High FG readings

[Qbrewer]

I know there are a bunch of variables at play here and I'm hoping for some feedback for things to consider in some particular order. I'm still a relative novice. I brew extract and partial mash and have been having a hell of a time hitting final gravitates below 1.020. My batches frequently finish around 1.022 but sometimes as high as 1.026. I'm using Nassau county NY tap water doing partial boils and this has lately affected ales and lagers using liquid yeast with starters. No fermentation controls to speak of but my ales ferment in a room that's a consistent 66 degrees F and my lagers ferment in my unfinished basement at 55-56 degrees. What should I be looking at to get my yeast happier for longer? I like my beers a lot but I feel like I'm missing something since my FG always seems to finish so high. Especially when my SG readings are pretty close to what the recipe suggests.

TIA to all.


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[flars]

The main reasons for a beer finishing high is under pitching the yeast and high amounts of unfermentable sugars in the beer.

Below is a yeast calculator I like to use. The size of the starter is based on the estimated OG of the beer and the production date of the yeast.

You are using municipal water. Do you treat the water to remove chlorine and chloramines? Chloramine in the water can also affect the health of the yeast in a starter.

The yeast chosen for a beer can also affect FG. Below is an article from White Labs on attenuation and flocculation.

http://www.brewersfriend.com/yeast-pitch-rate-and-starter-calculator/

http://www.whitelabs.com/beer/homebrew/beginners-attenuation-and-flocculation-definitions

Does this give you any ideas on what might be going on?

 

[Qbrewer]

I have used pitching calculators in the past - usually Mr. Malty. I don't recognize the one you linked to but it seems to do about the same thing. Maybe a little more precision with the variety of inputs but I haven't compared them yet. I'll do that tonight when I'm home. Regarding starters, though, I have never really gotten a krausen on any of mine. I make them in my 1 gal glass fermenters with 1/2 gallon of tap water and I think it's about 4 oz of DME. Boiled for 20 mins, chilled and then pitch my snack pack (never more than 1 month old). Then I cover with sanitized foil and I shake every few hours. I get the bubbles and a small bit of foam at the top but nothing I'd call krausen. A day or two later I've got lots of yeast settled at the bottom and it smells like beer so I know something is working. Then I chill, pour off the extra liquid and pitch that into my wort after it's prepared. I always get early and active fermentation.

Now, to your other suggestion about flocculation. I've never spent much time thinking about it and honestly never understood it as clearly as I do after reading the article you linked. I've never checked to see if I hit the target rate but I'll try that on the next batch. My yeasts for the lagers have been 2112 California lager and I've been using 1098 British ale. I had a similar high FG for a kolsch using 2565. I think that finished at 1.018 but was supposed to be closer to 1.014.

Finally, regarding water it doesn't look like my supply has any chloramines but it is chlorinated. My water report is here: http://www.amwater.com/twq/lynbrook_twq.pdf. Are the reported levels significant enough to result in yeast health issues? I had been under the impression that chlorine levels in drinking water are generally low enough that they don't interfere with yeast but can cause flavor issues. I hadn't noticed any off putting flavors so I didn't think my levels really warranted any treatment. But maybe I'm ill informed.


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[Qbrewer]

Bump.

Have been reading other posts with similar issues but still trying to figure out some kind of plan of attack without needing to start investing in temperature controlled fermenters and oxygenation systems. It seems like lots of people are hitting FG without those things and we just had a baby so scratch is a little tight right now for my toys.

I wonder if part of the problem is that I'm using extracts? Are there generally more unfermentable sugars there than in a successful AG mash?


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[flars]

Bump.

Have been reading other posts with similar issues but still trying to figure out some kind of plan of attack without needing to start investing in temperature controlled fermenters and oxygenation systems. It seems like lots of people are hitting FG without those things and we just had a baby so scratch is a little tight right now for my toys.

I wonder if part of the problem is that I'm using extracts? Are there generally more unfermentable sugars there than in a successful AG mash?


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Brewing with extracts is not the cause of a high FG. A lot of people keep repeating the mantra that extracts always finish high because it's easy to say and they're stuck on believing all-grain is the only way to brew.

The first change in your brewing procedure would be the water. Chlorine will damage yeast cells and cause the yeast to perform poorly.

Other than that would need a recipe and your notes on one of the ales where fermentation finished with a FG that was to high.
recipe or link to it
estimated OG
boil procedure
yeast and production date of yeast, (or for White Labs the expiration date)
yeast starter recipe?
wort aeration method
fermentation temp of wort for first three days
time in primary
secondary?

Not asking for an essay just some rather cryptic notes.
There is a way to solve your problem without going high tech.

 

[rmyurick]

While it's true that not all extracts finish high, some do. Muntons is supposedly very fermentable. Laaglander is the opposite. You might try adding some yeast nutrient.

 

[rmyurick]

And I would either pre-boil your water or try using mineral water. You can probably find it somewhere for .69 a gallon or so.

 

[Denny]

While it's true that not all extracts finish high, some do. Muntons is supposedly very fermentable. Laaglander is the opposite. You might try adding some yeast nutrient.

Many extracts finish high and the darker the extract the more unfermentable it will be. That's not Ag snobbery, it's cold, hard facts. The way to get extract beers to finish lower is to sub sugar in for a bit of the extract. When I've designed extract kits for Northern brewer, I've used that technique to make some really great extract beers that had an FG comparable to the AG versions.

 

[m1batt1]

I see a lot of talk about high FG on extracts like many have pointed out. I'm inclined to believe its a matter of quality between extract kits from different sources. I say that because all I've ever done is extract kits and I get them all from my LHBS which they create themselves on site. So maybe they use better quality ingredients. I don't know but every kit I've ever made from them comes in exactly where its supposed to.

 

[Gameface]

Now, I don't just want to spout off anecdotal crap about extracts finishing high, but for me I had a number of experiences with extract batches finishing high. Switched to AG and no longer had that problem.

If you have a good source for your extracts and you're getting god results...hooray for you! If you don't or you're not... get a differen't source or...give AG* a try.

*I've always hated the term "all grain," especially when it's used to differentiate it'self from "partial mash." In my opinion there is brewing without doing a mash and brewing using a mash. If you're doing a mash at all then you're going through the entire process that the rest of us go through. /rant

 

[AerationStation]

Could be your scorching some of the extract during your partial boil. Those maillard products are going to be unfermentable, just like how your FG will increase with increased specialty grains (like crystal)