts?

 

[hotbeer]

Let it sit another week. If the SG is stable for 3 or more days after that, then bottle/keg it and enjoy it.

If it tastes too nasty to enjoy or the SG goes down to 1.001 or lower, perhaps you did get a infection. But even some infections don't taste terrible. Maybe a hint of sour to something that shouldn't be a sour.

Brew it again later. Compare all your notes from this one with whatever the next comes out as. Maybe then you'll see something that leans to a reason.

Even with my own stuff, I tend to first assume I didn't measure something correctly or figure something correctly when unexpected things happen. Make sure there aren't any bubbles on that glass bulb hydrometer you used to check the SG. Beer in the fermenter has CO2 in it and the hydrometer and other things will agitate the beer and cause tiny bubble to collect on it that will lift it higher to give you a false low SG reading. Spin it to get rid of them.

I've also had beers go to 1.004 that weren't suppose too. They had no signs of infection. They tasted great and were very enjoyable. So again, enjoy your beer... when it's ready.

 

[mashdar]

Hops (112 g)
10 min - 24 g - Citra - 14.3% (19 IBU)
10 min - 4 g - Citra - 11.8% (3 IBU)
0 min - 28 g - Simcoe - 12.5% (6 IBU)

Typo? (10 = 10)

Re 1.004 FG, that is very unusual for a British ale yeast.

Could the hydrometer have been wet? Or maybe when you tested, it had bubbles on it? Or perhaps the paper has come loose?

Q: Why did you write 1.1 packs of yeast? Was it a pack?

As said by hotbeer, If it tastes good, and has stopped dropping, bottle!

 

[CDS]

Typo? (10 = 10)

Re 1.004 FG, that is very unusual for a British ale yeast.

Could the hydrometer have been wet? Or maybe when you tested, it had bubbles on it? Or perhaps the paper has come loose?

Q: Why did you write 1.1 packs of yeast? Was it a pack?

As said by hotbeer, If it tastes good, and has stopped dropping, bottle!

No, not a typo - I had two different packs of Citra with different alpha acid %, so I combined them.

The 1.1 pack was just a Brewfather specification. I used one pack, but I made a starter with it, as I always do.

The hydrometer wasn't wet, but come to think of it, I didn't spin it like I usually do - still, I can't imagine it's going to be way off. I'll give it another test tomorrow.

Thanks for the info - especially that it's unusual for a British ale yeast. I've never used this strain before and wondered if maybe it was normal. Hmm.

 

[hotbeer]

As said by hotbeer, If it tastes good, and has stopped dropping, bottle!

Just to be clear, I didn't say bottle if the SG has stopped dropping. I said to wait another week, then bottle if the SG is not moving.

IMO, beer isn't ready to bottle just because the FG is reached. Times give the excess yeast and other suspended stuff in the beer to settle out to make the beer clearer and give it a cleaner taste.

I have waited 6 weeks for beer to clear up. Though most lately seems to clear in 10 - 18 days.

For kegging maybe not such a big deal. Particularly if the beer is held for a time before putting on tap and is drawing from the top of the beer in the keg.

 

[MaxStout]

Had you fermented with a diastatic yeast (such as saison) in a previous brew?

Sometimes a little of that strain remains and pulls down the FG in the next batch.

 

[day_trippr]

It's safe to assume that brew is bugged by something. No way is 1098 going to pull FG down that low...

 

[CDS]

Had you fermented with a diastatic yeast (such as saison) in a previous brew?

Sometimes a little of that strain remains and pulls down the FG in the next batch.

The last brew was a Kolsch - Wyeast 2565.

 

[CDS]

It's safe to assume that brew is bugged by something. No way is 1098 going to pull FG down that low...

Dammit. This will be my first infection. This is going to kick my OCD into overdrive!
Not sure how to proceed now - I was going to keg it next weekend. I guess if it tastes like ass, I'll dump it. Although now I'm wondering even if it's palatable, would it be safe to drink?

 

[day_trippr]

The prevailing wisdom is nothing grows in beer that will harm you
If it smells ok, take a small sip. If it tastes ok you can decide what to do with it.
On the up side, with the FG approaching 1.000, bottle bombs are unlikely...

Cheers! (call it British Golden Brute? )

 

[MaxStout]

Many of us have had that problem. Been there, done that--twice. Infections happen. Nothing to be alarmed about, you just go over your sanitation regimen, clean and sanitize the crap out of gear, etc. Replace things like plastic tubing. Take apart valves, clean well and sanitize. Anything cold side gets a more thorough cleaning and sanitizing.

Your next brew will be better!

 

[hottpeper13]

If the hydro sample tasted ok ,I would keg it and put it on tap and consume ASAP, have a pizza party.

