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bastinsarabia · 01-21-2013, 06:26 PM

Total Noob here...seriously, it took me a long time to figure out what "RDWHAHB" stood for, but i have been having a little issue with my stuck fermentation. My OG was 1.050 which i took at 70 degrees. I used that BIAB method, and have let the beer ferment for two weeks. I used dry english ale yeast and due to living in southern california, the temperature range for fermentation was between 60-70. I checked it three days before the two weeks and the day i was planning on bottling, and the FG was stuck at 1.020 so i took the lid off, swirled the beer with a sanitized spoon, cleaned the bucket lid since it seemed to have condensation on it, put everything back on, and raised my temperature to 72 degrees. I also noticed that when i was checking the gravity, there were a lot of stuff floating around (yeast?) and also had a lot of stuff sink to the bottom. So, my two questions are:
1) How bad did i mess up?
and...
2) How long should i wait to bottle now?
Any advice would be awesome...

**GrogNerd** · 01-21-2013, 06:37 PM

1) you really have to TRY to ruin beer to actually ruin it, so RDW

2) I'd let it settle for a couple days to a week and in the meantime RDW

reading a lot about extract batches sticking at 1.020, but yours was all-grain BIAB?

the question is: when taking the sample for the gravity measurement, HOW DID IT TASTE?

as long as it didn't taste like feet or ass, I'd say you made beer

congrats and 3 weeks after bottling, HAHB and enjoy it

brycelarson · 01-21-2013, 06:44 PM

your final gravity is going to depend on a bunch of things.

What temp did you mash at? Did you include any extract?

Post your recipe and we can take a look.

A FG of 1020 doesn't necessarily mean anything is wrong with your beer. If the gravity stops at 1020 and stays there - then you might just be done with fermentation. If you get 1020 twice a couple of days apart you're ready to bottle.

brycelarson · 01-21-2013, 06:46 PM

your final gravity is going to depend on a bunch of things.

What temp did you mash at? Did you include any extract?

Post your recipe and we can take a look.

A FG of 1020 doesn't necessarily mean anything is wrong with your beer. If the gravity stops at 1020 and stays there - then you might just be done with fermentation. If you get 1020 twice a couple of days apart you're ready to bottle.

bastinsarabia · 01-21-2013, 06:50 PM

Well i raised the temp to 165 and stirred all the grains into the kettle. Turned the tank off and the temperature seemed to stay around 155. It was all grain, no extract. After an hour, i raised the temp up to 170 for about 8 minutes and carried on as normal for the rest of the process.

bastinsarabia · 01-21-2013, 06:52 PM

4.25 lbs 2-row
1 lbs white wheat
.5 lbs flaked oats
cascade 6.2aa 1 ounce 60 min
cascade 6.2aa .50 ounce 20 min
cascade 6.2aa .2 ounce 5 min

started the boil with 4.5 gallons. ended with 3.5. no sparge.

i did taste the beer while taking a reading, and it definitely did not taste like feet or ass. Tasted like a wheat beer. super cloudy. i can see all the yeast floating. should i attach a mesh bag to the end of the siphon?

**GrogNerd** · 01-21-2013, 07:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bastinsarabia

4.25 lbs 2-row
1 lbs white wheat
.5 lbs flaked oats
cascade 6.2aa 1 ounce 60 min
cascade 6.2aa .50 ounce 20 min
cascade 6.2aa .2 ounce 5 min

started the boil with 4.5 gallons. ended with 3.5. no sparge.

i did taste the beer while taking a reading, and it definitely did not taste like feet or ass. Tasted like a wheat beer. super cloudy. i can see all the yeast floating. should i attach a mesh bag to the end of the siphon?

sounds like a successful brew!

yeah, that's normal every day trub, probably wasn't necessary to stir it, but beer is pretty forgiving. so wait a couple days for all that to settle and it wouldn't hurt to use some mesh on the racking cane.

bastinsarabia · 01-21-2013, 07:09 PM

So should i not expect the FG to drop too much lower? Should i just start bottling?

brycelarson · 01-21-2013, 07:15 PM

what's your grain bill? What style of beer you aiming for?

Getting a good thermometer is vital - "around 155" isn't really good enough. Changing mash temp from 150 to 154 has a big effect on final gravity and body of your finished product. If "about 155" was actually 160 then 1020 is actually lower than you might get on some fermentations for a FG.

155 is at the upper end of mash temp. The higher you mash the higher your FG is going to be. lower temp mash gives you more fermentable sugars, higher give you less

bastinsarabia · 01-21-2013, 07:23 PM

grain bill?.....ah...this was my recipe. is that what you mean?
4.25 lbs 2-row
1 lbs white wheat
.5 lbs flaked oats
cascade 6.2aa 1 ounce 60 min
cascade 6.2aa .50 ounce 20 min
cascade 6.2aa .2 ounce 5 min

started the boil with 4.5 gallons. ended with 3.5. no sparge.

considered a wheat ale

the only thermometer i have is a floating thermometer. maybe i will invest a little more on one. thanks for the mashing advice!