Hello All,
My beers lately have been over-attenuating, some a little, others a lot. My recipes are all based on JZ's Classic Styles. My setup is normal -- all-grain, batch sparge in a 10-gallon cooler, nothing fancy. My concern is that I'm either doing something way wrong or have an infection somewhere. For example, an American Pale Ale (using 1056) with an OG of 50 had a predicted FG of 12 and an actual FG of 6. The beer tastes good, but is a little thin. Because I had been having this problem I have tried mashing a little higher -- 154.
I've had the problem with three different yeasts, and it doesn't seem to matter whether the yeast is from a fresh package or washed from a previous batch. When using washed yeast, I suspect I am over-pitching to compensate for the fact that I don't have a good sense of how much "non-yeast" material is in there. I always make a starter.
So far only one batch was truly terrible (and that one lost the foil off the starter and I stuck my head in the sand and kept going -- that one has an explanation). Ironically enough the problem started after I switched from BIAB to the cooler setup. My latest batch, an American Brown Ale, is ready to bottle. It looks clear and beautiful, but fermented down to 1.008 instead of 1.015. I feel like I shouldn't brew again until I figure this out.
My plan:
1. Replace all tubing.
2. Ferment in my bottling bucket, which has seen much less action that the others.
3. Super-sanitize the other fermenters (buckets -- I know they can get scratched, but I'm super careful) for a couple days in starsan or dilute chlorox.
4. I disassemble all the spigots every time I use them, but I could replace them as well.
Any ideas on what the problem is and how to fix it? Many thanks!!!
-PZ
My beers lately have been over-attenuating, some a little, others a lot. My recipes are all based on JZ's Classic Styles. My setup is normal -- all-grain, batch sparge in a 10-gallon cooler, nothing fancy. My concern is that I'm either doing something way wrong or have an infection somewhere. For example, an American Pale Ale (using 1056) with an OG of 50 had a predicted FG of 12 and an actual FG of 6. The beer tastes good, but is a little thin. Because I had been having this problem I have tried mashing a little higher -- 154.
I've had the problem with three different yeasts, and it doesn't seem to matter whether the yeast is from a fresh package or washed from a previous batch. When using washed yeast, I suspect I am over-pitching to compensate for the fact that I don't have a good sense of how much "non-yeast" material is in there. I always make a starter.
So far only one batch was truly terrible (and that one lost the foil off the starter and I stuck my head in the sand and kept going -- that one has an explanation). Ironically enough the problem started after I switched from BIAB to the cooler setup. My latest batch, an American Brown Ale, is ready to bottle. It looks clear and beautiful, but fermented down to 1.008 instead of 1.015. I feel like I shouldn't brew again until I figure this out.
My plan:
1. Replace all tubing.
2. Ferment in my bottling bucket, which has seen much less action that the others.
3. Super-sanitize the other fermenters (buckets -- I know they can get scratched, but I'm super careful) for a couple days in starsan or dilute chlorox.
4. I disassemble all the spigots every time I use them, but I could replace them as well.
Any ideas on what the problem is and how to fix it? Many thanks!!!
-PZ
Could a wild yeast that doesn't tast bad (yet) be on a rampage?
