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Author Topic: Unusually high FG, but not in a bad way  (Read 3826 times)

Offline morticaixavier

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Unusually high FG, but not in a bad way
« on: March 26, 2012, 12:24:29 am »
So I brewed a rye stout about a week ago. grain bill was, for 11 gallons

10 lbs pale ale malt
6 lbs flaked rye
1.75 lbs roasted barley
.75 lbs carafa II

I intended to mash for 60 minutes at 154 for a medium bodied brew but over shot my strike temp by a fair amount and stirred like crazy and added ice and finally got it down to about 162ish.

so I pulled off 11 gallons post boil at 1.041 which is 70% eff which is pretty standard for me. no worries.

I made a 1 quart starter with a vial of WLP007 about 1.5 weeks ahead of time and stepped it up to another 3 pints about 4 days before brew day, all went well and I pitched about 250ml of thick yeast slurry split between the two 5.5 gallon buckets.

stuck it in the temp controled fridge at 62-64 (controller set to 60 fermometers reading 62-64)

so here I am a week later, krausen has dropped, the sample I pulled is pretty clear. It looks like the yeast has more or less dropped. and the SG? 1.018. Wow! I figured it would be done by now. I added nutrient, aerated with mix stir etc. oh well. I guess I'll give it another week.

But I can't just dump the sample, so I try it. It's good! not to sweet at all, very full bodied but not sweet.

so I guess my question is can a mash temp of 162+ really result in that high a FG? WLP007 is a beast of an attenuator, at least when it comes to english yeasts. but it tasted done.

I know I know RDWHAHB (well a rayon vert actually but...) but I am wondering if I should try pitching a packet of rehydrated us05 or if I should just suck it up and keg this 2.9% wonder. tastes really quite good.
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Offline tygo

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Re: Unusually high FG, but not in a bad way
« Reply #1 on: March 26, 2012, 04:29:15 am »
Yes, a mash temp that high can certainly result in a final gravity of 1.018.  Let it go for awhile and all and it may drop another point or two.  But I doubt there's anything to be gained from pitching more yeast.  Sounds like you made yourself a nice little session beer  ;)
Clint
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Offline jmcamerlengo

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Re: Unusually high FG, but not in a bad way
« Reply #2 on: March 26, 2012, 08:00:05 am »
Yes it can! But it sounds like a nice session beer!
Jason
-Head Brewer, Brewtus Brewers in the Shenango Valley. Hopefully opening a brewpub/nano brewery in the next couple years.

Offline morticaixavier

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Re: Unusually high FG, but not in a bad way
« Reply #3 on: March 26, 2012, 08:44:26 am »
Yeah, if it doesn't go down any further I am not to worried as I like session beers and the one thing I am always trying for is more body. I like that I can do it with no crystal malt at all.
"Creativity is the residue of wasted time"
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"errors are [...] the portals of discovery"
- J Joyce

Offline jmcamerlengo

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Re: Unusually high FG, but not in a bad way
« Reply #4 on: March 26, 2012, 09:14:13 am »
All that flaked rye should definitely have given you plenty of body. Id like to try that brew, as I just did a rye stout this past weekend as well but used Rye Malt as about 20% of the grist and Chocolate Rye as 5%
Jason
-Head Brewer, Brewtus Brewers in the Shenango Valley. Hopefully opening a brewpub/nano brewery in the next couple years.

Offline liquidbrewing

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Re: Unusually high FG, but not in a bad way
« Reply #5 on: March 26, 2012, 08:17:38 pm »
That's actually pretty interesting.  A full flavor 3% beer, that you can quaff like no tomorrow!  Now that's a lawnmower beer, or snowblower beer if you're from the North!

I remember when I first started brewing, I emailed a brewery in Texas for their Winter Warmer (9%), I mashed what they specified, but way too high, about 165.  Ended up at 4% and tasted like jalapenos! Seriously. 

I've heard that darker malts can't get too low a FG...My latest black ipa (mashed at 149 for 90 mins.) had a pound of Caraffa III in there, with a pound of sugar and used US-05, only got down to 1.016.  Not certain about the dark roasted malts, just something I've read.  My lighter IPAs with the same amount of sugar and same yeast get down to a nice dry 1.010.
« Last Edit: March 26, 2012, 08:22:42 pm by liquidbrewing »
Justin
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Offline skyler

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Re: Unusually high FG, but not in a bad way
« Reply #6 on: March 27, 2012, 01:16:55 pm »
I would expect a really high FG with a mash temp of 162F. That said, save a bottle of it for me to try at the next GBA meeting. I have been meaning to do an oversized (1.055ish) dry stout with 20% flaked rye in lieu of flaked barley for some time.

Offline morticaixavier

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Re: Unusually high FG, but not in a bad way
« Reply #7 on: March 27, 2012, 01:20:41 pm »
I would expect a really high FG with a mash temp of 162F. That said, save a bottle of it for me to try at the next GBA meeting. I have been meaning to do an oversized (1.055ish) dry stout with 20% flaked rye in lieu of flaked barley for some time.

Will you be there in April? I brewed 10 gallons so it should still be around by then  ;D

I am planning on sticking 20L of it in the rum barrel just to see what happens. so perhaps there will be two 'versions' to taste.
"Creativity is the residue of wasted time"
-A Einstein

"errors are [...] the portals of discovery"
- J Joyce