Unfinished fermentation but tasty beer

[madoIII]

Hi there

Having done about 10 all grain brews so far, there is a recurring pattern which is bothering me:

• fermentation always seems to take about 48 hours to start (I use a plastic FV, no sign of bubbles or inflated lid before then) and
• it always stops at about 1.023 or so

I use an ACE microbrewery system and below is the last recipe I brewed.

Things that are worth mentioning:

• I mash at 68C for 60min => in the last brew I realised that my system was 2C off, so in reality I have been mashing at 70C. I have read that too high temps result in less fermentable sugars, but not sure if 2C or 3C are going to make a massive difference
• Mash pH corrected using Phosphoric Acid. This is only a recent change.
• Sparge water temp is 70C
  
• Boil for 60min
• Post boil gravity is 1.041 (which is almost what BeerSmith predicted)
• Wort cooled down to 21C
• Safale US-05 - 1pck, re-hydrated => This seems to be a yeast many people use. I buy from MaltMiller and keep in the fridge until my brewing day when I leave at room temp for 4 hours or so. I've never tried using liquid yeast, but again, many people use dry yeast and I am not making high alcohol beer. Should I chuck in 2pck next time?
• I give the wort a good shake before pitching (3-5 minutes of heavy rocking and shaking the FV)
• FV is then placed in a cupboard which stays at a constant temp but there is no temp control. In the last batch, the temp was on the cooler side, at roughly 18C => too low?
• Dry hops go in after 1.5 weeks where I get a reading: 1.023
• 3 days later: still at 1.023

I must say that so far I quite like my beers which I suppose is the most important thing
But clearly I am doing something wrong, and they could be much better!

Thoughts?

Ingredients:
------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
36.61 l Upper Holloway Water 1 -
5.00 g Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash 60.0 mins Water Agent 2 -
4.00 kg Pale Malt, Maris Otter (5.9 EBC) Grain 3 92.6 %
0.20 kg Caramel/Crystal Malt - 80L (157.6 EBC) Grain 4 4.6 %
0.12 kg Cara-Pils/Dextrine (3.9 EBC) Grain 5 2.8 %
20.00 g Simcoe [13.00 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 6 30.5 IBUs
1.00 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 mins) Fining 7 -
10.00 g Citra [12.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 8 2.8 IBUs
10.00 g Simcoe [13.00 %] - Boil 5.0 min Hop 9 3.0 IBUs
20.00 g Citra [12.00 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 0.0 m Hop 10 0.0 IBUs
20.00 g Simcoe [13.00 %] - Steep/Whirlpool 0.0 Hop 11 0.0 IBUs
1.0 pkg Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05) Yeast 12 -
30.00 g Citra [12.00 %] - Dry Hop 5.0 Days Hop 13 0.0 IBUs
30.00 g Citra [12.00 %] - Dry Hop 5.0 Days Hop 14 0.0 IBUs
20.00 g Simcoe [13.00 %] - Dry Hop 5.0 Days Hop 15 0.0 IBUs

 

[pvt_ak]

What’s your OG ?

Ignore that .... just read it !


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[NIGHTSKY BREWING]

BIG BIG tip..............Brewer,s make WORT...........Yeast makes BEER

so learn more about pitch rates ....its all about liquor and Yeast. import BREW your Own mag from US.

Make Starters......no more Faults...green apple tastes etc................... thing how much yeast a large Brewery can pitch.................!!!

Keep grain bed when sparging at around 77 degree so judge heat loss in hoses etc....so you might need around 82/85 degree ..............warm sugars flow better thing about it......

70 Degree mash is to high for a IPA US style to many unfermentables so a stop at 1.023 ....might be ? 70 degree for a sweet Scottish malty Low hop beer.


18 degree is cool for outside temps but all that matters is the "centre heart" Temp of beer which is allways a bit higher can you see the problems a huge fermentor can have. Duvel start at 16 with lots of yeast and let it free rise to 26 degree.

