SafAle S-04 attenuation and mash temperature

[thehaze]

I am planning on brewing 5 batches using SafAle S-04 for a friends party.

I will brew:

1 x Red IPA --- OG: 1.065
3 x American IPA --- OG: 1.065
1 x Black IPA --- OG: 1.070

The Black and American IPAs, I will be mashing at 149F/65C, but I am unsure about the Red one.

I lean towards 155F/68C, as the beer should also be a bit malty.

Has any of you have extended experience with SafAle S-04 and different mash temps.? Giving its attenuation, I am afraid it will finish too high if mashed at 155, but maybe I am wrong.

 

[stylus1274]

I'm curious to your choice of using 04 for IPA's.

Aside from that I've had mixed results with 04. Some attenuate properly some don't.

What is your target FG? I find 04 to be finicky.

If I was forced to use 04 on an IPA I'd try for 152-154 mark. 04 tends to need a lot of hand holding in my opinion.


If you can go with 05, you have way more leeway in terms of hitting your mark.

 

[thehaze]

FG should go down to 1.014-1.015, maybe .001 less. This is why I am trying to find our, if a low mash temp. might help. I have used SafAle S-04 before and I got good results. Made some IPAs and Stouts and came out good. The Stout was 7.5% and FG was 1.020.

I was thinking of mashing even lower than 152, namely 149F.

 

[Sbe2]

I just made a NEIPA with S-04, SG was 1.055 finished at 1.015. Mashed at 156f for 90 minutes. Pitched at 64f let it ride to 72 held for 3 days, dropped to 65 for 3 days. All in all it was 8 days in the fermenter.

 

[stylus1274]

I just made a NEIPA with S-04, SG was 1.055 finished at 1.015. Mashed at 156f for 90 minutes. Pitched at 64f let it ride to 72 held for 3 days, dropped to 65 for 3 days. All in all it was 8 days in the fermenter.

Really? Only 8 days? Wow.......

 

[drewsbrew8155]

I’ve heard Firestone Walker uses WLP-002 for IPA’s/Pale Ales. S-04 is a similar yeast I think.

I just finished brewing a pale ale with S-04: step mash at 144 and 150 with mashout, OG = 1.053, FG = 1.012. Yeast was pitched at 63 F, free rise up to 66.2 F after 24 hours, beer hit FG after 5 days total, beer kegged after 10 days total (dry hop).

I was attempting a mash at 144 and 155 but missed the mark. I’ll try again next time. Maybe performing a step mash will help attenuation with your red while balancing the malty flavor in your red?