Brewing Master

Question:

As far as the malt bill goes, extracts can be more variable than grains. I’m not familiar with NB brand extract (nor could I find any similar listing in my Brewers Market Guide Malt Directory).  I’ve had plenty of good experiences with Munton’s DME.  I doubt the extract is the problem though.  As far as the laughter goes, the best way to learn about homebrewing (IMHO) is to dive in, develop your own recipies, try new techniques, and certainly invest in some good literature, especially ones with good troubleshooting sections.  The recipe isn’t bad at all for an extract English Pale (although I’d add hops at the 10 and 0 min to go in the boil and substitute the Hershbrucker for Fuggles or EK Goldings). One pound of crystal is about 6% of the malt bill, certainly not enough to raise the FG too much.  Also, the honey addition should bring the FG down. One thing to keep in mind, some extracts have non-malt sugars already added; adding more sugars (cane, corn, honey) may strain the yeasts leading to off flavors such as diacetyl (butter, butterscotch) and acetaldehyde (green apple). The yeast starter and fermentation signs are all positive.  According to Wyeast, 1335 is a decent attenuator (73-76%) so we can eliminate a low attenuating yeast.  Also, the fermentation temperature is well within the suggested range.  But, according to Wyeast, 1335 is a high flocculator (also shown by the thick, persistent foam).  High flocculating yeasts may take a bit more effort in periodic (daily) rousing to keep the yeast in the beer instead of the top or bottom of the fermenter (I have also noticed 1272 and 1762 to also want to stay at the top of the primary).  I have never used 1335 though.  Maybe someone in the group can give a bit more help here. Also, you did not mention how long you kept the beer in the primary.  I’d normally suggest a week, maybe two if the OG was a bit higher or if you’re using a lager yeast.  I’d suggest the checking the gravity after a week in the secondary (using a sanitized turkey baster or a thief-type system).  If the gravity is still decreasing, you just may need a longer secondary to achieve your target FG (1.015 ballpark).  If it has not changed, I would suggest adding a neutral dry yeast and a small amount of yeast nutrient. Good luck, Mike – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – 1)  what was your recipe, grain bill, extract brands, etc.            This is a homemade concoction and only my 3rd attempt at brewing so don’t laugh too hard at it.  Would appreciate any constructive criticism though.             6# Amber NB LME             1# Light   Mutons DME             1# Beestons medium crystal (55 levi)              1oz Nugget (13%)  55 min              1 oz Hersbrucker (2.1%) 20 min              1 oz Hersbrucker (2.1%) Dry Hop               .5 # Honey (10 min)               1 tsp Irish Moss (15 min) 2)  what type of yeast did you use and how much         Wyeast British Ale II (WY1335) in a 500 ml starter. 3)  what was your fermentation temperature             Wyeast temp is 62-75.  Highest the beer got was 72.  Average was between 68-70. 4)  what signs did you see during fermentation and when did you rack              Had good fermentation about 18hrs after pitching yeast. Good krausen.  Saw something new with this beer that puzzled me, after the krausen fell it left a thick (Guinness like) foam on top, which never did go away.   Hope this helps.  Look forward to comments and criticism.   Brew on,  Cory

Response:

Hi, you have used full malt worth, as a german and a follower of the "Reinheitsgebot": good on you. The "disadvantage" is it will finish with a much higher fg, I wouldn’t expect 1016, the optimum. The real advantage is you have a much tastier bier, all the "stuff", the higher sugars, which aren’t processed by the yeast, gives a much fuller taste. And a alcohol level of 4.5 is not to bad, it enhances the much better taste good enough. But: if you want a lower FG, or with other words a higher alcohol level, you can add enzymes, which brings it further down, so they say. I wouldn’t, because you spend good money on the malt to get taste out of it, if it is alcohol you are after, it is cheaper to add sugar (corn). Disclaimer: all with the assumption nothing ugly happened to the fermentation. and I’m not a very experienced home brewer. My second last lot started with 1050 and stopped at 1020, it is pretty rich in taste, maybe a bit to malty. I currently have a beer in the secondary that I would like to further lower the FG. The OG was 1.060 and when I transferred to secondary it was only down to 1.025.  Will it lower in the secondary.? Or should I add a yeast energizernutrient to it to lower it further? What other effects (if any) will this have on the final product?  As a general question, how much of the fermentation practice takes place in the secondary? I have noticed on all the batches that I have brewed that the active fermentation takes place in the primary, and not much happens when that quits. Is there a way you can predict the FG before brewing?

