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- Jan 19, 2016
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The last Pale Ale I did got much better attenuation that I've been getting - 1.056 to 1.007, 87%, for a very crisp, clean beer.
I think a couple of things contributed. I mashed fairly low so that helped, but I do that a lot and seldom get much better than around 80-82%. I did pitch slightly more yeast because I had a split batch with two 3.5 gallon beers and used a whole packet in each. I'm sure that didn't hurt but I've pitched slightly over or under before and don't count on a big difference.
The thing that was definitely different about this batch is that I really aerated the crap out of it. I used a wire whisk in a drill for 3 minutes and there was about 2 inches of foam on the top when I got done. I pitched the dry yeast right on top of the foam and it really went to work.
I pitched and fermented at 65 or so. I peeked into the buckets on the next day to be sure things were going and there was very nice krausen. I didn't check gravity until day 6 and it had gone to 1.011. I didn't expect it to go much beyond that so I took the buckets out of the temp-controlled chamber and put them in a corner of the dining room where they'd stay around 70.
I checked gravity again on day 9 and it had gone to 1.007 and was clearing. I can't say for sure it wouldn't gone lower, but I didn't want it to be too thin and dry and went ahead and put the buckets in the fridge for crashing and kegging.
Just kegged the beer the other day and sampling last night, it was pretty great. It may be one of the best beers I've produced. Simple malt bill, big hops, clean fermentation, great attenuation. It all worked!
I'll be working on my aeration regimen for the next few batches, but I bought a pump and diffuser stone and figure on letting it run a while on every batch from now on!
I think a couple of things contributed. I mashed fairly low so that helped, but I do that a lot and seldom get much better than around 80-82%. I did pitch slightly more yeast because I had a split batch with two 3.5 gallon beers and used a whole packet in each. I'm sure that didn't hurt but I've pitched slightly over or under before and don't count on a big difference.
The thing that was definitely different about this batch is that I really aerated the crap out of it. I used a wire whisk in a drill for 3 minutes and there was about 2 inches of foam on the top when I got done. I pitched the dry yeast right on top of the foam and it really went to work.
I pitched and fermented at 65 or so. I peeked into the buckets on the next day to be sure things were going and there was very nice krausen. I didn't check gravity until day 6 and it had gone to 1.011. I didn't expect it to go much beyond that so I took the buckets out of the temp-controlled chamber and put them in a corner of the dining room where they'd stay around 70.
I checked gravity again on day 9 and it had gone to 1.007 and was clearing. I can't say for sure it wouldn't gone lower, but I didn't want it to be too thin and dry and went ahead and put the buckets in the fridge for crashing and kegging.
Just kegged the beer the other day and sampling last night, it was pretty great. It may be one of the best beers I've produced. Simple malt bill, big hops, clean fermentation, great attenuation. It all worked!
I'll be working on my aeration regimen for the next few batches, but I bought a pump and diffuser stone and figure on letting it run a while on every batch from now on!