Some density questions - N German Altbier

[Murray]

I am making a Northern German Altbier, and am using Wyeast 1007 German Ale yeast. I used 3 packs (the yeast was a little older than I'd hoped) and made a step starter, so I got a good, very active yeast.

I pitched that into 10 gallons of wort at an OG of 1.052. It has been fermenting at around 16 degC for around 9 days and gravity is sitting at 1.018. The gravity decrease has started to slow dramatically, and I am thinking of taking it out of primary and raccking to secondary on Sunday (will have been 14 days in the primary).

I have a question though : My target FG is 1.011. Wyeast 1007 is a very low flocculating yeast (I have only used the British ale yeasts before), and my beer is extremely cloudy and muddy (nothing wrong with it - it tastes and smells fine). Will the extra yeast in my beer alter the FG reading? i.e. if I am looking for a FG of 1.011, is that the FG of a clear beer after fining, or is that the FG of the beer after primary fermentation, or will the yeast in suspension in the beer not affect the gravity reading?

 

[Hex23]

I think that in theory the suspended yeast would not affect gravity, but I've seem some accounts that it does. 1.052->1.018 is a pretty low attenuation for 1007, so hopefully it really is lower. What you can do to see if there is a difference is force crash your sample in the graduated cylinder. Cap it and put it into the fridge (as close to freezing as possible). The yeast should settle within a day or two. Then take a gravity reading, remembering to adjust for any low temperature. You can do the same kind of cold crashing on the main batch for a slow flocculating yeast like 1007, and extended cold conditioning for an altbier is very appropriate. But obviously don't start dropping temps until you find out why you haven't hit your target FG.

 

[passedpawn]

Yeast will not affect your reading. Only things that are soluble, for example dissolve, in water will change your reading.