Residual unfermentable sugars in dry malt extract?

[guysmiley54]

How dry is dry when working with bakers yeast? I have Odin's Cornflake whiskey fermenting (Day 5) and cO2 production seems to have stopped. SG is 1010. When fermenting beer using the same extract, I found it to finish very high compared to using all grain. Is it possible that it won't go any lower than this?

I used 1kg of dark dry malt extract and 1/2 cup of bakers yeast in a 3L 1040 dme stirplate starter. OG for the wash was 1080. Thanks in advance for any help.

Keen to do a stripping run today

[John Barleycorn]

When fermenting beer using the same extract, I found it to finish very high compared to using all grain.

This hasn't been my experience ... but not all extracts are created equal.

This might help: http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter3-5.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" rel="nofollow

[bellybuster]

"I used 1kg of dark dry malt extract and 1/2 cup of bakers yeast in a 3L 1040 dme stir plate starter"

does that mean you put a full kg in 3 litres?

that's 1.127 for your starter. Thats some huge numbers, I make my starters 1.030. SG that high will stress your yeast right from the get go.

[guysmiley54]

gee I didn't write that well at all!! Sorry...

1kg of dry extract in 23L of wort. 300gm of which went into a 3 litre (approx 1.040 SG) starter which I then pitched 1/2 cup of bakers yeast into

[guysmiley54]

Thanks for the link. I have the book but didn't think to read it for some reason

It looks like the darker the extract the higher the expected finishing gravity will be. I brewed this recipe with US-05 recently and it finished at 1.010 after 3.5 weeks in a temperature controlled environment with a healthy pitching rate... It is well possible that the dark extract at my local store doesn't really go all that low...

[John Barleycorn]

It's time to stop watching TV and start reading that book! It's a treasure trove of info.

I haven't used US-05 yet for anything ... but based on the spec sheet and BrewTarget, 1.010 sounds like you're right on target. If you're determined to get closer to 1.000 you might want to take a look at how the beer folks make their lite American lagers ... those usually have a pretty low FG. But it's probably not worth the effort.

[guysmiley54]

Oh I've read the book... cover to cover! I just didn't think to reference it in relation to the extract I've been using. I'm not too interested in using enzymes etc to increase alcohol production, just curious to check what to expect from bakers yeast with my current wort.

I think there is another element at play too... This is my 2nd generation and first attempt at fermenting with 20% dunder in the wash. Any dextrines that weren't converted in the first wash will be concentrated in the second wash. Something to consider I reckon.

I ran the wash today but in hindsight I think next batch I will rack and let settle to clear the wash from its lees. There is a distinct yeasty taste to the distillate from the stripping run. This cornflake recipe seems to have tonnes of potential but it is a messy recipe to work with! The trub is quite excessive, even after running through a colander to remove the flakes.

With a bit of practice, I think I'll find the best method of dealing with the wash in a quick clean way, otherwise the benefit using a cereal like cornflakes for an "easy" sugar wash is really negated by all the cleaning up of the wort/wash in later steps!