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Response:

1)  what was your recipe, grain bill, extract brands, etc.

           This is a homemade concoction and only my 3rd attempt at brewing so don’t laugh too hard at it.  Would appreciate any constructive criticism though.             6# Amber NB LME             1# Light   Mutons DME             1# Beestons medium crystal (55 levi)              1oz Nugget (13%)  55 min              1 oz Hersbrucker (2.1%) 20 min              1 oz Hersbrucker (2.1%) Dry Hop               .5 # Honey (10 min)               1 tsp Irish Moss (15 min) 2)  what type of yeast did you use and how much

        Wyeast British Ale II (WY1335) in a 500 ml starter. 3)  what was your fermentation temperature

            Wyeast temp is 62-75.  Highest the beer got was 72.  Average was between 68-70. 4)  what signs did you see during fermentation and when did you rack

             Had good fermentation about 18hrs after pitching yeast. Good krausen.  Saw something new with this beer that puzzled me, after the krausen fell it left a thick (Guinness like) foam on top, which never did go away.   Hope this helps.  Look forward to comments and criticism.   Brew on,  Cory

Response:

I currently have a beer in the secondary that I would like to further lower the FG. The OG was 1.060 and when I transferred to secondary it was only down to 1.025.  Will it lower in the secondary.? Or should I add a yeast energizernutrient to it to lower it further? What other effects (if any) will this have on the final product?  As a general question, how much of the fermentation practice takes place in the secondary? I have noticed on all the batches that I have brewed that the active fermentation takes place in the primary, and not much happens when that quits. Is there a way you can predict the FG before brewing?

Response:

If you want to ferment further down you can add champagne yeast or a belgian strain that will handle higher alcohol concentrations. or you could try gently rousing your yeast twice a day to re suspend it in hopes of it working a bit more.

Response:

Please give us more info so we can better answer your question: 1)  what was your recipe, grain bill, extract brands, etc. 2)  what type of yeast did you use and how much 3)  what was your fermentation temperature 4)  what signs did you see during fermentation and when did you rack The beer should be almost completely fermented before racking to the secondary.  Although, I have heard of some people racking early in the primary (after two days or so) but you must have a large pitch and very active fermentation to do so (I’d personally suggest against this). In the case of a stuck fermentation, I’d take a neutral dry yeast, hydrate and add some yeast nutrient and add to the primary.  The fermentation should pick up after a day.  Wait until activity ceases and rack to the secondary. Generally, you can "predict" the FG of your beer if you know the apparent attenuation (AA) of your yeast (from your yeast supplier).  Generally, the AA is in the 72-75% range, but can vary quite a bit especially for specialty strains.  The way to calculate your AA is to: take the last two didgits of your OG and multiply by (100 minus the AA) (divided by 100, of course) and put back in SG form:   for example with an average 1.050 beer and a 72% AA yeast, you may expect to get a FG in the range of 1.014. 50 * ((100-72)/100)) = 14   —- 1.014 But, there are quite a lot of factors that can play into the calculation. The major factors are: –  yeast health (size of pitch, FAN (free amino nitrogen) in the wort, yeast nutrients, oxygenation of cool wort) –  adjunct usage (higher adjuncts will result in higher AA but may adversly affect yeast health) –  grain bill and mash temperatures (higher use of crystal malts may result in lower AA, higher temperature sacc. rests will result in a less fermentable wort) –  malt extract usage may result in quite a variable AA.  Some extracts use a decent amount of adjuncts that may increase the AA potentially at the expense of flavor.  Some extracts, such as Carlson’s Laaglander, have a lot less fermentables than most extracts or grain mashes. Mike – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I currently have a beer in the secondary that I would like to further lower the FG. The OG was 1.060 and when I transferred to secondary it was only down to 1.025.  Will it lower in the secondary.? Or should I add a yeast energizernutrient to it to lower it further? What other effects (if any) will this have on the final product?  As a general question, how much of the fermentation practice takes place in the secondary? I have noticed on all the batches that I have brewed that the active fermentation takes place in the primary, and not much happens when that quits. Is there a way you can predict the FG before brewing?

Response: