Ringwood Over Attenuation

[hazard]

I'm currently fermenting a Black Sheep clone, recipe courtesy of Dr Smurto. I brewed last Saturday, and was expecting an OG of 1052, actually got 1060! I added 2L of water to the fermenter (total vol 25L) and finished up with OG of 1057. I had previously put a smack pack of Ringwood yeast into a 1.5L starter and pitched same day. oh, and added 3 drops of olive oil to the starter when first made up and a drop or two more before pitching.

I roused the yeast thoroughly several times on Sunday as recommended by Bribie, and once on Monday, once on Tuesday. I've kept the wort at a (nearly) constant) 18 deg using a heat pad and a temp controller. Measured the FG tonight and its 1012. I was not expecting this with Ringwood, thought it would end up around 1017. Does this yeast normally ferment so hard?

 

[buttersd70]

Pitch hard, finish hard.
Shame aboujt the esters...

 

[///]

Ahh dont be scared, 'my precious' once took a barley wine from 1.120 to 1.010 in 3 days. The fermenter had such convection it rocked like a metronome. All at 18c.

Scotty

 

[felten]

On the topic of olive oil, I thought you only needed a 'toothpicks' worth dipped into the starter? or doesn't it really matter if you use more

 

[hazard]

Pitch hard, finish hard.
Shame aboujt the esters...

So tell me more about these esters - will I get more, or less? How many do I want?

And I didn't even use an airlock!

 

[buttersd70]

how many you want is a subjective thing.
Generaly speaking, lower ferment temps (and i mean lower in a relative sense) and higher pitch rates will limit ester production. Lower pitching rates (to the point of under pitching), and warmer temps (ie in the low 20's) push esters through the roof. So, it depends on what you're personally after. I wouldn't worry about it.