My first sorghum brew is still fermenting (I hope...)

swilfong89 · 01-16-2012, 05:14 PM

This is my very first batch of beer, and I'm brewing sorghum because my girlfriend is gluten-intolerant. The fermentation has been a bit off what I expected, so I wanted to share what I've done and see what people think. I'm anxious as to whether it's going to be a very good brew or not...

Ingredients for 2.5 gallon batch:
3.3 lb. Briess Sorghum Malt Extract
4.2 AAU Fuggles hops (bittering)
2 AAU Mt. Hood hops (taste/aroma)
1 pkg Danstar Nottingham ale yeast

Sanitized everything that would come in contact with unfermented wort.
Boiled 1.5 gallons water, poured into sanitized 6 gallon bucket to cool.
Boiled another 1.5 gallons water. Lowered heat, stirred in sorghum extract, resumed boil. Watched for hot break, added Fuggles hops, started timer for 45 minutes. Added 0.25 oz Mt. Hood hops with 10 minutes remaining, and another 0.25 oz with 1 minute remaining. Shut down boil, put lid on pot and moved pot to ice bath in sink. Cooled to 80 degrees in about 15-20 minutes. Poured wort into bucket with pre boiled water, measured OG at 1.045 (actual measurement of 1.043, adjusted for temperature), pitched yeast which I had rehydrated earlier and had already been foaming impressively. Aerated bucket by shaking for one minute. Affixed airlock.

Airlock began to bubble within an hour or so, reaching about 1 per 5 seconds within a few hours. Bubbling diminished to literally nothing overnight. The next day I realized the bucket was sitting at about 60 degrees, so I racked to a 6 gallon sanitized glass carboy and moved closer to the heater where the temp was about 70. Small bubbles and a tiny amount of foam appeared within hours, but the airlock has not bubbled at all.

Now, 8 days after brewing, the beer still looks the same, little bubbles appearing and popping on the surface, tiny bit of foam. Quite cloudy. Sediment layer on the bottom has actually decreased slightly. Siphoned a little beer out for a gravity measurement today, which was about 1.027. I'm assuming I should probably let it sit for about another week, maybe start measuring gravity again in a few days. Tasted the sample: quite weak but otherwise tastes like beer, albeit cheap (what else could you expect with roughly 2.5% abv...)

Questions or comments? Does this beer seem to still be fermenting? Also, I've read about conditioning with honey. I don't want to go too experimental with this, but I also don't like refined sugar very much and would like to avoid dextrose if I can. Would using honey be pushing my luck?

elvestinkle · 01-16-2012, 05:42 PM

Mine (same yeast, just a little more sugar) is going strong at a steady 60℉, and I pitched the yeast on Friday evening. I would have agitated it a bit (swirling in the fermenter) rather than racking it off. You probably removed it from a good chunk of the yeast when you transferred it to the new fermenter, if I read your post right.

Nottingham is ok operating normally down to 57℉ according to Danstar, so it makes me wonder why it stopped bubbling. I have been reading up on sorghum, and many posts I've seen say it's a very mild activity--nowhere near the sorts of krausen you see on barley malt beer. I initially worried I had a pellicle, my krausen was so flat!

I think you're right to just let it ride for a while and see. I wonder, would pitching more yeast help at this point, or would it be too harsh an environment for it?

elvestinkle · 01-21-2012, 09:16 PM

So, the same thing happened to mine! Argh! Just took a SG (1.025 @ 64F), about a week after pitching.

I gave it a swirl, and will check SG again in another week, and I'm telling myself to RDWHAHB! Have you taken a gravity sample yet on yours?

Satisfaction · 01-21-2012, 11:03 PM

Just watch the gravity, just because it is not bubbling does not mean the yeast is not doing their thing.

The checking and rechecking sounds like my first experience with home brewing. Now it rides for 3 weeks before even turning on the light in the room. First time through, pulled up a chair and stared at it for a while every now and then.

One thing to note, the fermentation process for gluten free brewing is much more calm than normal brewing.

swilfong89 · 01-21-2012, 11:57 PM

Tested gravity today and it's down to 1.021. I'm debating on how long I should let it go before bottling, I'm getting ansy lol. Made a blog post on it! Wilifant Canning and Brewing

elvestinkle · 01-22-2012, 02:16 AM

Yeah, I'm accustomed to barley malt primary fermentation actually finishing out in a week, so it kinda threw me. I was hoping it would follow the same pattern, because for the first time I actually desire to rack this into secondary so I can get an IPA going on this yeast.

Turns out it's the yeast who are the boss of me & not the other way 'round

spaced · 01-23-2012, 12:13 AM

Rules to live by

* Always use 1 teaspoon of yeast nutrient
* Live by gravity readings not by airlock activity
* Relax and have a beer

I run two fermenters, always like to have a brew going, a brew bottle carbonating and another brew drinking. With the yeast nutrient I take about 3 weeks per batch from the boil to the bottling.