FYI I tried repitching yeast, high alcohol yeast, waiting a month etc. Gravity stuck at 1.020. What finally worked was making a 1.09 gravity starter with 1056 yeast and letting it go to 1.020 then throwing it into the fermenter. Over a double batch of yeast. Gravity quickly dropped to 1.012.
I figure yeast got acclimated to high alcohol just like it would normally do with the proper dose of yeast…
Now, for the tasting notes! 
Sneezles61
It tasted just like dragon’s milk by new Belgian. This kit is supposed to be a clone of dragons milk so that’s good. Smooth and not boozy for a 12%. Best served at a warmer temperature.
Entered my first beer and wine competition in ambridge PA. I entered dragons silk with 2 other beers and it only got a 34-37 score. Got dinged for it being light and thin by two judges. Got similar comment on my hazy IPA. So I went back and looked at brew notes. Batch 5 of IPA had final gravity of 1.012. Batch 11 had final gravity of 1.004. I had been gradually changing my mash process by extending the mash times till I see no further increase in wort gravity. I had gradually increased mash time to 1.75 hours. I had also been sparging more and more for each batch then boiling the low gravity wort on stove to increase its gravity then adding it back to brewzilla for cooling at end of boil. I was getting higher yields but indeed my beers were getting thinner. So I have stopped extending the mash and stopped sparging to such low gravities and stove boil it to get gravity up. Most of the new process beers are still in fermentation but one wheat beer came out with FG of 1.02 with newest shortened mash process vs 1.012 with with the extended mashing process. So perhaps I am on right track. Will know more when I serve current brews at neighborhood Halloween party. All the beer from competition has been consumed at the competition by attendees and friends so can’t do side by side tastings 
I know long winded reply
Not long winded… good notes!
I’ll ask, what temp are you mashing at? Also, check your thermometer for accuracy. Maybe for fun on your next batch, mash at 155*F. Sure sounds as though you have your brewing process under control. I believe it’s good that peeps give an honest taste impression.
Be good to hear the tasting notes from Halloween party brews’ as well. I haven’t brewed this summer, too busy… but that’s gonna change very soon… keep your kettle busy!! (:
Sneezles61
I agree with the above mash temps are more important than mash time. you need consistently in temperature. As you know the lower the temp the dryer the beer. Dragons milk is a imperial stout correct ? .020 was probably good if mashed close to 160. NEIPA should be probably around .015 mash temp around .055. Anyway thats what I do
Mash at 152. I have a digital thermometer which reads spot on in boiling RO water. I check the mash temperatures several times during mashing with this thermometer. The brewzilla controller is not a PID controller just on off with 2 degree dead band. So temperature fluctuates between 149 and 152 with limited overshoots because I run mash at 2000 watts not max of 3500 watts. There is 21.5 lbs of grain and for this I mash with 8 gallons of water and use a pound of rice hulls. This gives me a soupier easy to stir mash and I run the recirculation pump full speed through a hop spider located away from inlet. The combination of high circulation rate and stirring makes for a more uniform temperature throughout bed. I don’t use the brewzilla sleeve but rather brew in bag. This way I only have 1 gallon of water below the false bottom rather than 3 gallons of water below the bottom of the sleeve.
If unsuccessful with getting the unfermentable sugars higher to where they should be, I will try a higher mash temperature as you suggest. Thank for help.
The 1.02 FG was for a wheat beer with a OG of 1.054. This is higher than I expected for a lower gravity beer but it did not change over last several days of 16 day fermentation. Fermentation temperature controlled with 1 degree dead band. Set Point 65 F at start of fermentation 70F nearer end. Double dose of 1056 and it was bubbling when stirred at 17 h and bubbling on own at 21 h. I fruited it and added lactose at end of boil and used a catalyst during fermentation to avoid the vdk reacting to diacetyl. I am running short of days before it has to be ready so I accelerated fermentation slightly. Trying to make a fruity sweet beer for the ladies so I am not overly concerned at what may be somewhat higher FG. Not bottling just kegging.
Yes dragons milk is an imperial stout OG 1.092. After 11 days its still bubbling away near end of active fermentation at 70 F setpoint. Started out at 62F setpoint but it still blew off for a couple days.
I get what you are saying about mash temp and agree. I think you meant to say NE IPA FG 1.015 when mashed at 155F. Thanks for comments and suggestions.
Yes .055 would be to cold😂
Update-I have been struggling with increasing the final gravity of my IPAs since September of 2023. I increased my mash temp to 158 and still got 1.004 to 1.006 final gravity.
I brew a lot of IPA’s and reuse my helio gazer yeast. I reuse it so much that it was reused too many times to count…well over 7 times for sure. So I bought new helio gazer yeast, put it in sterile mason jar, let it settle, measured the yeast volume did my usual 3 liter starter to roughly triple the yeast volume then pitched the new yeast using the same beer recipe (only changed the hops a little). Grain bill same mash temp 158 same boil same only change was the new yeast. The final gravity went up to 1.02 with new yeast vs 1.004 to 1.006 for batches with the old yeast.
It looks like the yeast mutated into a yeast that has a much higher attenuation. I will confirm this with the next batch where I will make 6.5 gallon batch same IPA and break out 1 gallon for fermentation with old yeast in 1.5 gallon fermenter and 5.5 gallons with new yeast in 6.5 gallon fermenter to test the hypothesis. Will also have data for a reused too many times wyeast 1214 vs new 1214 yeast on a two dubbel brews.
Anyone else have similar experience with reusing yeast too many times and making a higher attenuation yeast? The beers did not taste funky like contaminated yeast ie lacto just lacked the body due to lower final gravity.
I used to repitch yeast many times and I did notice exactly what you did about higher attenuation which actually makes sense. The yeast your collecting is the cream of the crop or the strongest sugar eaters. I’ll pitch lagers to a yeast cake a few times but rarely ales. Many beers I don’t want to finish low. I suppose brewers that are obsessed with low final gravity would be pleased. Most stuff I make I’m looking for a higher FG
thanks for your insight. Good to hear that you observed same. I guess commercial brewers can keep reusing the yeast cause they take healthy yeast from one fermenter and put it into fresh wort right away. Whereas when I reuse the yeast, I do a big starter with virgin yeast, use part of it and let the remaining yeast sit in frig for a couple months. Then I do another starter with it before reusing it again. So only the strongest yeast survives each cycle and thus it mutates. I guess strong yeasts attenuate higher??? That’s my theory and I’m a sticking to it:)
….And then there is the whole diastaticus yeast thing. Apparently, diastaticus negative yeast don’t mutate into diastaticus positive, (although that sounds like a slippery slope ….mutation can do just about anything )however, cross-contamination, especially with repeated yeast usage could occur even with your best intentions.
Wyeast Lab Report: Understanding Diastaticus - Wyeast Lab.
That’s one of the reasons i don’t save yeast to many variables. I try to control as much as I can. Yeast is available in almost any strain. Gone are the days of building yeast from bottle dregs
That was a long time ago and I never had much luck with it. Such good dry yeast now that it’s not worth the effort.
