Poor Attenuation

[mezak1gd]

OG-1.045
Yeast- S-05
All Grain brown ale, mash temp around 152
3.5 weeks in primary so far

temp. 68-72*F

Hydrometer reading 3 days in a row has been about 1.022. I have swirled and moved upstairs to about 72*. It is very sweet, not bad, but i'd prefer less so. Also low ABV.

Would repitching another pack of S-05 help me out here? I would like to get down to 1.012-1.014. Or should I just bottle, i mean its still beer?

 

[Yooper]

I wonder if your mash temp "around 152" was actually higher. If it was (maybe a defective thermometer?), there isn't much you can do.

If it's stuck, you can try pitching more yeast but I wonder if a combination of mash temperature and ingredients means it's simply done.

 

[mezak1gd]

Could be I have been meaning to get a new thermometer as mine is analog and only has marks every 10 degrees and is hard to tell exact readings. I'm not too worried but haven't had this happen before so I'm athering info about the best course of action. Could pitching again (I have another pack of S-05) hurt anything besides wasting a pack.

 

[Yooper]

Could be I have been meaning to get a new thermometer as mine is analog and only has marks every 10 degrees and is hard to tell exact readings. I'm not too worried but haven't had this happen before so I'm athering info about the best course of action. Could pitching again (I have another pack of S-05) hurt anything besides wasting a pack.

It won't hurt. It probably won't help, but it won't hurt.

If you were actually mashing at, say, 156 or so, then you would have less fermentable wort and are probably done.

 

[The Pol]

I just emailed Fermentis about this yeast...

I used it in a brew that I mashed at 154F, as proven by my HERMS controller and my mash thermometer. I got 86% attenuation, and it fermented at 66F for two weeks.

WTF.

This beer is so far out of style now, it is good, but not a clone.

You got about 50% attenuation... youd have to mash pretty darn high to get the low of attenuation.... OR have a lot of unfermentables (read crystal malts).

 

[mezak1gd]

Nope some specialties but not a lot.

8.5 lbs 2 row
1 lbs caramel 60L
1/4 lb Chocolate Malt
1/4 lb Black Malt

I agree I would have to have mashed ridiculously high to only get 50%. I am leaning towards pitching another pack although I have moved it to a warmer room and roused the yeast to no avail. It doesn't taste terrible now though.

 

[The Pol]

Is your hydrometer accurate? I found that mine was off on my last brew, so I now have a shiney new refractometer.

 

[Stevorino]

Dry Yeast are tricky -- did you rehydrate it properly and pitch a proper amount?

I'd try repitching a liquid yeast and suggest you use it going forward.

 

[mezak1gd]

Brand new. What are the chances more yeast does anything, because I'm out of homebrew and would love to get something bottled and drinking.

 

[mezak1gd]

Also, I try to keep my recipes in the $20-$25 range and liquid really kills that. I could pitch four packets of Notty for the price of one vial of liquid, and get 8 times the number of yeast cells. I'm still in school and until I have more money to spend I'll stick with dry for now.

 

[The Pol]

Id rouse the yeast, I dunno if Id re-pitch... also, even new hydrometers can be off FWIW. They need to be tested in distilled water to be sure.

On a beer like this, with a CLEAN yeast, IMHO there is no reason to use a liquid. I only use them where the yeast strain needs to be particular because the yeast adds to the flavor of the beer.

 

[Stevorino]

Also, I try to keep my recipes in the $20-$25 range and liquid really kills that. I could pitch four packets of Notty for the price of one vial of liquid, and get 8 times the number of yeast cells. I'm still in school and until I have more money to spend I'll stick with dry for now.

If money is that big of an issue, I'd start repitching liquid yeast -- that's even better than buying liquid yeast batch to batch. If you were careful, you could get your yeast costs down to less than $0.50 a batch -- and the results would be amazing.

I have nothing against Dry yeast except that they seem to have these problems every once and a while. Same kinda thing happened to me when using Dry yeast and it was the last time I used'em -- too much work and money goes into the beer to let it pucker out like that.

 

[mezak1gd]

It seems like I should just bottle now. Would anyone pitch more yeast? Everything I've read about S-05 indicates great attenuation, however i did just sprinkle on the top without rehydrating.

 

[mezak1gd]

And I'm not fully sure on the process how to harvest used yeast, unless you immediately rack your next batch onto a fresh yeast cake. Also, isn't there contamination issues that could wipe out all savings?

 

[Catt22]

I wonder if your mash temp "around 152" was actually higher. If it was (maybe a defective thermometer?), there isn't much you can do.

If it's stuck, you can try pitching more yeast but I wonder if a combination of mash temperature and ingredients means it's simply done.

+5 More than likely the high FG is due to problems with the mash temperature and if that's the case, then it's done and nothing you do at this point will have much of an effect.

I don't agree with those claiming that dry yeast's are tricky to use or that S-05 is not a good choice. I've used it many times without problems and it's certainly a lot cheaper to use than the liquid versions.

Check and calibrate your mash thermometer before looking to other sources of the problem.

 

[mezak1gd]

Okay thanks catt, like I said the beer doesn't taste bad just a bit on the sweet side and only around 3% ABV, but still drinkable. I'm just gonna bottle later today.

 

[Catt22]

I just emailed Fermentis about this yeast...

I used it in a brew that I mashed at 154F, as proven by my HERMS controller and my mash thermometer. I got 86% attenuation, and it fermented at 66F for two weeks.

WTF.

You're unhappy with 86% attenuation? That sounds pretty good to me and Fermentis only claims that S-05 will achieve a medium FG although I'm not sure what that means exactly.

 

[The Pol]

You're unhappy with 86% attenuation? That sounds pretty good to me and Fermentis only claims that S-05 will achieve a medium FG although I'm not sure what that means exactly.

Yah, I am very unhappy with 86%... I wanted a meduim FG... not dry as heck. This beer is way out of style and thusly will not be judged well I presume. 75% would have been great... or 70%

I have no idea how in the heck it could have finished so dry...

 

[Catt22]

Okay thanks catt, like I said the beer doesn't taste bad just a bit on the sweet side and only around 3% ABV, but still drinkable. I'm just gonna bottle later today.

There is one option you might consider, but if you are in a hurry to get it bottled and down the hatch it won't be much help right now. The option would be to brew another batch and blend the two to get closer to what you are shooting for. This is assuming that you can come up with a suitable recipe and get it to ferment out very dry. This practice is more common with home brewers than I think we realize. I've done it myself, but not very often.

 

[Catt22]

Yah, I am very unhappy with 86%... I wanted a meduim FG... not dry as heck. This beer is way out of style and thusly will not be judged well I presume. 75% would have been great... or 70%

I have no idea how in the heck it could have finished so dry...

Oh, OK....I was thinking you wanted it to go lower, not higher! Duh!

 

[The Pol]

Oh, OK....I was thinking you wanted it to go lower, not higher! Duh!

I cant get 86% when I want it, and when I dont, that is what I get....