Question about adjuncts and OG/FG

[Kelvin]

The recipe I started with is:
½ lbs. Light DME
4 ½ lbs. Wheat DME
½ lbs. Flaked Wheat
½ lbs. Rolled Oats
½ oz. Hallertau hops
½ oz. Saaz Hops
Wyeast Belgian Strong Yeast

This was a 2.5 gallon batch btw.

Steeped Flaked wheat and oats at 155 degrees for 30 minutes. Added the DME and brought to boil. Added Hallertau hops at 60, and added Saaz hops at 5 mins.

My OG was 1.096. Started off really well and it now down to 1.032 and after this amount of time should really be done. My question is 1.032 seems a tad high. Can this be because of the non-sugars in the oats and wheat are raising the gravity? As it stands it should be at about 7.5% abv and that's decent for me. I really only added the adjuncts so it would have more body.

Does this FG seem about right if the only sugars were from the extracts? Or should I give it more time? It is in secondary right now. I just don't know enough about the sugars and other things in order to make a guess as to how low the gravity should get for this recipe.

OK, So I had 5 lbs. for 2.5 gallons so that would be... 2 lbs per gallon. Which would have given me 1.080 in extract alone. I'm under the impression that the oats and flaked wheat really would not have provided any sugar so the rest of the SG reading up to 1.096 would be non-fermentables. Am I correct in this? If so this means that theoretically my beer fermented to 1.016 (subtracting the non-fermentables that are still there and being read making it 1.032). I have no idea if I am correct but this is what I am assuming. Any brewers have comments to add about this? Am I correct? Am I kind of correct or just way off?

Thanks.

 

[snuesen]

Those are definitely fermentable. They are used for mouth feel, head retention etc., but they do contain sugars that are released when you steep them. Did you do a starter with your smack pack? how long did it take before you noticed the gravity dropping?

A high gravity like that will stall easily if you aren't pitching enough yeast. Do some research on how to achieve appropriate cell counts

Also a handy calculator here: www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html

Hope this helps!

 

[Kelvin]

Uh, I didn't really do any readings as it was going because it really started off hot and heavy. The yeast I used was second gen that I had cleaned and I used some of the wort as a starter. You think I should repitch some or give it some time?

 

[Kelvin]

Also, when I racked to secondary there was what appeared to me to be abnormal amount of lees or slurry whatever it was it was very thick.

 

[Kelvin]

Oh that calculator is nice... I'm assuming it was way under pitched. But don't they multiply in the early stages? I was under the impression the yeast would multiply as much as it could for the environment as long as it had the oxygen to do so.

 

[Kelvin]

Guess I'm heading to the brewshop tomorrow for some yeast. Might as well get some stuff for another batch as well : )

 

[snuesen]

I may have misread your post. If DME was added after grains were taken out then they are indeed not fermentable. Which would lend to your higher gravity. Does it taste super sweet? I guess the oat sweetness is not too cloying usually

I'm far from an expert myself perhaps more yeast would take it down to style

 

[snuesen]

Doing some research, and assuming those starches are still in your beer, maybe adding enzyme is the way to go before adding more yeast. Something like http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sour...noDgDw&usg=AFQjCNHfdfsch4MVEN6KtOT4PVYmFT80qg
Might do the job

 

[akueck]

Yeah, those oats and wheats were not converted to sugars at all. You'd need to mash them with sufficient amount of malted grains to get them to convert. I'd expect you'd have a bit of a starchy beer, and a high FG sounds about right.

If you add enzymes to break down the starch, be aware that they'll just keep on going unless you plan on doing some heat pasteurization. Beano is an option I've seen for driving down the FG to make "light" beers, but you might end up with a FG around 1.000 going that route.

 

[Kelvin]

Yeah that's exactly what I was thinking, Akueck. I confirmed it at the brew shop today. It seems it's probably finished and I wanted a heady, thicker beer so I think it's probably, good to go.

 

[akueck]

In the future, if you want to convert those starches you can mash with some pale malt. Most pale malts can handle about 20% adjuncts and get them to fully convert during your standard mash. So roughly 5 lbs of pale malt will take care of your 1 lb of oats and wheat. Of course, you can use less pale malt and then still have some of those starches left over.

 

[Kelvin]

Yeah, I added them only for body and head retention though. I'll have to wait until it's done finishing before I can tell if it is too thick or something.