To dry hop or not

[Twotones8]

Hey guys, I brewed a pale ale two weeks ago and long story short I had increadably low atenuation about 54-%...with that said I am fairly confident I know the fault with the fermentation. My question is now the taste of the beer isnt sweet at all and is very bitter with a slight (very slight) sour bitterness tinge on the back end. Should I still dry hop? Or will it over power any malt character thats left in the beer. I am going to use 1oz citra 1 oz centennial 7days. Sorry if this isnt the place for this thread as I am new (again) to this forum. Thanks for the input

 

[GuldTuborg]

What was your recipe and how did you measure your FG?

 

[Twotones8]

11Lbs 2row .5victory .5munich (usa) .5victory .5crystal 40 and i measured both with hydrom and refract. I used wl007 but it was washed yeast from like 8months ago 3rd gen. I made a 2L starter but i dont think my viability was where it needed to be.

 

[Twotones8]

Quick note i didn't mean to add the second .5 victory i just typed it twice on accident

 

[Twotones8]

Sg was 1.057 sitting now at 1.033

 

[Gnomebrewer]

What is the current gravity reading using your refractometer (not adjusted)?

 

[Twotones8]

6.4 brix and its calibrated perfect

 

[day_trippr]

If the gravity measurements are accurate, it's rather unexpected that there isn't a prominent sweetness going on.

Anyway, if yeast failure is suspected, why not hit the batch with another pitch in high krausen and see if you can knock off another 10 or even 15 points? You could try either wlp090 or the nuclear option of wlp099...

Cheers!

 

[Gnomebrewer]

If you started at 1.057 (about 13.8 brix) and you now get a reading of 6.4 brix, your trued FG is about 1.006. Alcohol affects refractometer readings so you have to adjust your reading to calculate your 'true' gravity after fermentation starts. I use http://onebeer.net/refractometer.shtml

 

[Twotones8]

If the gravity measurements are accurate, it's rather unexpected that there isn't a prominent sweetness going on.

Anyway, if yeast failure is suspected, why not hit the batch with another pitch in high krausen and see if you can knock off another 10 or even 15 points? You could try either wlp090 or the nuclear option of wlp099...

Cheers!

Actually re-pitched off another starter of 007 again this one also washed but more recent batch and nothing has changed. I haven't tried to crop high krausen yet....not really sure the best method to do as such with a carboy. It is something that has been brought up to me in the past however

 

[Twotones8]

And there is no sweetness what so ever

 

[jwalker1140]

I'm don't think I'm tracking the issue. The OG was 1.057, which is about 14 brix, and now the reading is 6.4 brix? That's an FG of about 1.007 adjusted for alcohol, which indicates a very high attenuation. But you say you had an incredibly low attenuation?

 

[Gnomebrewer]

And there is no sweetness what so ever

Exactly. It's finished - 1.006.

 

[Twotones8]

I'm don't think I'm tracking the issue. The OG was 1.057, which is about 14 brix, and now the reading is 6.4 brix? That's an FG of about 1.007 adjusted for alcohol, which indicates a very high attenuation. But you say you had an incredibly low attenuation?

My math is incorrect then my Sg was 12.8Brix and now sitting at 6.4brix

 

[Twotones8]

I'm don't think I'm tracking the issue. The OG was 1.057, which is about 14 brix, and now the reading is 6.4 brix? That's an FG of about 1.007 adjusted for alcohol, which indicates a very high attenuation. But you say you had an incredibly low attenuation?

Then my math is way off and i feel stupid my sg was 12.8B and now sitting at 6.4b

 

[Gnomebrewer]

12.8 brix down to 6.4 brix (as read on the refractometer) is an 'actual' final gravity of 1.009 (2.1 brix). You have good attenuation.

Go ahead and dry hop if you want to. It depends on what you want your beer to be. If you aren't sure, try dry hopping half and bottling/kegging the other half without dry hop.

 

[Twotones8]

12.8 brix down to 6.4 brix (as read on the refractometer) is an 'actual' final gravity of 1.009 (2.1 brix). You have good attenuation.

Go ahead and dry hop if you want to. It depends on what you want your beer to be. If you aren't sure, try dry hopping half and bottling/kegging the other half without dry hop.

Thats on the refract. Where did my math go so wrong then? I even plugged it into software and got only 3.5abv and like 53%attenuation

 

[Gnomebrewer]

Was the software you used designed for refractometers?

Try the link I posted before. Hydrometers don't have the same issue - they should give true readings. The problem with the refractometer is that alcohol changes the refraction of light, so once alcohol is present the reading will be higher than the true gravity of the beer. Thus, you need to use a calculator that specifically adjusts readings for refractometers.

 

[jwalker1140]

Not sure what software you used but BeerSmith gives a few calculation options for refractometer readings. You need to select 'Fermenting Wort Gravity' and plug in your original brix reading in order to get an accurate gravity reading based on your current/final brix.

 

[Twotones8]

Was the software you used designed for refractometers?

Try the link I posted before. Hydrometers don't have the same issue - they should give true readings. The problem with the refractometer is that alcohol changes the refraction of light, so once alcohol is present the reading will be higher than the true gravity of the beer. Thus, you need to use a calculator that specifically adjusts readings for refractometers.

Supposedly it was but i will be sure to use the one you posted from here on out. Thanks Gnomebrewer

 

[day_trippr]

[...] and i measured both with hydrom and refract.[...]

So, that wasn't exactly true?

Cheers!

 

[Twotones8]

Thanks guys for the help I just started brewing again after taking some time off (finally have the room and my Kegerator back) so I will be on here frequently Cheers!

 

[Twotones8]

So, that wasn't exactly true?

Cheers!

😒 not entirely sorry I did for SG but haven't since