Steam Beer Fermentation Issue?

Brewed a steam beer last Sunday. Hit all my numbers spot-on, 1.056 OG.

Using a dry lager yeast, Safale 23.

Starting bubbling by that night, went strong for a few days, but now has stopped, current SG is 1.020. Is the fermentation finished? I thought I'd reach a lower FG. Temperatures for this have ranged from 65 to now currently 57, near a cold door.

If it's done, I'll try to cold crash and bottle soon, but I don't want to end up with bottle bombs!

I'd take another gravity reading in 3 days. If it hasn't changed I would say it's stuck. We would have to see a recipe in order to know where it should finish however. If you have a lot of unfermentables in it and extract then it's possible.

Edit: Most likely it is just not finished yet.

6lb amber extract
1/2 lb 20L Crystal malt, steeped at 155F for 30 minutes
8oz maltodextrine

rjwhite41 said:

I'd take another gravity reading in 3 days. If it hasn't changed I would say it's stuck. We would have to see a recipe in order to know where it should finish however. If you have a lot of unfermentables in it and extract then it's possible.

Edit: Most likely it is just not finished yet.

Click to expand...

If it's not finished, how low should it get you think? Beersmith is telling me 1.015, which isnt too far off from where I am now.

Well the malto isn't really fermentable and darker extracts usually finish higher than lighter ones (most people recommend using light extracts for all your beers and then adjust color and flavor with specialty grains). So with that being said I would probably be happy around 1.018 with that beer. It might be done. You are still going to want to age it for 2-3 more weeks anyway (general consensus on most beers, I am not a Steam Beer expert and I have never made one). I then I would assume you lager it or at least condition it around 50F for a period of about a month. Where did you get this recipe? I don't really understand why it has malto in it.

I made the recipe myself. Wanted to malto to provide some more body to the beer.

I don't need the beer to end up super-close to the actual style. But as long as I get something that tastes good, I'll be thrilled. I'll give it a couple more weeks in the carboy. Then cold crash and bottle.

Do you generally have problems with body in your beer? I usually find that malto goes way over the top and doesn't really need to be included in very many recipes at all. FWIW, when making your recipes I would use light dme and then use specialty grains for the color and flavor. You can also get certain grains that will contribute to body, mouthfeel, and head retention if you feel your beer is lacking in those areas.