Need some help with fixing dryness

So I don't think this could explain such a low final gravity, but Mike Tonsmeire recently discussed "hop creep," which apparently occurs with certain types of hops because they contribute enzymes to the beer:

One topic that has seemingly garnered more discussion among commercial brewers than homebrewers is "hop creep." Certain hop varieties (e.g., Mosaic) contribute enzymes that free fermentable sugars. This can cause problems. If most of the yeast has already been crashed out, the few remaining cells can resume an unhealthy fermentation, often leaving diacetyl. When I was in California several brewers dialing in their NEIPAs mentioned 58F as the "magic" temperature for dry hopping; warm enough for good extraction but cool enough to inhibit the yeast. I wonder if some of these unfermented simpler-sugars contribute to the perceived sweet "juiciness" of the finished beer? In this case the gravity dropped of the half with Mosaic/Belma dropped to 1.018 in the keg while the Citra/Galaxy keg was stable at 1.020. The result was a couple foamy pours until I vented the head-space sacrificing a portion of the aroma on the Mosaic/Belma.

Were you using Mosaic by any chance?

[edited for clarity]

 

Well, so, according to Tonsmeire the Mosaic hops can contribute enzymes that knock a couple of extra gravity points off your beer. But in his experience, quoted above, it pushed an NEIPA from 1.020 to 1.018. That's not the same magnitude as you experienced, because 1.007 would have also been a weirdly low gravity to reach for this beer (I would think). Still, I guess it's another factor that might have played a role.

Updated to add: I could be wrong about magnitude, Tonsmeire might have been on the low end. Here's a thread that discusses hop creep in somewhat larger magnitudes.

 

What exact yeast strain did you use?

 

I use shock, or 15% chlorine. Usually 2-3 oz per 7 gallons.

Stainless steel alluminum bottomed 8 gallon pot no pin holes or pitting.

Since using chlorine, no infections, easy cleaning

 

Fixing the problem would be to blend it with something that has not attenuated as much, trying to match hops and malt profile in every way. And then drink it fast just in case you have an infection problem. So you could brew 2x as much as you intended and drink it 2x as fast, or you could live with a highly attenuated beer, or you could dump it and rebrew. If you don't like the attenuated beer, I suggest dump it and rebrew. My 2 cents.

 

Btw, I still use trichloromelamine for my plastic fermenters, etc., but SS still gets Starsan. Cheers

 

A couple more studies, including one from waaay back, about the enzymatic power of dry hopping:
https://www.asbcnet.org/events/archives/2017ASBCMeeting/proceedings/Pages/35.aspx
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/j.2050-0416.1941.tb06070.x/epdf

ETA: Just realized the latter is quoted in the thread you posted.

 

That seems crazy low even for an infection. I assume you calibrated your instruments first? This is kind of blowing my mind.

 

You previously posted: "So i brewed a NE IPA 6 days ago."

This is the first time I have read of a potential infection 'working' this fast. I suppose it is possible but most folks report things like gushers after several weeks of bottle conditioning.

@JohnnyChicago, can Diastaticus 'work' this fast? Are there any other microorganisms that you can think of here?

Cheers!

 

Diastaticus is usually associated with slow refermentation, but that also can be because because it is so underrepresented compared to the pitched strain that it can’t really get to work until the pitch has run its course. If there is a sizable colony of diastaticus, I could see it happening.

I have personally seen beer fermented with diastaticus-positive yeast reach terminal gravity in under 48 hours. Very low too, I’m talking sub 1° Plato. I’d say bacterial contamination is unlikely as that usually takes a bit more time, but who knows?
I can’t undersell the vitality of this yeast. Testing done at a local lab ran into issues when months of data we’re compromised because they discovered the yeast was slowly eating the carbohydrates in the supposedly neutral microscope mounting slide medium.

It could also be contamination from a wine, cider, bread, etc. yeast, which are known to be serious attenuators. Proper sterilizing/replacing of all equipment is the best call.

 

By my reckoning we are now at day 9 post the day yeast was pitched. That is still an extremely short period of time for the effects of an infection to be noticed in my opinion.

Based upon the input provided by @JohnnyChicago in the above post I would only expect this sort of thing from an infection if the yeast you pitched was not the principle fermentation microorganism in this batch of beer. In other words, I would suggest that the only way this level of attenuation would have occurred in such a short timeframe would be if you had a massive infection (e.g., the yeast you pitched was seriously contaminated).

Something here is just not 'adding up' for me.

Cheers!

 

Or possibly WY-3711 or WLP-026...maybe anything approaching the 85% attenuation range?

 

I'd take a good look at my fermenter (bucket)...if you've been careful with it...no scratches or signs of abuse, I'd keep it, but go buy another along with tubing, etc. and start fresh, as those items are fairly inexpensive. Another option is using bleach/idophor after thoroughly cleaning/rinsing with pbw. Definitely throw the glass carboy away ...would not use boiling water on plastic/poly.
Good Luck