Fermentation issue (High FG)

I have a few questions:

1. I have a 5 gallon batch of Brewer's Best Witbier that has been in the primary for 17 days. There seems to be an issue with the Orange peel and Hops (I hope this is what it is) settling to the bottom? Pictures posted.......Any ides as to why this happened and a recommendation on a remedy to alleviate excess sediment? FG is 1010-1012.

2. I also have a batch of True Brew All Malt Pale Ale that has been in the primary for 17 days. FG is 1.016? Is this entirely too high? I am a rookie and got caught up in the "I'M brewing my first beer" thing and failed to take an OG? Any recommendations?

I also touched the Wibier when gathering a sample. i washed with soap and water and also washed with an Iodophor 12.5 ppm solution? I'm ok right???

1. Did you use a colander to strain the hops out before putting it into your fermenter? I do that and I also usually leave all of the excess hop material and break material at the bottom of the kettle when I transfer my wort to the fermenter, which could help with your sediment issue.

2. 1.016 is fine, a little higher than most of my pales finish but I have had IPA finish as high as 1025 and it was still great. No worries about not taking a OG, you just wont know your alcohol content.

3. You should be ok. Do you normally pull the whole lid off your fermenter like in the picture? Once my beer is sealed up in the fermenter I normally dont take the lid off at all until I rack the beer out into a keg or bottles. Dont forget there are wild yeast and bacteria floating around in the air just about every where, so exposing your beer to oxygen by opening the lid up is not a great idea and could cause your beer to get infected.

Thanks for the timely response. I didn't know that is should not take the entire lid off when i was testing the FG???? Lesson learned, hopefully not the hard way. I did not use a colander, but will utilize a cheese cloth around the bottom of the siphon when i transfer into the bottling bucket. Colander makes a lot more sense. Should i allow the beer to settle for another week prior to bottling? I think i like this home brew thing. Thanks a lot for your help.

Ya you want to avoid the beer being exposed to oxygen as much as possible once the yeast is pitched. The colander will help you out alot, aside from getting out sediment it will also help to oxygenate your wort before you pitch the yeast, which helps your yeast be healthy and ferment strong. (oxygen only good before yeast go in). You could let it settle a bit longer but it may or may not help, I would recommend you try and rack from the middle (under the sediment but above the yeast cake at the bottom) and use the cheese cloth you mentioned or a hop bag or piece of nylon around the bottom of the siphon to keep the rest of the sediment out.

Home brewing is very addicting, prepare for it to take over all of your free time!!! lol

trey23 said:

Thanks for the timely response. I didn't know that is should not take the entire lid off when i was testing the FG???? Lesson learned, hopefully not the hard way. I did not use a colander, but will utilize a cheese cloth around the bottom of the siphon when i transfer into the bottling bucket. Colander makes a lot more sense. Should i allow the beer to settle for another week prior to bottling? I think i like this home brew thing. Thanks a lot for your help.

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I don't understand- of course you take the lid off to check the SG. How else would you do it?

Just gently put the lid back on once you take your sample.

Your FGs are perfect!

I don't use a colander or strain my wort. The "stuff" does settle down to the bottom. Do not use cheesecloth or something, as that is more likely to clog your siphon and aerate your beer. Just rack from above the crud, and try not to suck stuff hop.

Let it sit for another week or so, and then rack to the bottling bucket. Another thing that really helps make the floaters fall to the bottom is putting the fermenter in a cold place for a day or two. That's called "cold crashing" and it works great! Try that to get the stuff to compact tightly to the bottom, to make the beer more clear and to have less stuff to try to avoid when racking.

Yooper said:

I don't understand- of course you take the lid off to check the SG. How else would you do it?

Just gently put the lid back on once you take your sample.

Your FGs are perfect!

I don't use a colander or strain my wort. The "stuff" does settle down to the bottom. Do not use cheesecloth or something, as that is more likely to clog your siphon and aerate your beer. Just rack from above the crud, and try not to suck stuff hop.

Let it sit for another week or so, and then rack to the bottling bucket. Another thing that really helps make the floaters fall to the bottom is putting the fermenter in a cold place for a day or two. That's called "cold crashing" and it works great! Try that to get the stuff to compact tightly to the bottom, to make the beer more clear and to have less stuff to try to avoid when racking.

Click to expand...

My fermenters have holes in the top of the lid where the airlock and bung attach to the lid, I remove the airlock and take a sample from there. Or if there is not hole or it is too small I peel back the lid a couple of inches and steal a sample without removing the whole lid. Removing the whole lid lets all of your CO2 thats sitting on top of the beer out and lets O2 in, which can start to oxidize your beer.

Ive used nylon on the bottom of my siphon to keep sediment out with no problems, but if you have a ton of really small pieces I see how it could get clogged.

Good call on the cold crash, do that if you have a good cold place or fridge available.

CO2 is heavier than O2 and Nitrogen which are the majority components of air. As long as you put the lid back on when you are done you don't have to worry about the CO2 escaping.

Thanks all for the info!!!!! Ill post when i crack open a few.

Thank all of you for your advice! After 9 days in the bottle i cracked open (1) Pale Ale and (1) Witbier. Wow!!!! they taste great. I will allow them to age for an additional 2 weeks, but they are pretty good.Once again i appreciate the assistance.