What should I do? -- final gravity question

[Bhamsteelerfan]

I am currently brewing a british IPA from extract. I used 8.8 pounds of pilsen malt extract along with some steeping grains (12 oz. crystal 60, 2 oz. roasted barley, and 2 oz. smoked malt) and used White Labs British Ale Yeast. I created a yeast starter about two days before brewing day. Action in the airlock was pretty vigorous for a week or so. Beer has been in the fermentation bucket for about 16 days now. I just checked took a hydrometer reading and was disappointed to discover it read 1.020. I can't figure out what I did wrong or what I can do at this point (I'm still a relative newbie -- have done about four brews so far).

I do have a pack of Safale s-04. I was wondering if I should pitch it in there to get the final gravity down. Thoughts? Advice?

 

[andhou27]

What was the OG?

 

[Bhamsteelerfan]

.078

 

[flars]

Was your starter sufficient according to one of the starter calculators?
What was the wort temperature during active fermentation?
What temperature is the wort now?

Take another SG reading in a week. More time in the primary may let the yeast finish their work and take the SG lower.

 

[andhou27]

From what it looks like your beer is finished. You have a ABV of 7.61% and an attenuation of 73%. White Labs lists WLP005 British Ale Yeast as having an attenuation of 67-74%, making your attenuation very good.

 

[Bhamsteelerfan]

Is the higher FG necessarily bad? The sample I had tasted pretty good, and I expect it will taste pretty darn good after some dry hopping and a few weeks of conditioning.

 

[eastoak]

Is the higher FG necessarily bad? The sample I had tasted pretty good, and I expect it will taste pretty darn good after some dry hopping and a few weeks of conditioning.

it's not bad. extract beer sometimes ends a bit higher than anticipated for reasons that someone smarter than me can explain.

 

[andhou27]

Is the higher FG necessarily bad? The sample I had tasted pretty good, and I expect it will taste pretty darn good after some dry hopping and a few weeks of conditioning.

Not necessarily, if it tastes good it IS good! I'm sure when it's fully aged and hopped it will be a darn good beer.

 

[Bhamsteelerfan]

It'll be even better if I can dry it out just a little bit. Of course, a British IPA is a little more on the maltier side.