Caramelisation And Higher Fg Question

[mje1980]

I have an o'fest that seemed to get stuck at around 1025. I roused gently, but that did no good. While i was away for 7 days, i turned the temp controller up to around 17c, and now it is still up around 1018, which is higher than any brew i have ever made. I did have runoff problems when mashing, and so the first 10 litres or so boiled down for almost an hour in the kettle before the rest went in, and my recipe also contained 420g of melanoiden. My question is, will the caramelisation attribute to the high f.g ??. The beer was brewed on new years day, so its now been 25 odd days and its still only at 1018, from an og of 1050.

Any advice would be much appreciated, tah

 

[Ross]

MJE1980,

1018 is a touch high, but won't be out of place too much in an Oktoberfest - maybe mashed slightly hot? I wouldn't be worrying though...

 

[Trent]

I think that I have read somewhere that caramelisation may result in a higher FG, but I am not too sure where I read it, so dont quote me. I recently had a spate of brews that started around 1050 and finished around 1015-1016. None were caramelised, but I mashed around 67/68C so if ya mashed around that temp that could be yer problem (as ross suggested). I mashed my recent Russian Imperial Stout at 65, and I accidentally caramelised the first runnings too. Start grav 1104, finish grav approx 1024, and it had heaps of not very fermentable grains in it, so I would go with Ross and say maybe your mash temp was a touch high.
All the best
Tremt

 

[mje1980]

I did mash high ( 69), but i mash at this temp often, and always get down to at least 1012, so this is definately not usual for my brews. Anyway, it will be kegged, so i guess it wont really matter anyway. I did use some old slurry in the starter, maybe thats where i went wrong.

Cheers.