 

[pvtpublic]

I wouldn't worry too much. Most of my beers finish under 1010, regardless of style and strain, and they turn out great. I know for a fact that I don't have wild yeast contaminations as I have a closed transfer from kettle to chiller to FV.

I will ask this, though; did you check your mash temp? If so, how reliable is the accuracy of your thermometer? Because if it's reading high, you could be mashing at a lower temp, resulting in a much more fermentable wort.

 

[mashdar]

I think there's a world of difference between 1.008 and 1.004. IMO 1.004 is just not possible with a barley/wheat grist and STA- beer yeast, especially english strains that don't even eat maltotriose very well.

 

[CDS]

I will ask this, though; did you check your mash temp? If so, how reliable is the accuracy of your thermometer? Because if it's reading high, you could be mashing at a lower temp, resulting in a much more fermentable wort.

That's an interesting point. I BIAB, and my set-up is pretty straight-forward: a 15-gallon kettle, an induction heating element, and I use a thermoworks blueDOT wired to a 12-inch probe to monitor temperature. I've often wondered if there's an optimum placement for the probe. Right now i lower it straight into the grain, at the very bottom of the kettle. I stir the mash occasionally, but no other circulation. What I HAVE noticed is the wort in the kettle is in fact a few degrees cooler as soon as I pull the grain bag out to start it draining (for example the mash temp for this brew is 151F, which it was consistently where I had placed the probe, but immediately after pulling the grain out, the wort was about 146F). I wonder if it's better to have the probe set higher in the kettle during the mash so it's not in complete contact with the grain.

 

[pvtpublic]

That's an interesting point. I BIAB, and my set-up is pretty straight-forward: a 15-gallon kettle, an induction heating element, and I use a thermoworks blueDOT wired to a 12-inch probe to monitor temperature. I've often wondered if there's an optimum placement for the probe. Right now i lower it straight into the grain, at the very bottom of the kettle. I stir the mash occasionally, but no other circulation. What I HAVE noticed is the wort in the kettle is in fact a few degrees cooler as soon as I pull the grain bag out to start it draining (for example the mash temp for this brew is 151F, which it was consistently where I had placed the probe, but immediately after pulling the grain out, the wort was about 146F). I wonder if it's better to have the probe set higher in the kettle during the mash so it's not in complete contact with the grain.

I'd calibrate it, make sure it's reading correctly. However, I've never done BIAB, so the best I can do is speculate. My guess is that when you hang it, it cools when it runs down through the air.

 

[hotbeer]

I've often wondered if there's an optimum placement for the probe.

Optimum placement for me is in as many places as I can poke it during that time. If there is any wort between your bag and the pot, then if you need to actively heat to get back to temp, then that wort can get very hot before the malts in the bag show a increase in temperature.

At least that's what I've found by poking around. (with the temp probe)

 

[CDS]

Just to tie this thread up, I dumped the whole batch.
It tasted really bad, and I've never seen a slick coating like this on the walls of the fermenter (maybe normal for 1098?).

Ah well - live and learn. I'll double down on the sanitation next brew day. And I'm NOT using the stupid floating hydrometer again. I'm suspecting it to be the vector for infection, since thats the only new variable in my process.

 

[day_trippr]

Yup. Aliens. It was clear from the jump.
You can certainly sanitize a hydrometer...

 

[CDS]

Yup. Aliens. It was clear from the jump.
You can certainly sanitize a hydrometer...

Yeah I know, and I did always sanitize it, but the way that Rapt pill is designed it seems to me that there's plenty of places for stuff to hide (it scratches pretty easily, the connection where the two halves come together, etc.), and honestly the value I got out of it is pretty negligible.

 

[hotbeer]

You sanitized your RaptPill too didn't you? I'm not sure why you are getting scratches. Like any plastic it does scratch. But typically that means you must be pretty rough with stuff or just careless.

IMO, the scratches that harbor nasties are gouges. Not the light abrasions from every day use. If it were, then why doesn't the brushed finish in our stainless equipment cause us issues? Those brush marks are scratches.

I'd recommend a good cleaning and sanitizing with a strong bleach solution everything that came in contact with that beer. And for the pill, you should take off those o-rings and clean and sanitize that o-ring grove, the threads and the o-rings as well. Use a little food safe lube on the rings or the surface they seal against when you put it back together.

Though some fear bleach, you won't hurt the stainless steel if you use even the most strong ratio suggested. Just don't soak it for more than two hours. And after that sanitation, then rinse well, let drain and then do your normal sanitation with star-san, Iodophor or what ever you normally use and do on brew day.

By then there won't be any bleach left to make your beer like band-aids. Unless you use ball valves and don't take them apart when cleaning. Then there'll be bleach as well as gunk trapped where it can get to the beer when closed, but not where you can get to while assembled.