US-05 Feedback and Some Other Questions/Suggestions

[Yesfan]

I recently (finally?) got around to kegging a pale ale I brewed a month ago. The recipe is as follows (10 gallon batch).

Grist:

17.5 lbs of Briess Pilsen (90.3%)
1lb 14oz of Caramel Malt 40L, Briess (9.7%)

Mashed at 154F for 60 min
Mashed out at 170F for 10 min


Hops:
Pre-boil gravity- 1.048
Chinook 1.25oz at 45 min
Cascade 1oz at 15 min, 1.75oz at 5 min, 4oz dry hopped (added those about 5 days after pitching the yeast).
Post Boil gravity- 1.056

3pks of US-05 pitched at 74F, pressurized at 15psi in my 15 gallon corny keg. Towards the end of fermentation pressure rose up to 25psi. I planned on kegging two weeks after yeast pitch, but didn't get to it until last night, a month later. FG was 1.006

Brewfather anticipated a FG of 1.012. Seems like most of my batches, especially with US-05, end at 1.008 or lower. The initial taste I tried this morning seems alright. ABV is 6.48%. It should have been around 5.5%. The two errors right off the bat is the high pitch temp. I wanted to pitch at mid 60s, but I couldn't get it to cool down that far. The month long fermentation vs two weeks may be another (long dry hop period). Time wasn't on my side with this batch.

Anyone else get lower than expected FG when using US-05? I had planned on pitching some Que Bueno slurry on this beer, but the high wert temp forced me to use what I had on hand. I didn't want to use a lager strain at that high of a temp, even if it was going to be a pressurized fermentation so US-05 was all I had.

What would you change on this recipe if you did it again? I definitely want to try another yeast so there's that. I'd like to have a bit more mouthfeel in the next beer. Maybe mash even higher? Not as long (30-45 min vs 60 min)? Shorter or longer boil? The beer tastes alright right out of the gate. I'm sure it will get better over time. Maybe, I'm just overthinking it and being overly critical of myself. Thoughts? TIA.

 

[Airborneguy]

Every time.

Since returning to the hobby after a long break, I continue to be very surprised by how well modern yeast performs. All of them. My FG was rarely noticeably off back in the day. I’ve given up lately.

 

[jsphlynch]

Anecdotally, I seem to get lower FGs when using Briess base malts. The body and flavor are still fine, so I don't worry about it.

As for what I would change on the recipe: I'd have to taste the beer before I answered that question.

 

[Red over White]

You could kick it old school and add some maltodextrin at flameout. It's always been a good work around for certain mash, grist and yeast combos.

 

[JoeSpartaNJ]

I had this issue for about 2 years.

First I thought it was fermentation temperature, then possible infection, but finally figured it out.

You say you mashed at 154. I don't know what equipment you are using, but I found about a bit ago that my mash temperatures were completely off on my Anvil Foundry. Top of mash, and middle. The mash in temperature on the Anvil display did not drop after mashing in, but it actually did.

My unit was measuring 7 to 8 degrees lower. This lead me to belive that mashing in at 154, would actually mash at 146.

Once I figured that out, my beers started attenuating as they should.

 

[wepeeler]

Check your mash temp with another thermometer. If you're off by 5 degrees cooler, you'll get higher attenuation. Also, 2 packs of US05 is more than enough for 10 gal of 1.056 wort.

 

[AlexKay]

If it tastes good, then yes, you’re probably overthinking it. The long fermentation is really unlikely to cause problems. High pitch temperature, if it’s going to cause trouble (also unlikely), it would be trouble you’d taste (ester profile, for instance.)

The folks telling you to double-check your mash temperature are right. Though my experience is that while mash temperature absolutely affects attenuation, the change in body everyone tells you to expect is really hard to notice. It’s a surer thing to bulk up the body with flaked grains. Nothing beats rye, though the taste doesn’t work for every recipe.

 

[hotbeer]

I almost always get more attenuation with US-05 than expected. And 1.008 for a pale ale or other light ale or IPA was not uncommon at all. And I almost always pitch at 68°F.

I used it for one of my stouts this last fall that I have had issues getting the FG down to the expected FG of 1.012 - 1.014. But it didn't help, it was at 1.020 just like most of the rest of my stouts of the same basic recipe.

Do you like the beer it made? If so, the other stuff doesn't much matter. Just know that you'll get that FG when you use US-05. You can adjust the OG accordingly if you don't want the higher ABV.

 

[dmtaylor]

High attenuation (low FG) is normal for US-05. Brewfather's estimation of 1.012 was wrong. If you want lower attenuation (higher FG), next time try S-04 or Notty.

Enjoy the beer.

 

[CascadesBrewer]

My experience with US-05 seems different than some responses. I usually plan for around 80% attenuation, which for a 1.056 beer would be around 1.011. Looking at batches over the past year I see a few American Stout batches where I got 75% to 77%, an IPA where I got 81%, and an extract Pale Ale (with 10% sugar) where I got 77%. I would be quite surprised if I got to 1.006 with that recipe and my process, especially with a 154F mash.

