Please help me dry out my beer!

[JKaranka]

A bit of simple sugars and switching from US05 to Nottingham should do it. I use Nottingham a lot and 1.006-1.010 is usual for beers with OG 1.055-1.065. Often screws up my calculations.

 

[cowger]

A bit of simple sugars and switching from US05 to Nottingham should do it. I use Nottingham a lot and 1.006-1.010 is usual for beers with OG 1.055-1.065. Often screws up my calculations.

Thanks -- I hadn't known about Nottingham previously but it looks like a beast of a yeast.

Are you brewing all grain? If so, anything particular about your mash temp/time that helps get a lower FG? I'm still not sure about doing a mash and never getting into the alpha-a range...

 

[JKaranka]

Mash low. Notty should do the rest.

 

[henchman24]

Using 3711 either by itself or with another yeast (3711 + Conan is an amazing combination IMO, but 3711 + US05 is also pretty damn good) will get a lot of beers in the 1.002-1.005 range for me. I usually pitch them both at the same time, but I really like saison esters. I typically mash beers I want to be dry in the 146-150 and add some simple sugars as well.

I actually like using 3711 as the only yeast in an IPA from time to time. It isn't traditional, but it tastes great and that is what really matters.

I've only had maybe 3 beers that were fermented only with US05 that got in the 1.005 and below range, and one was a mistake that was mashed at 145-146 for 90 minutes. US05 attenuates well, but to get that low means that almost no specialty malts can be used with only US05.

 

[cowger]

Using 3711 either by itself or with another yeast (3711 + Conan is an amazing combination IMO, but 3711 + US05 is also pretty damn good) will get a lot of beers in the 1.002-1.005 range for me. I usually pitch them both at the same time, but I really like saison esters. I typically mash beers I want to be dry in the 146-150 and add some simple sugars as well.

I actually like using 3711 as the only yeast in an IPA from time to time. It isn't traditional, but it tastes great and that is what really matters.

I've only had maybe 3 beers that were fermented only with US05 that got in the 1.005 and below range, and one was a mistake that was mashed at 145-146 for 90 minutes. US05 attenuates well, but to get that low means that almost no specialty malts can be used with only US05.

Excellent info, thanks! This helps tie everything together for me. We'll see what round 2 brings.

 

[benzesp]

Want low FG, Mash at lower temp to reduce dextrins and increase fermentability.

 

[chickypad]

If you want to get REALLY low, go with something like champagne yeast... that's got a really high tolerance for alcohol, and will really eat every available sugar it can get ahold of.

I'm pretty sure that champagne yeasts like other wine yeasts aren't able to ferment maltotriose. So they won't help if the issue is longer chain sugars and not alcohol tolerance (which it shouldn't be with an OG of 1.055).

 

[Clef051]

I've had great results with white labs wlp007, mashing low, little or no specality malts and some corn sugar

 

[slym2none]

If you want to get REALLY low, go with something like champagne yeast... that's got a really high tolerance for alcohol, and will really eat every available sugar it can get ahold of.

Just don't add it until the other yeasts are done.

 

[slym2none]

A bit of simple sugars and switching from US05 to Nottingham should do it. I use Nottingham a lot and 1.006-1.010 is usual for beers with OG 1.055-1.065. Often screws up my calculations.

Good advice - one of my last batches, Notty gave out 5 points lower than Brewer's Friend expected (1.008 v/s 1.013).

 

[Newsman]

I'm pretty sure that champagne yeasts like other wine yeasts aren't able to ferment maltotriose. So they won't help if the issue is longer chain sugars and not alcohol tolerance (which it shouldn't be with an OG of 1.055).

Ah. Good to know.

 

[m00ps]

Yeah champagne yeasts arent very good at fermenting the sugars from the malts in beer. I wont get into it, but my experience involved an entire batch of bottle bombs

 

[douglasbarbin]

Brettanomyces.

 

[cowger]

Success!



Second batch is down to 1.004 after about 10 days. I'm happy with this, will dry hop this weekend, and see how it turns out.

Mostly, I've added this to my brewing toolset and it's been a fun experiment. Thanks, everyone, for your help!

 

[cowger]

Thought I'd update this thread for anyone reading it down the road...

My 2nd batch ended up attenuating all the way down to 1.001. As stated by others, the Saison yeast that I added about halfway through fermentation did a great job getting it that low, but it also kicked off quite a bit of flavor that I personally was not fond of.

So, I brewed a third batch a week ago that was closer to my first recipe:

9 lbs 2-Row
8 oz Carapils
4 oz Crystal 40L
1.25 lbs dextrose

For yeast I just went with Wyeast 1056 (American Ale) in a 1 quart starter.

I was pleased to see that this batch attenuated down to 1.005, which was my goal all along. So it's certainly possible to get 1056 to go that low -- the key, of course, was a 90 minute mash at 148, followed by a fly sparge at that same temperature.



Color still seems a bit light, so maybe I'll double the Crystal40 next go round. I'll wait to see what it looks like in a pint glass in a couple weeks...

Bryan