Lagunitas Undercover Shudown Ale

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slarkin712

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I'm drinking some Lagunitas Undercover Investigation Shut-down Ale. It's a full bodied IPA/barleywine that I enjoy. On the label it says OG 1.085, ABV 9.8%, IBU 66.6. I'm calling shenanigans! To get that ABV with that OG the FG would need to be 1.009. No way! The beer is full bodied and very sweet. I believe the ABV, but I don't know about the OG. What do you guys think?
 
Take a little hydro sample and see what the FG really is. Then you can use the stated abv to back calculate the OG. Mystery solved!

(haven't tried the beer myself or I'd give my opinion)
 
It's possible that proteins from certain grains (particularly oats and wheat) could be giving the impression of a fuller-bodied beer than it actually is. Such a "full" seeming beer that's actually fermented bone dry can be a glorious thing.

ChessRockwell said:
Take a little hydro sample and see what the FG really is. Then you can use the stated abv to back calculate the OG. Mystery solved!

(haven't tried the beer myself or I'd give my opinion)

You need to let it go flat first.
 
You need to let it go flat first.

Of course, just a small sacrifice (4oz should be enough to fill your hydrometer tube) shaken and warmed up to 60 should be a small price to pay to solve this mystery :)

Even the particular yeast can sometimes give the illusion of a fuller body (wyeast 3711 for example)
 
ChessRockwell said:
Of course, just a small sacrifice (4oz should be enough to fill your hydrometer tube) shaken and warmed up to 60 should be a small price to pay to solve this mystery :)

Even the particular yeast can sometimes give the illusion of a fuller body (wyeast 3711 for example)

Yep, that's true too. Also a big reason I love 3711... ferments far drier than any other yeast I've ever used (for beer), yet it even manages to make the beer feel silky smooth.
 
Lagunitas mashes a lot of their beers at a really high temp which can also give you a fuller body. It generally leaves a lot of unfermentables, too, so you might be right about that OG. Getting a beer down to 1.009 with a mash temp in the upper 150s (I'm guessing; their IPA is mashed at 160F) would be difficult, I think.
 
Yep, that's true too. Also a big reason I love 3711... ferments far drier than any other yeast I've ever used (for beer), yet it even manages to make the beer feel silky smooth.

I will add a +1 to this. My imperial saison that I did with Funkwerks last year (with 3711) fermented down to 1.002 FG, coming in at ~8.4%, and tasted very full bodied. Even at that ridiculously low FG, some of the reviews of the beer said that it was good, but a bit too sweet for the style.

Yeast, mash temperature, and grain bill can be utilized to get both a low FG and full bodied beer.
 
I suppose the sweetness could come from the yeast. Anyone know what yeast Lagunitas uses? Also, I think that some alcohols can give a sweet flavor, can't they?
 
slarkin712 said:
Also, I think that some alcohols can give a sweet flavor, can't they?

Yes. Chloride treatment of the water can also increase the perceived sweetness.
 
slarkin712 said:
I suppose the sweetness could come from the yeast. Anyone know what yeast Lagunitas uses? Also, I think that some alcohols can give a sweet flavor, can't they?

1968 London ESB wyeast. And a high mash, 160F
 
slarkin712 said:
On the label it says OG 1.085, ABV 9.8%, IBU 66.6. I'm calling shenanigans! To get that ABV with that OG the FG would need to be 1.009. No way!

I was wondering the same thing recently... Brown suggah boasts an og of 1.100 @ 10% abv. How is it that the undercover is 15 points lower, yet around the same abv?
 
I decided to check the FG of the beer from a bottle. I shook the hell out of 3-4 oz from a bottle then let it warm up to room temp. Shook it some more just to make sure. Using a calibrated hydrometer I got a reading of 1.014. So, if the OG was 1.085 this would give an ABV of 9.3%. This is still decent attenuation, but not as high as the stats on the bottle imply. Those 5 gravity points probably provide the sweetness and body that I get from this beer. Wonder what's up with the stats on the label. Is the OG or ABV correct?
 
slarkin712 said:
I decided to check the FG of the beer from a bottle. I shook the hell out of 3-4 oz from a bottle then let it warm up to room temp. Shook it some more just to make sure. Using a calibrated hydrometer I got a reading of 1.014. So, if the OG was 1.085 this would give an ABV of 9.3%. This is still decent attenuation, but not as high as the stats on the bottle imply. Those 5 gravity points probably provide the sweetness and body that I get from this beer. Wonder what's up with the stats on the label. Is the OG or ABV correct?

I'm sure they give themselves a little slack on this... This is probably an average of what it should be. I am about an hour from Lagunitas, and their lead distributor is in our homebrew club. I'll mention this little experiment to him and see if I can get his take on it.
 
There is such a thing as a typing error lol...there is a two brothers anniversary ale out now that says 35% abv. It is supposed to be 3.5%. They acknowledged it on their website.
 
I remember when I was researching on how to brew better DIPAs, one thing I took away, other than a KISS grainbill, was that increased ABV can give perceived body. So with that high ABV, that could attribute to the increased body. Im at a loss though on the sweetness. Never had the beer so I cant judge.
 

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