Mild FG Question. Am I too high?

[Peter80]

I have brewed my first Mild and the lallemand london ESB Yeast I used has finished up at 1018 (from 1036). What I am interested in is comments from the experienced Mild brewers out there if this high a FG will be too much for the beer or if I should

1. Attempt to pitch another yeast to get it down (likely US05 as that is what I have) or
2. Just leave it as who cares it is still beer (must admit I am leaning towards this one.

For the record I do not think that it is a stalled ferment as I have followed normal process (Rehydrate, O2) it is just a case of a high mash temp at 68 deg c and the lower attenuating yeast has left too much behind. Recipe is same as Mild in brewing classic styles.

Any help is appreciated.

 

[good4whatAlesU]

Hi Peter

How long has it been in the fermenter and what temperature are you fermenting at?

 

[Peter80]

Been a week. Started at 19 for 3 days then increased to 21. I use a temp controlled fridge. Very healthy fermentation for the first 2 days then just dropped off. I have tried getting it going again in case it was stuck but do not think it is from reading up on the yeast.

 

[manticle]

About what I aim for with milds - I deliberately mash high and short.

Depends on many factors though, as to whether you are where you need to be. Bottling or kegging?

 

[Danscraftbeer]

Finish it through and judge it for yourself. Take notes. Its a style I have not jumped at myself but your results are too heavy body that can seem like flat beer to drink. Depends though. Are you kegging? Or bottling? If your bottling I might give that a miss.
Other things being temps. Yeast health. Thermometers have disappointed me under testing too.

 

[Peter80]

Kegging so not concerned about bombs. Likely I will just keg at what it is now and try and refine the recipe with another batch. Chalk it up to experience. Shame as I have not had issues with under attenuation in a very long time since I fixed some consistency issues with temp,pitch rate and hydration.

Your comment manticle does give me some hope it will not be a dead loss.

 

[warra48]

Some of those British Ale yeasts are notorious for dropping out early.
If you're concerned, gently swirl your brew to rouse the yeast and it probably will drop some more.
The worst yeast for this is WY1968 in my experience, although I love what it brings to the beer.

 

[GalBrew]

Some of those British Ale yeasts are notorious for dropping out early.
If you're concerned, gently swirl your brew to rouse the yeast and it probably will drop some more.
The worst yeast for this is WY1968 in my experience, although I love what it brings to the beer.

Agreed, I also like to slowly ramp up the fermentation temp in order to prevent these yeasts from dropping out early.

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

Mine finish around and. 1.014 or so.

Last couple have been on WLP004, pretty decent, though a bit clean. But finishes the job quick and drops clear.

 

[MHB]

Whilst its not a highly attenuateive yeast, your 50% apparent is well under what the yeast is capable of. So I suspect that's all the fermentables you made. Mashing a bit cooler/more intensively will reduce the FG and up the alcohol.
Meh depends on what it tastes like - once its mature taste and adjust to suit.
Worth reading ESB.pdf
Mark

 

[raturay]

I have an English Bitter in the fermenter at the moment using 1049 West Yorkshire Ale yeast (second time using it). It always takes off very quickly and then really takes its time. I take a reading every morning using a refract so just have to take a small sample. A spreadsheet calculates the SG. Here's the daily readings so far:

OG 1.043 (target was 1.038)
Day 1 1.026
Day 2 1.013
Day 3 1.012
Day 4 1.011
Day 5 1.010
Day 6 1.010
Day 7 1.010
Day 8 1.009
Day 9 1.008 (target FG)

It's in a temp controlled fridge but with the door open as it was too cold with it closed and I don't have a heat source. The middle days were when it was quite cold and the fridge dropped down to around 16. It's warmed up a little now and is sitting nicely on 18/19. Regardless of the temp the progress does seem to reflect this type yeast. Goes like a freight train and then slows right down. I found with the first brew that leaving it alone and giving it a full two weeks or so it finishes off nicely. I'd like to be able to warm it up for a couple of days before cold crashing but might settle for just leaving it a bit longer for the yeast to do all it's cleaning up.

 

[Peter80]

For the record on this I decided to just keg it at 1.018. Only two days in the keg and still undercarbed but does taste nice. Nice light choc and roast flavor and nice mouth feel for a beer at about 2.7%.

Thanks for the comments and help.

 

[dammag]

I just brewed a Mild with the same yeast and ended up with the same FG as you, starting at 1038.

Kegged it a couple of days ago and it is drinking well.

This is my third time using the ESB yeast and I have had similar FG's each time, with varying OG's.

Mashed this one at 65C so should have been plenty fermentable.

Anyway the high FG seems to suit the beer so all is well in this case.

 

[Edd Mather 6]

Hi , have you considered rousing ; that is if the problem re occurs ? If you keep between say 18-20 °c , I'd say rouse @ +24 hrs from pitch, then every 12 until about 6°above racking gravity

 

[Peter80]

I did rouse the yeast but it did not go any further. Really, after reading up on the yeast and applying that to my mash temp / grain bill I think that it really is as MHB said and that was all the fermentables there was in the wort.

For the record the beer turned out very well and one of the better beers I have made. I will try and make a lower FG mild as I develop the beer but it will have to be ridiculously better for me give a crap about a high FG in this style. I am also going to try this yeast again but will mash lower to see if that improves the attenuation.

 

[Edd Mather 6]

That's a big problem with yeasts, try Whitbread strain B ( make sure it's a top fermenter var) it's a beautiful little worker,
I can send you a 1949 Best Mild recipie; it's about 3.6% abv ( from Clarke's Brewery Stockport UK ) if you'd like? , cheers; edd

 

[RdeVjun]

As related in another thread here recently, with the Mild, my advice is not to fixate on typical bitter or ESB FG, rather it should finish much, much higher and that is completely normal. At least that's the case with the high- mashed (70C), lower- base malt & generous crystal (i.e. low in fermentables) Mild styling. That's one way to reliably impart much body and avoid thin watery muck in this low-%abv table beer, at least AFAIK.
Don't want to be name-dropping but on AHB Smurto, Butters, MHB, Bribie and Manticle have been my inspiration/ sources in this approach, amongst others.

 

[Peter80]

Would be great to get that recipe Edd. Mild is a style that I will be keeping as a regular so I always have a low ABV beer available. It is also surprisingly a style that has been popular with people that come around and have homebrew for the first time.

Would love to have been brewing mild when I was using liquid yeast but due to location I am just running dried yeast for a bit until I sort out a few things out. Soon.......

 

[Edd Mather 6]

I'll be digging it out of the files , should be with you In a week or so, along with a light mild from Magee's from 1946 , cheers,
Edd

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

What Rdevjun said.

More spec malts and higher mash. I prefer a bit of RB or Black malt (plus some brown or amber malt) to balance out the extra crystal, as I prefer a mild with a slight dryness at the back of the palate but still want the extra body without excessive sweetness.

Done one on dried yeast and one on wet. Both very good 2.5% beers.