 

[Yesfan]

My experience with US-05 seems different than some responses. I usually plan for around 80% attenuation, which for a 1.056 beer would be around 1.011. Looking at batches over the past year I see a few American Stout batches where I got 75% to 77%, an IPA where I got 81%, and an extract Pale Ale (with 10% sugar) where I got 77%. I would be quite surprised if I got to 1.006 with that recipe and my process, especially with a 154F mash.

Like some of the others have mentioned, maybe my mash temps are lower than what the thermo tells me.

I have a three vessel, two burner setup. I mash in a 10 gallon cooler. After reading JoeSpartaNJ's post, I may double check my readings. I may do another split batch with US-05 and another yeast for comparison.

 

[Bramling Cross]

If you use an immersion chiller, spend thirteen bucks on this and never worry about your pitching temp again.

How it works:

1) Place your immersion chiller in the boil at 20min.

2) Once your boil is finished, hook up your immersion chiller, turn it on, cover your kettle with plastic wrap and walk to the corner store.

3) Buy 10lbs of ice at the corner store, this should cost 2.00-2.50.

4) Return home and grab a bucket. You're a homebrewer, you have many buckets. Choose one.

5) Fill your bucket with enough water to submerge your $12 pump, then connect your pump (via a garden hose connection...another two bucks) to your immersion chiller, place the exhaust of your chiller in your bucket. Fill the bucket with the ice you just bought then start your pump. Instant mega cooling will happen. I use this technique to take 85F ground water down to 40F for lagers during DC summers--albeit with 20lbs of ice and a whirlpool pump.

6) Never pitch an ale yeast into a lager wort ever again because you now have mega chilling on your side.

 

[MaxStout]

US-05's specs say 78-82% attenuation, but I have had a few brews go more like 85%. Still not as attenuated as your 89%, though.

As others mentioned, check your thermometer calibration. One other thought: have you recently brewed with higher-attenuation yeasts, like saison, etc.? Maybe some of those cells stuck around in your FV?

 

[dmtaylor]

My experience with US-05 seems different than some responses. I usually plan for around 80% attenuation, which for a 1.056 beer would be around 1.011. Looking at batches over the past year I see a few American Stout batches where I got 75% to 77%, an IPA where I got 81%, and an extract Pale Ale (with 10% sugar) where I got 77%. I would be quite surprised if I got to 1.006 with that recipe and my process, especially with a 154F mash.

Your results seem unusual. You might want to recalibrate your mash thermometer and hydrometer.

 

[Yesfan]

If you use an immersion chiller, spend thirteen bucks on this and never worry about your pitching temp again.

How it works:

1) Place your immersion chiller in the boil at 20min.

2) Once your boil is finished, hook up your immersion chiller, turn it on, cover your kettle with plastic wrap and walk to the corner store.

3) Buy 10lbs of ice at the corner store, this should cost 2.00-2.50.

4) Return home and grab a bucket. You're a homebrewer, you have many buckets. Choose one.

5) Fill your bucket with enough water to submerge your $12 pump, then connect your pump (via a garden hose connection...another two bucks) to your immersion chiller, place the exhaust of your chiller in your bucket. Fill the bucket with the ice you just bought then start your pump. Instant mega cooling will happen. I use this technique to take 85F ground water down to 40F for lagers during DC summers--albeit with 20lbs of ice and a whirlpool pump.

6) Never pitch an ale yeast into a lager wort ever again because you now have mega chilling on your side.

LOL!. Got me one of those a few weeks ago. If I had been a week earlier, I'd been pitching at a much cooler temp.

 

[OleBrewing]

is it a recirculating mash? or just sitting mash? maybe i missed something.

on the US 05 yeast, i dont care for it my self always had clearing issues. nice clean yeast and others cheer for it but not me.

 

[Yesfan]

is it a recirculating mash? or just sitting mash? maybe i missed something.

on the US 05 yeast, i dont care for it my self always had clearing issues. nice clean yeast and others cheer for it but not me.

If that's directed to me, it's a sitting mash.


On another note, I get the same haziness with US-05 as well. Another reason why I may move on to a different "house" yeast.

 

[OleBrewing]

If that's directed to me, it's a sitting mash.


On another note, I get the same haziness with US-05 as well. Another reason why I may move on to a different "house" yeast.

I would say once doughed and stirred temp should normalize all through. Didn't see mash water ratio. Thick mash will yield differently than a thinner mash. I use 1.25 quarts/lb although mash tun capacity gets in the way.

 

[balrog]

Us05 takes forever to clear for me.
Forever.
No I don’t have cold crashing capabilities-ok I do, but that’s my serving chamber and that it shall remain.

Otherwise, US-05 follows a pretty well defined apparent attenuation vs mash temp for me, with the one outlier being a Yooper's Dad's Cream Ale with a lot of corn.

 

[Yesfan]

I would say once doughed and stirred temp should normalize all through. Didn't see mash water ratio. Thick mash will yield differently than a thinner mash. I use 1.25 quarts/lb although mash tun capacity gets in the way.

1.5qt/lb for me.

 

[day_trippr]

Us05 takes forever to clear for me.

It is a particularly powdery strain, I agree.
Fortunately, truly bright beer is rarely a thing for me, and when it is I hit it with gelatin...

Cheers!