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Author Topic: Question about high final gravity  (Read 6413 times)

Offline HoosierBrew

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Re: Question about high final gravity
« Reply #15 on: February 15, 2015, 11:40:30 am »
The first week in the fermenter, I kept the temp at 70 and have dropped it down to 65 for the last two weeks. The krausen dropped after 2 days.

This is pretty much the exact opposite of what I would do.   Rather than start at 70 then drop to 65 after a week, you will probably have better results if you started at 65 then ramped up to 70 after a few days to finish fermentation. 

Starting cool then raising the temp after a few days helps control esters and encourages the yeast to clean up diacetyl precursors at the end of fermentation.
Starting relatively warm then dropping the temp 5 degrees is a good way to get your yeast to drop out early and leave a lot of diacetyl behind, especially with an Irish strain.

+2.  OP - You will make much, much better beer if you pitch your yeast a couple degrees below your target fermentation temp, hold at target temp for 2-3 days, and then gradually raise temp to room temp. This will encourage good attenuation as well as letting yeast clean up off aromas and flavors (from acetaldehyde and diacetyl). And also, don't rack before you verify you're at FG. A few days beyond FG should guarantee your beer is done and the yeast has 'cleaned up after itself'.
Jon H.

Offline AmandaK

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Re: Question about high final gravity
« Reply #16 on: February 15, 2015, 05:51:37 pm »
The first week in the fermenter, I kept the temp at 70 and have dropped it down to 65 for the last two weeks. The krausen dropped after 2 days.

This is pretty much the exact opposite of what I would do.   Rather than start at 70 then drop to 65 after a week, you will probably have better results if you started at 65 then ramped up to 70 after a few days to finish fermentation. 

Starting cool then raising the temp after a few days helps control esters and encourages the yeast to clean up diacetyl precursors at the end of fermentation.
Starting relatively warm then dropping the temp 5 degrees is a good way to get your yeast to drop out early and leave a lot of diacetyl behind, especially with an Irish strain.
+1 - I ruined my first batch of homebrew doing this. Complete butterbomb.
Mmm... Compound butter. My favorite flaw.
Amanda Burkemper
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