DontDrinkAndDrum

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alright here's the deal....bought an imperial pale ale kit from local homebrew shop. cooked it up yadda yadda, starting gravity was around 1.075. seven days in the primary, was getting ready to transfer to secondary, checked the gravity at about 1.024. i figured it wasn't low enough to proceed (yes, i'm well aware that if the gravity is too high the result can be bottle bombs), but thought that maybe some of the yeast that gets re-suspended temporarily during the transfer to secondary would ferment some of the remaining sugar. transfered it yesterday, checked it today and it's still the same gravity.

my question is, should i just wait it out and see if it drops, or are higher OG brews going to have a higher finishing gravity than lower grav beers. i know it's not the temperature in the fermenting room, this is my third batch and the temperature is right for fermenting. I didn't think it would really matter, but because of the high OG, the lid and airlock blew off the fermenter due to the extensive amount of foam produced, so i just re-lidded the bucket, left the airlock off for a few hours until foam stopped spewing out of the hole, then replaced the airlock. could this have had an ill effect on the process, if something is wrong that is.

rod

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how well did you aerate and did you make a starter?
high gravity brews like yours really benefit from a starter and strong aeration to get full attenuation.
if an extract kit- what brand of extract?- some brands leave higher final gravities due to a larger percentage of unfermentables

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loopmd

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Since you just transfered it to a secondary, I would leave it there for a few weeks. I've even left bigger beers in the secondary for a month before bottling. As far as leaving the airlock off, you are probably alright as more stuff was coming out then going in. Have you ever heard or seen someone set up a blowoff tube? It is essentially a bigger version of your airlock....put a tube in the hole where you usually put your airlock and run it to a bucket(I use a gallon jug) about half full of water...that way the nasties run out into the jug and don't plug up your airlock.


loop

DontDrinkAndDrum

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if by make a starter, you mean prime the yeast before adding it to the wort, yes. i let it sit in warm water for 15 minutes, stirred, and then added a little hot wort to the yeast mixture to temper it to prevent temperature shock. no, i did not aerate. this is my 3rd batch, and i've been slowly finding things out on my own, and i was to understand oxygenation was a bad thing (until i watched the Sam Adams Long Shot competition video for the hell of it, and saw Jim Koch stirring in the yeast with a whisk). i know now that yeast need oxygen when fermenting

the ingredients i used to make it was a pre-packaged kit from the store, that came with steeping grains, a whole lotta hops, and then, if I remember correctly, two cans of Alexander's Pale Ale LME, and a bag of DME

and yes, i know what a blow off is. if i was going to make another HG brew like this, i'll probably consider making one. my question regarding those is...according to the book that came with the kit i bought, "Home Beermaking" by William Moore, blow offs are dangerous due to the potential for flying glass shrapnel. how much truth is there to this?

what i really want to know is, am I eventually going to be able to bottle this batch without having the bottles blow up on me?

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Primary: Star-San
Secondary: Air
Bottled: Maibock
Drinking: Nothing yet....waaaah.
On Deck: thinking of a Hard Apple Cider

loopmd

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dangerous due to the potential for flying glass???? never heard of that happening.

I would leave your beer in the secondary for a few weeks and then bottle, you should be good to go.


loop

rod

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a starter is made up a few days before you brew to increase the numbers of the yeast- your priming just ensured the yeast is viable.

check the gravity after 2 weeks in your secondary for 2 or 3 days in a row - if it stays the same it should be ok to bottle.
the comment about blow offs and glass shrapnel makes no sense to me - unless you mean bottle bombs from bottling a still fermenting beer?

edit: loopmd types faster than me- i think everyone here does!

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DontDrinkAndDrum

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alright, what's the best way to make a starter then?

and no, i didn't mean bottle bombs, i mean the book i referenced mentioned that blow-off fermenters could potentially explode and were therefore not recommended

__________________
Primary: Star-San
Secondary: Air
Bottled: Maibock
Drinking: Nothing yet....waaaah.
On Deck: thinking of a Hard Apple Cider

BierMuncher

Recipes 

My gravity always seems to "suspend" movement once I move to the secondary. You look like you're at 6.5% right now. I'd say give the secondary 10 days and then prime for bottling/kegging.

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loopmd

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Starter....http://www.schwedhelm.net/brew/starter.html


Actually, fermenters in general are bombs in disguise. Most of us have at one time or another have come home to a blown off fermentor lid when the airlock got plugged up. My guess is that you run a greater risk of this happening with an airlock then you would with a blowoff tube.


loop

rod

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again i am too slow, but here is another thread to read
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/starters-18992/?highlight=yeast+starters

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