FG question

[LimaLima113]

I've got an IPA going that seemed to ferment quite well, was moved into the secondary at about 12 days after it was born, and has been in the secondary for about 10 days now. The OG was 1.063, and the expected FG was 1.010-1.012. At this time the SG is 1.016. In attempt to hit the FG, I gave the batch a good swirl in the carboy to stir up a lil more yeast that settled out and I am gonna let it set for another 48-72 hrs. Should this be enough to hit the FG, or is it even something I need to worry about.

[Dubba_Brew]

That may help gain you a point or two, but odds are if it's been fermenting for that long already... you may not hit those exact numbers. You are kind of at the mercy of the extract that you're using. Some is more fermentable than others. What kind of yeast did you use? What temp did you ferment at? A cold ferment can cause a slow ferment.

If you are using a bunch of extract and you're looking to get a beer that's a little dryer, you can try steeping a pound of 2-row or 6-row in with your extract when you first add it to your water (before a boil). This might make your brew day a little longer, but the enzymes in the 2-row will help to break down some of the complex sugars in the extract.

Hope that helps.

Cheers.

[Push Eject]

1.063 -> 1.016 is 75% attenuation. You're done. Carbonate and drink it while those hops are still fresh.

Don't secondary next time.

[Sent From My iPhone]

[LimaLima113]

I steeped 1lb crystal malt and 8oz biscuit malt for 30 mins then added 10 lbs of unhopped LLME. My yeast was wyeast 1272 that was fresh from the LHBS and I fermented at 68-70F. I know I'm not that far from my anticipated FG, and overall it's looking like a very good brew! Im gonna let it set another 24 hrs just for good measure and then bottle it. BTW, when u spoke of attenuation, I'm assuming u are figuring up the OG-FG= change in SG, then dividing the change by the amount above 1.000 and coming up w/ a %? So if u have "eaten up" 75% of the available sugars, then that is an adequate attenuation? And about the secondary, I had a dry hop I added on day 12 as well and wanted to see if I could clear this one up compared to my last brew, which appears to have been a success! Many thanks for the tips!

[Bugeater]

Wyeast 1272 is one of my favorite yeasts. It doesn't ferment down quite as far as 1056 or wlp001 so it will leave your FG a bit higher. I do all grain so it is easy for me to compensate by lowering my mash temperature. 1.016 is not a bad finishing gravity, especially for an extract brew and that yeast. If your hopping is at a decent level (around 50-60 ibu) the hops will balance out that little bit of sweetness just fine. 75% attenuation is about as good as you will get with that yeast so you should be good in a couple of days.

Wayne

[BDawg]

Yes, you got it. That is called "apparent attenuation", because it "appears" to have eaten up 75% (in your case). Alcohol is less dense than water, so the real attenuation is less. Some beers go below 1.000, giving >100% apparent attenuation -- mostly swill like commercial American Light Lagers, particularly these new ultralow calorie "beers". It is very common for wine to end up less than 1.000.


HTH-