Md And High Fg

[debineko]

Hi All,

Just wondering how many extra hydrometer points malto-dextrin might account for?

Have added 250g MD to each of my last two extract brews to try and get rid of my stockpile of the stuff, and both worts have finished high, as in 1.018 and 1.020 (OG 1.060 Old Peculier/1.055 Red Ale) when I was expecting more like 1.012-14. The other ingredients were just the normal mix of specialty malts and liquid extract (amber).

Yeast for both was White Labs Irish Ale fermented at around 17-20C for 7 day before racking.

Tried pitching fresh yeast into the first one while in secondary but it didn't make any difference to the SG.

The second one is still in primary after 9 days, and the SG hasn't changed for 2 day, so I'm wondering if I should just rack and accept the high FG, or maybe forget racking and give the fermenter a shake to try and get things going again.

Any advice much appreciated.

 

[mwd]

Any of the K&K brews I have made with Coopers BE2 have come out at between 1.015 and 1.020 so I would say your results are quite normal. Old Peculier is quite a 'heavy' sweetish brew anyway so I would expect 1.020 to be roughly in the ballpark. Also depends how the attenuation of Irish Ale yeast is compared to others.

 

[buttersd70]

maltodextrin is generally considered pretty much unfermentable. The actual fermentability (apparantly) varies between 10-30%. So it will leave between 70% and 90% of its original contribution at the end. (more likely 90%). So 250g in 23L will add 4points....it will finish 2.8-3.6 (in the real world, 3-4 ) points higher than if the equivilant weight of dextrose had been used. So if you were expecting 1012-1014, 1016-1018 wouldn't surprise me.

 

[Swinging Beef]

I dont think Ive ever made a kit beer that finished below 1015.
Thats why I was so suprised when the first few AG brews I did dropped to 1005 in record time.

Having said that... I used to always have a problem with 'gyser' bottles if they hadnt been consumed in about two months, as well.

 

[floody_lager]

im about to bottle a coopers euro lager which i used BE2 in and it finished at 1016.
it worried me but it still tasted good when i tryed the sample

 

[flattop]

It's likely to be just the Maltodextrin as it will raise the SG but if you are concerned it may not be fully fermented out you could consider bottling in PET.

 

[floody_lager]

im gonna use the coopers pet bottles i got with the kit. i tried waking my yeast but still no change so i guess its done lol... i hope

 

[flattop]

I had one brew that i bottled too soon, i had to release the gas about 10 times from each bottle before i could open it without a fountain 6 meters high.
Ironically the brew itself tastes great (if i manage to get any in the glass).

 

[floody_lager]

lol well ill bottle on saturday which will be two weeks ferment. i guess i cant really do anymore than vent the bottles occasionally as i was told in another topic

 

[flattop]

Apparently chilling before venting helps although i didn't see much difference.
What worked for me was cracking them on the balcony, filling the glass with foam until it became beer......

 

[floody_lager]

haha lol...good thinking

 

[fergi]

looking back through my records i have done a morgans royal oak amber ale twice, both times used a brewcellar english ale yeast, both times sg was 1045 fg 1018, no problems with it, not sweet, not overcarbed, so it possibly is the english ale yeast just not finishing off the job,
cheers

fergi

 

[debineko]

Thanks for all your replies. You put a weary man's mind at rest.

Checked white labs website and attenuation for the Irish Ale yeast is 69-74%, so probably low-med.

Style-wise, an Old Peculier lookalike can probably handle a bit of residual sweetness if there does happen to be any.

Not so sure about the Red Ale though, but ended up racking at 1.020 and dry-hopping with a 15g teabag of amarillo that was lying around. Not to style I know, but I recently tasted a red ale that was dry-hopped with centennial and it was wonderful so why beat around the bush when you can make something that is, dare I say, a little boring into some a tad more interesting. And the extra hops might help mask any unwanted sweetness. It's all fun and games.

Thanks again and :beerbang: