Brewing an all-grain IPA, OG was 1.052, pitched a big 2L starter made with 2 packages of WY1056 @68 degrees, airlock bubbling within 3 hours, fermentation done by day 4 and raised temp to 73 for 3 day diacetyl rest. Dropped back to 65 degrees, S.G. stable at 1.012 for 3 days. Added 4 oz. Cascades and started getting more bubbles; 2 days later S.G. is down to 1.011 and it’s still bubbling. I decided to raise the temp back up to 68 to combat the possibility of diacetyl formation (was too timid to go all the way back up to 73), and I’m still getting 1 bubble every 8 seconds out of the blowoff tube. Is this beer doomed to be over-attenuated and thin? 1.011 sample tasted okay as far as I could tell, but still obviously green and tough to sort out any subtle off-flavors. Any hints on ways to fix or prevent this in the future? Should I push temp back up to 73 and just let it sit there for a few days to try to prevent diacetyl flavors creeping in as the beer ages?
Everything will turn out great. Just let it continue fermenting at 68 F for as long as it wants, probably only one or two more days would be my guess, maybe three.
Next time, dry hop on day 3 or 4, that will cut the total fermentation time down by a few days. Embrace the hop creep and start it earlier basically.
The only thing I would have done differently is to rack to a clearing carboy before adding the dry hop. Maybe it’s just me, but it makes sense to get the beer off the yeast before adding the dry hops.
Thanks! Forgot to mention that I am fermenting in a conical, and dumped the trub prior to dry-hopping (so similar to racking to secondary I guess but not exactly the same). Appreciate the advice!
Jaimie
Getting rid of the yeast is not the best thing to do, in my opinion. There is negligible adverse effect to keeping the beer on the yeast. Fears about yeast autolysis are overblown and usually take several months to occur. Keeping the beer on the yeast ensures there are more live yeast cells available who are able to eat the diacetyl (if any) and reabsorb sulfur or other off-flavors (if any), besides more yeast to complete the fermentation of sugars to reach your final final gravity.
This. Raising temperature and also adding dry hops will cause bubbles to come out of solution and I wouldn’t be surprised if you got an extra point of attenuation at the warmer temperature after only a week or so. If it gets down below 1.010, maybe it’s hop creep
Probably right, but I would raise the temp back up to at least 73 anyway. If hop creep, it will help. If not hop creep, then it’s not finished, and higher temp will help. It’s too late to get off flavors from raising to 73.
Thanks Narvin! Would you expect 1 bubble every 8 seconds for a couple of days with C02 coming out of solution? Seems a bit more active than I’d expect.
Jaimie
Thanks! Other thoughts about what could cause this? Not too worried about an infection but would this be your alternative hypothesis? Appreciate any ideas…
Jaimie
It’s not much difference, I agree. I might be overconfident about accuracy since I use a narrow range bottling hydrometer. But I believe a standard hydrometer can pick up that difference, when strictly comparing two samples, given the same person reading it and the same beer being measured, and the person is skilled at taking the readings. But I’ll grant that it may be a stretch. If there’s been no change in gravity, my comment is totally irrelevant.
Well, you were right, it wasn’t hop creep. Still bubbling merrily along, S.G. is now 1.009 and it is full of little particles and gunk and tastes nothing like what it did a few days ago. The only question now is what the infecting organism is.
I am firmly in the camp of dry hopping during active fermentation. Opening the fermenter after fermentation is done introduces too much oxygen for hoppy beers, IME. Also you never notice hop creep.
Denny - I don’t mean to be argumentative, but I feel that I should share my experience with gravity samples. I take a sample 3 days before bottling day. Then on bottling day I take a sample. With the temperature correction, they are normally within .0003 or less of being the same. I do use a narrow range bottling hydrometer, so that helps with reading the hydrometer. But it gives me confidence that the sampling, handling, and degassing can be done repeatably. Eyesight is another story. I absolutely don’t trust my readings to be accurate to that degree, but I do trust them to be repeatable.