Beer Forum

Hey guys, I'm new to the game and I have a question about getting my FG down 2 points. I'm planing to do the cybi gordon extract option next week. I will be using wlp001 cal ale. I believe the most I will get out of that yeast is 80% attenuation. Is there anything I need to do to ensure that I get 80% and is there some way to get those elusive 2 points.
8 batches down thousands to go.

Teachme wrote:Hey guys, I'm new to the game and I have a question about getting my FG down 2 points. I'm planing to do the cybi gordon extract option next week. I will be using wlp001 cal ale. I believe the most I will get out of that yeast is 80% attenuation. Is there anything I need to do to ensure that I get 80% and is there some way to get those elusive 2 points.
8 batches down thousands to go.

Pitch enough healthy yeast and be sure there is sufficient nutrient. Also you can mash a bit lower promoting a more fermentable wort.

Honestly, if you fall 2 points shy.... who cares?

If you are concerned with fermentability due to your extract, sub out some of it for table sugar. Add .5 lb of cane sugar to your recipe and subtract extract until you return to your original gravity for the recipe. And like the others have said, healthy proper yeast pitch, and yeast nutrient and you will be good.

Mills

Are you saying your going to use extract? If you are worried about the fermentability of the extract, you could replace an amount of liquid extract with table sugar (like 0.5 pounds). The sugar is 100% fermentable and will reduce the final gravity.

You could also add some Beano to the water/extract mixture, hold at 150°F for 15-30 minutes, then start your boil.

Both options would require prior knowledge of a particular brand of extract.

The yeast will do 80% though given the right wort fermentability.

Just for the record, getting 2% more attenuation (ADF) doesn't mean lowering your FG by two points unless it is a 1.100 beer.

Sub in some sugar (up to a pound or so) for the extract as mentioned above, and RDWHAHB.

Thanks guys. I had heard of using sugar but I didn't know how much to sub. That answers my question.
Oh yea I went back and did the math its 1% you were right. All hail the brew gods. Show me your mercy.

I wouldn't assume you're going to get poor attenuation just because it's extract. Sub out the base malt for the lightest extract you can get, eliminate a little of the light crystal malt (all extract has some crystal in it), and pitch a big healthy yeast starter, or go dry and use two rehydrated packets of US-05.

The big problem I see here is that you are trying to solve a problem when you don't even know if you have a problem. The 80% attenuation figure is based on a nearly perfect wort under laboratory conditions. At home every wort is a little different. You may get a little better or a little worse attenuation.

The fermentability of your extract is the big unknown here. Some extracts like Laaglander and John Bull have a lot of unfermentable sugars in them. While they are good extracts, they were designed for recipes that have a bunch of sugar (100% fermentable) added as fermentables. If used without sugar, the final gravity will be higher than you want. At the other extreme are extracts like United Canadian that are extremely fermentable and don't need the sugar addition.

Until you actually brew a beer with a particular brand of extract, you don't really know what the final gravity will be. If you are using a published recipe, you will get in the ball park and then you can figure adjustments from there. If your final gravity is too high, cut back on the crystal malts a bit or replace some of the malt with table sugar. If you are doing a partial mash, lower the mash temperature to the 148° to 150° range.

If your final gravity is too low (unlikely in an extract brew), just increase the crystal malts a bit.

Just go ahead and brew the beer according to the recipe you have and take notes on what you did. If it tastes perfect, there is no problem. If it doesn't taste right, then we can figure out what needs to be done.

In short, don't try to fix it if you don't know it's broke.

Wayne