White Labs 644 attenuation

Only used it twice. Once from a 1.050 down to a 1.008 and the other from 1.053 down to 1.013. Both were mashed around 151/152 for reference and fermented at 68 for 3 days then raised 1 degree each day after until day 7. They were also done in less than 2 weeks. I'd say you could get down to that 1.019 (75%). Mine were both 75% or higher.

 

My one experience with 644: Mash @ 153 , OG-1.045/FG-1.008 for 82%AA in about 2 weeks, temp was 70-72 and used a two-step starter. I asked WL about 644 recently, their response:

The vials are intended for secondary fermentation, so if you want to use it for primary you should be okay with getting two vials. The recommended pitch temperature is different from the optimal temperature for the strain. The higher your fermentation temperatures the more esters and phenols you will get.

(They really said this) . . .

 

Not making a starter was (as usual) a mistake. Not making it in the case of this yeast is a bigger mistake, as WL does not package as much yeast in here as they do in normal vials. When asked, they explained that they intended this strain for a secondary pitch and that if I wanted to pitch as a primary strain, I should pitch multiple vials and make a starter.

Edit: the response I got from WL is similar to PortLargo's response from them. I asked directly how many cells they target per vial and they dodged the question.

 

I,ve ended up at 1.006 almost every time I've used this yeast with 152/153 F mash temps...Love this stuff by the way...brewing a Citra Pale tomorrow with it...

 

What are you doing for starters?

 

What they said above, you definitely underpitched. As far as where it will end up, that obviously depends on your grain bill. Making assumptions about a "standard" DIPA recipe, I would assume that your gravity will continue to drop at least a couple more points.

 

2 step starter 2 days to 1.5 Quarts...

 

I'm drinking NPC pale...Nelson Sauvin, Palisade, Calypso...on WLP644...and it would undrinkable without Trois...What a flowery mess...

 

I always get around 80% but you definitely need a good starter for this strain.