Oxygen/Starter for fermentation?

My last batch was a pale ale on 10/18/2014. OG 1.059. 4 packs Wyeast 1056 10/14/14, 4 liter starter on stirplate for 18hrs.
I thought this would drop the FG much lower than it is 1.018. not much different than the previous batches ive done.
Why??????????

When I say FG, I mean the gravity when I transferred to secondary after a week.

Maybe you racked too early. Next time around try letting it sit an extra week or two. This will let the yeast eat up the last few points you might be expecting the FG to drop to. It will also let them eat up some of their by products.

This is a never ending debate, but for me I tend to do only primary unless i am planning on long term aging or I want to rack on something like fruit or whatever. Then again I also brew every weekend and have a batch ready to go as soon as I kick my keg 


Oh! Also, what is your batch size? You may be over pitching!

What temperature did you ferment at and why did you pitch a 4 liter starter with 4 smack packs? That is somewhere around 400 billion cells before you even make the starter. If your OG was only 1.059, then 400 billion cells is super overkill.

Attenuation isn't about yeast population quantity so much as it is about gradually increasing the intensity of the fermentation using oxygen and temperature, allowing controlled growth and propagation to occur.