Imperial Juice yeast low attenuation?

[knollybru]

So I just took a sample last night of my NE Pale to take a gravity reading. I was shocked to see that after 10 days the beer is sitting at 1.018. OG was 1.056. I was hoping for a little lower FG.

Has anybody else had problems with this yeast finishing or is it just a slow mover? I went ahead and moved the fermenter inside to a warmer room. My ferm chamber is not getting over 65F right now.

FWIW, I followed the directions on the package and pitched directly from package.

 

[chrisisnapping]

what was the recipe?

I've used juice a few times and it's had no problem taking 1.06x beers down to 1.01-.012 within 7 days of yeast pitch (it can very well have done it sooner, i just take a gravity reading on the 7th day as that's when I usually cold crash). This is generally with temperature controlled starting anywhere from 64-66* for the first few days.

 

[Beer-lord]

I've used Juice once and it attenuated fine but I always use a starter and overpitch and aerate well.
I fermented at 65-66 and then bumped it to 69 for a few days before crashing but it had already completed. Actually, it was a bit lower than I expected.

 

[knollybru]

Here is the grain bill:
62% 2 Row
20% Pils
16% Flaked Oats
2% Crystal 15

Nothing out of the ordinary. I typically always make starters but I was following the advice of the homebrew shop guy.

 

[chrisisnapping]

hmm odd. do you recall the date of packaging?

I've never made a starter with imperial yeast - though I do aerate. However, i found that some shops (looking at you morebeer) have shipped month+ old yeast, which can obviously hurt viability.

 

[knollybru]

I think it was under a month old. I do recall looking at the date and didn’t think it was too old to use.

 

[Crice]

I use juice quite often, it should have no problems getting it down to at least 1012 or 1014. Try warming it up to 68-70, that's where I typically finish off after a few days at 66.

 

[day_trippr]

Since September I've been splitting 10 gallon batches of neipas between 1318 and a38; I'm up to 5 different neipa-styled recipes split between those two yeast products, and have had two split batches on tap at the same time (four faucets tied up). Always run at 66°F wort temperature during fermentation, bio-hopped 24 hours from pitching, ramped to 68°F after 4 days, dry-hopped for another 4 days, then dropped to ~36°F for a couple of days before kegging.

Nobody can finger a character difference in either split batch.
I've been brewing for 15 years now, and gun to my head I'd swear these are the same strain...

Cheers!

 

[popquizkid]

I just used Juice for the first time in a Pale Ale. My attenuation was horrible. 1.054 OG / 1.021 FG. Hit it with 45 seconds of pure o2 at pitch. I used the same fermentation schedule that I use for 1318. 67 deg until after high krausen and ramp to 71. Keg 9-10 days after pitch. That is really poor attenuation. I usually get great attenuation with 1318.

I will say it tasted absolutely delicious so interested to see how this comes out after second dry hop and carbonation. Much less alcohol than expected obviously.

One thing I did different, since Imperial starts with 200 billion cells I opted for a 600ml "vitality" starter instead of a full size starter. That is looking like it was a poor decision.

 

[Comfort_Zone]

Unless you fermented it with juice and 1318 next to each other I'd guess you had a conversion issue. The one way to tell would be to throw some Chico in and see if it drops. If not, then you just reached the limit of your fermentables.

 

[Beenym88]

Has anyone ever had a crazy fast fermentation with juice? After about 36 hours I went from 1.065 to 1.016. I used a starter and pitched at 70 after it took of I dropped it to 68. That’s 74% attenuation which is good for that yeast just crazy fast. Any experiences with this out there? It’s my first time with the yeast I’ve always used dry yeast in the past.

 

[popquizkid]

Has anyone ever had a crazy fast fermentation with juice? After about 36 hours I went from 1.065 to 1.016. I used a starter and pitched at 70 after it took of I dropped it to 68. That’s 74% attenuation which is good for that yeast just crazy fast. Any experiences with this out there? It’s my first time with the yeast I’ve always used dry yeast in the past.

In my experience that is normally how this yeast behaves if you pitch a good size starter and oxygenate. Fast and furious.

 

[Beenym88]

In my experience that is normally how this yeast behaves if you pitch a good size starter and oxygenate. Fast and furious.

Thanks! Never used it before so I was kinda shocked.

 

[porterpounder]

What was you mash temp and is you thermometer calibrated? If you let it slide too high then all the attenuative yeast in the world won't take you to a lower FG.

 

[popquizkid]

Thanks! Never used it before so I was kinda shocked.

I ramp it up to 70-72 after this fast active fermentation and usually get more attenuation (at a much slower rate) over the next few days.