Saflager S-23 Final Gravity

[falcon250]

G'day All,

Have an Aussie style Lager fermenting for about 17 days now original gravity was 1042 over the last few days have been testing gravity and it won't go lower than 1016, re hydrated 1pkt saflager s23 was this enough yeast?

Any help is greatly appreciated!.

Cheers and beers,

Tone.

 

[donburke]

G'day All,

Have an Aussie style Lager fermenting for about 17 days now original gravity was 1042 over the last few days have been testing gravity and it won't go lower than 1016, re hydrated 1pkt saflager s23 was this enough yeast?

Any help is greatly appreciated!.

Cheers and beers,

Tone.

to more accurately answer your question we need to know the recipe, volume of wort, mash temp, pitching temp and ferment temp

but

generally 1 pack will be enough for a batch, or 2 packs if pitching cold

 

[scmgre]

i have found that it can take three weeks to get to my fg with S23 in my brew fridge at 13 degrees. I do make a starter normally and pitch at around 26 degrees. this is when i pitch into 22 litres of wort.

 

[MHB]

Have a read of the following method for rehydrating Saf-Lager, compare it to what you did with your yeast, in the attached PDF are the specific recommendations for the amount to use and a whole bunch more information useful to anyone using this yeast. View attachment 56590
You will be in a better position to know than will I, but I suspect one packet really wasnt enough!
Mark
View attachment 56591

Edit
If you arent familiar with the term hl it means Hector Litres or 100 Litres

 

[Nick JD]

If you aren’t familiar with the term hl it means Hector Litres or 100 Litres

A hectoliter is also 100L.

EDIT: Hector's jug for filling his tun is slightly smaller than a liter. If you use Hector's liters you'll end up with more bubbles in your airlock.

yotta-
zetta-
exa-
peta-
tera-
giga-
mega-
kilo-
hecto-
deca-
deci-
centi-
milli-
micro-
nano-
pico-
femto-
atto-
zepto-
yocto-

 

[falcon250]

to more accurately answer your question we need to know the recipe, volume of wort, mash temp, pitching temp and ferment temp

but

generally 1 pack will be enough for a batch, or 2 packs if pitching cold

G'day Don,

Recipe consisted of 5kg JW export pils malt, 250g Dark Munich, mash temps 60 mins @69 c, 10 mins @ 76 c. Boil time 90 mins, vol of wort 23l, ferment temp 12 c.
Just following the beersmith instructions as I am still finding my feet in the mash world (But thoroughly enjoying it!).

For some reason I never hit the correct gravity as per beersmith's predictions, it's always 4 or 6 points out, what am I doing wrong?

 

[donburke]

G'day Don,

Recipe consisted of 5kg JW export pils malt, 250g Dark Munich, mash temps 60 mins @69 c, 10 mins @ 76 c. Boil time 90 mins, vol of wort 23l, ferment temp 12 c.
Just following the beersmith instructions as I am still finding my feet in the mash world (But thoroughly enjoying it!).

For some reason I never hit the correct gravity as per beersmith's predictions, it's always 4 or 6 points out, what am I doing wrong?

mashing at 69 is the reason for your high fg

the enzyme beta amylase is responsible for your fermentable sugars and its ideal temp range is in the low 60's

have a read of this, it will help you understand that you have created a wort with lots of dextrins (by mashing at around 70 degrees)

http://www.byo.com/stories/techniques/arti...of-step-mashing

 

[philski]

mashing at 69 is the reason for your high fg

the enzyme beta amylase is responsible for your fermentable sugars and its ideal temp range is in the low 60's

have a read of this, it will help you understand that you have created a wort with lots of dextrins (by mashing at around 70 degrees)

http://www.byo.com/stories/techniques/arti...of-step-mashing

I agree completely. You are ending up with too many non-fermentable sugars. 69 is quite high. Mash at 64-66 and see the difference. It's hard when you are only doing a single infusion mash as you can't easily increase the temp for mash out (unless you add more hot water or have a HERMS/RIMS).

Also, if you mash at a higher temp you get a more 'full bodied' beer due to the presence of unfermentables whereas lower temps will produce a 'lighter' body.

You can change this in beersmith, under mash profiles. When you change the mash temp note that the alcohol % will change, as will the expected FG. As you drop the temp the expected FG will get lower (and the alcohol % higher) and as you increase the mash temp the expected FG will get higher. Or just try changing the profile from say 'single infusion full body' to 'single infusion light body' this will change the temp from 69 to 64.

Note this assumes you are doing a single infusion mash - eg. one set temp in an esky or other suitable vessel. If you are doing it this way, I would recommend trying a mash at 64-66 then at the end of the mash, do a 'mash out' where you raise the temp by adding boiling water such that the temp reaches around the 72-76 mark and hold for 10-15min this will drastically increase your efficiency. This is also shown in the Beersmith mash profiles.

 

[falcon250]

I agree completely. You are ending up with too many non-fermentable sugars. 69 is quite high. Mash at 64-66 and see the difference. It's hard when you are only doing a single infusion mash as you can't easily increase the temp for mash out (unless you add more hot water or have a HERMS/RIMS).

Also, if you mash at a higher temp you get a more 'full bodied' beer due to the presence of unfermentables whereas lower temps will produce a 'lighter' body.

You can change this in beersmith, under mash profiles. When you change the mash temp note that the alcohol % will change, as will the expected FG. As you drop the temp the expected FG will get lower (and the alcohol % higher) and as you increase the mash temp the expected FG will get higher. Or just try changing the profile from say 'single infusion full body' to 'single infusion light body' this will change the temp from 69 to 64.

Note this assumes you are doing a single infusion mash - eg. one set temp in an esky or other suitable vessel. If you are doing it this way, I would recommend trying a mash at 64-66 then at the end of the mash, do a 'mash out' where you raise the temp by adding boiling water such that the temp reaches around the 72-76 mark and hold for 10-15min this will drastically increase your efficiency. This is also shown in the Beersmith mash profiles.

It all makes sense now, thanks everyone for your answers I have only done about 5 mash brews so far and had a few good results and some bad ones. Could I add some light dry malt extract to bring up the alcohol content a bit? as it sits my finished beer will be about 4.1%.

 

[philski]

It all makes sense now, thanks everyone for your answers I have only done about 5 mash brews so far and had a few good results and some bad ones. Could I add some light dry malt extract to bring up the alcohol content a bit? as it sits my finished beer will be about 4.1%.

maybe, but the yeast may be dead or dormant by now.... 17 days may be a little long.

I would probably leave it. You will still have those unfermentables in there so it won't change the flavour or body too much by adding extra extract. I guess the risk is that you add the extract and the yeast is mostly dormant and you can't reactivate it, which will leave a sweet beer.

If you do give it a try you will need to agitate it, and get some aeration in there and give it a go. You can work out how much you need using beersmith. Probably 500g or so. Boil it up, let it cool then throw it in.