 

[NIGHTSKY BREWING]

Also at homebrew level carefully pour cooled wort from large bucket to bucket to get O2 in there..................do your homework on Pro brewers Old and new do for O2 levels.

 

[Ben034]

70c is high for the mash temp. Try around 65c for a medium body beer and FG is likely to be lower with US-05. Also double check your hydrometer is calibrated correctly in water / known SG sugar solution. Also give it a bit longer before checking FG again. Yeast may still be working slowly.

 

[NIGHTSKY BREWING]

Stevenson's and Reeves for Xmas gifts I,m in Love.

 

[madoIII]

Thanks for the replies!

I will try with lower mash temp next time then. Looks like a simple mistake. And it should also be easy enough to increase temp of grain bed when sparging (although my OG seems to be fine at 1.043)

I use a refractometer which I have calibrated a few times.

Any thoughts reg. yeast? What's the worst thing that can happen if I chuck in two sackets of US-05?

 

[foxbat]

I use a refractometer which I have calibrated a few times.

Have you applied the correction factor required for readings taken when there's alcohol in there?

 

[Ben034]

Have you applied the correction factor required for readings taken when there's alcohol in there?

Yeah if you use a correction factor on a brx of 6 (assuming 1.043 OG) you end up with an FG of 1.012 which seems more likely FG.

https://www.brewersfriend.com/refractometer-calculator/

Use the with alcohol present calculator (second down) if you haven't already. Worth having a cheap hydrometer on hand as well just to check always.

 

[NIGHTSKY BREWING]

Thanks for the replies!

I will try with lower mash temp next time then. Looks like a simple mistake. And it should also be easy enough to increase temp of grain bed when sparging (although my OG seems to be fine at 1.043)

I use a refractometer which I have calibrated a few times.

Any thoughts reg. yeast? What's the worst thing that can happen if I chuck in two sackets of US-05?

Great stuff......what happens if you put in 2 packets...First it costs more...second you get quick ferments.....third you get no stress on yeast for making BIG beers and Lager ...Fourth you get PRO clean tasting beers.................................................................................:thumb:

 

[madoIII]

Oh my! Rookie mistake??? I didnt know about the correction factor! I will check exact numbers when I get home. This looks promising!!!

 

[The Baron]

Think this is probably the answer as your beers would all taste sweet at 1.023. If you are using the scale on the refractometer you need to convert this on a conversion table such as brewers friend as it has alcohol in it

 

[BeerCat]

As above. 1023 is very sweet. If your beer does not taste sweet there must be something wrong with the reading. If not its also possible your unit is reading the wrong temps and your mashing above 70c and producing a wort with lots of un fermentables.

Cola is about 1040.

 

[madoIII]

Well, thanks everyone, that was useful! I have just re-run the numbers from the last few brews using the link from @Ben034 and it looks like my actual FG was always between 1.007 and 1.010.

So all good then!

Although I take away a couple of things from today, will definitely try to mash at a lower temperature.

Thanks everyone!

 

[Clint]

Great result! Glad you got the info you needed...perhaps you should get down wilco and get a hydrometer for £3 or whatever they are to be sure to be sure....

 

[foxbat]

Although I take away a couple of things from today, will definitely try to mash at a lower temperature.

No need to change your mash temperature if you're getting the level of sweetness and body that you're happy with from the US-05 yeast. US-05 has a reputation for high attenuation and if you lower the mash temperature you may end up with an end product that's thinner and drier than you'd like.

 

[NIGHTSKY BREWING]

As above try 67/68 mash temps for nice IPA....

 

[BeerCat]

Great result! Glad you got the info you needed...perhaps you should get down wilco and get a hydrometer for £3 or whatever they are to be sure to be sure....

Not saying they are call like it but i have bought a few of them and they were way out. I also find them fiddly to read so bought one of ebay, about £5.