High FG

[Afterlab]

The porter recipe called for 153 and the blonde 152. I don't have good notes on the temperature dance I did with each to get close to those temps.

Whenever you've honed in on an area you think could improve on, start taking detailed notes otherwise you are likely to repeat the same mistakes.

Here are a few things to check or consider. Some relate to your mash temp dance and others are attenuation.

1. If you're using brewing software, make sure you have probably calibrated your brewing equipment to the equipment and mash profile you are using in the software. Mashtun size, mashtun deadspace, mashtun material (plastic, stainless, etc...). These all need to be accurate.

2a. If you find yourself missing the mash temp on the low side, preheat your mash tun with 1-2 gallons of boiling water prior to adding your strike water and grains. That way you don't lose heat when you add your strike water and grain.

2b. Heat your strike water a few degrees higher than you need to and fill your mash tun with it. Don't begin mashing until the water has dropped down to your targeted strike temp. This is another way of "preheating" the tun.

2c. If you find yourself missing the mash temp, adjust your strike water temp up or down few degrees to compensate for thermal variance.

2c. I feel it's easier to correct if you land a few degrees above your mash temp as opposed to lower. If you're too high, take the lid off the mashtun and stir continuously to let the heat escape until your correct temp has been reached.

3. Consider the weather or temperature of your surroundings when you're mashing. If you're mashing in 90°F temps outside, adjust your starting grain temp to be 90°F. If it's 50°F adjust it to be 50°F.

4. If you're using Rice Hulls to ensure smooth sparging, make sure to factor those in your recipe because they will absorb heat and liquid just like grains.

5. If you miss your mash temps, don't add a ton of crazy hot and cold water additions of varying temperatures to correct it because those additions will certainly not be repeatable the next time you brew. Make one or two additions if you have to and next time you will have a better idea of how to adjust your temps next time.

6. If you do mash lower than you currently are, make sure you mash longer to get full starch conversion. The lower the temp the longer it takes.

7. Use yeast nutrient in both your yeast starter and in the boil.

8. Aerate prior to pitching the yeast and aerate 12-18 hours after pitching your yeast.

9. Choose a yeast that attenuates more

10. Conduct a forced ferment test and that will give you a better idea if you need to change things on the fermentation side or the mashing side.

[brewinhard]

When you say that your beers don't attenuate enough, what type of final gravities are you observing with each of your recipes? I would not be surprised if your thermometer used to measure your mash temp is not accurate. That usually is the problem. What type of thermometer do you use for this and when/how was it last calibrated properly?

[JoeBeer100]

Are you like 0.002 off or are you like 0.020 off? That can be a big clue on what is really the issue.

I think this last batch was my 6th time.

The fact that you don't even know how many all grain batches you've done indicates you aren't taking any sort of notes. Brew about 30 more batches and you'll figure it out.

[GloridazeBrewing]

Wow. That's a lot of great feedback. Afterlab thanks for all that detail. Let me try to answer some of the questions.

The fact that you don't even know how many all grain batches you've done indicates you aren't taking any sort of notes. Brew about 30 more batches and you'll figure it out.

The number is actually 5. I didn't have my log in front of me when I wrote the post. Admittedly, I'm new at this. I've been brewing for about 3 and a half years now. Made the move to all grain a little over a year ago. Having small kids keeps me from brewing more than once a season.

When you say that your beers don't attenuate enough, what type of final gravities are you observing with each of your recipes?

Here are the BeerSmith Estimates and my actuals:
Porter (Wyeast 1968) Est. OG: 1.054 Act. OG: 1.053, Est. FG 1.014 Act. FG. to 1.021
"Blonde" (Wyeast 2112) Est. OG: 1.058 Act. OG: 1.064, Est. FG 1.018 Act. FG. to 1.017
Maybe it's two different issues, the Porter being process related, and the Blonde recipe related since I hit what Beersmith told me on the Blonde.

What type of thermometer do you use for this and when/how was it last calibrated properly?

http://www.williamsbrewing.com/COOLVIEW ... P3102.aspx
I calibrated it over a year ago.

[mordantly]

when calibration is in question... there is a reason tools in manufacturing require recalibration at either 6 or 12mos depending on usage. you should test thermometers and refractometers at least every 3 months to verify no drift has occurred. my digital thermo has drifted a quarter to half degree in ice slush.

[JoeBeer100]

The number is actually 5. I didn't have my log in front of me when I wrote the post. Admittedly, I'm new at this. I've been brewing for about 3 and a half years now. Made the move to all grain a little over a year ago. Having small kids keeps me from brewing more than once a season.

Here are the BeerSmith Estimates and my actuals:
Porter (Wyeast 1968) Est. OG: 1.054 Act. OG: 1.053, Est. FG 1.014 Act. FG. to 1.021
"Blonde" (Wyeast 2112) Est. OG: 1.058 Act. OG: 1.064, Est. FG 1.018 Act. FG. to 1.017
Maybe it's two different issues, the Porter being process related, and the Blonde recipe related since I hit what Beersmith told me on the Blonde.

Sorry my response was rude. I know what it's like to have the little ones around trying to brew. It can be hard to hit those numbers, but I wouldn't worry about the FG you hit on the Blonde. The porter may be related more to your fermentation.

As for hitting the OG and FG, I'd suggest listening to the Session from 5/9/10 called Beer Numbers. Great advice on that one, and now that you've got some batches under your belt, you will easily understand what they're talking about.

[Dirk McLargeHuge]

Here are the BeerSmith Estimates and my actuals:
Porter (Wyeast 1968) Est. OG: 1.054 Act. OG: 1.053, Est. FG 1.014 Act. FG. to 1.021
"Blonde" (Wyeast 2112) Est. OG: 1.058 Act. OG: 1.064, Est. FG 1.018 Act. FG. to 1.017
Maybe it's two different issues, the Porter being process related, and the Blonde recipe related since I hit what Beersmith told me on the Blonde.

In general, I don't lose any sleep over missing my FG withing 5-9 thousandths of a point. RDWAIHAHB. Your blonde is fine. Your porter will be okay, too.

Back in the Can You Brew It? days JZ did a clone of Moose Drool, I believe. If I remember correctly, he missed is OG and FG by a hundreth of a point, and they called it cloned. Since then I only worry if I'm more than a couple hundreths away from my numbers.

[Ozwald]

My $0.02 is to brew the same thing at least 3 times in a row & take notes on everything. Unless something is completely off (mashing a blonde @ 156, for example) don't change anything. See what kind of consistency you can get & then start tweaking 1 thing at a time. There's dozens of reasons for a high FG, one being poor attenuation & there's dozens of reasons for poor attenuation. It's kind of like learning to play darts. When you first start throwing them, it's not where on the board they land, it's the grouping. If you can tighten the grouping, it's much easier to move that group around to where you want it. Other than that, there's too many variables & possibilities for me to give you any proper advice. Besides calibrate your measuring equipment more often. I even think 3 months is too long. You can buy a lab grade thermometer on Amazon (using the BN link, of course) for very cheap. Every 2nd or 3rd batch I'll test them at room temp & somewhere in the neighborhood of mash temps. If I was only brewing once a season, I'd calibrate them every single brew without a doubt.