final gravity too high?

I have a porter that I was going to bottle this weekend after 3 weeks in primary but the gravity is 1.019 down from 1.055 safale 04 yeast. Should I go ahead and bottle, transfer to a secondary, or warm it up a bit and let it sit in the primary for another week?

I don't think another week will hurt it but I don't know how much lower it will go.
my last porter finished at 1.015.
what is your target?

I would be happy with 1.015 or below. Everytime i use safale 04 its the same fg. I do like its properties but get better attenuation from coopers yeast which has good english properties also.

A porter at 1.019 is fine, if it's still there in a few days. Then it can be bottled.

Yooper said:

A porter at 1.019 is fine, if it's still there in a few days. Then it can be bottled.

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I admit I prefer my beers on the drier side, but 1.019 is still on the sweet for a 1.055 OG Porter.

It may be a decent beer, but would be too sweet for me.

I bottled a robust porter last weekend that finished at 1.020 (OG was 1.062). I was a bit worried too, so I left it in primary for a total of 4 weeks. I also warmed it up over the coarse of the last two weeks. It never budged! It stayed at 1.020, so I bottled it up. I'm quite sure it was a result of mashing at 156F and an 8oz Malto Dextrin addition. I just sampled one, and it's sweeter than I would have liked. Such is life!

19 is very very sweet indeed for a 55 wort.
I'd go with a fresh pitch of yeast to get a couple points down.
With 1 packet of rehydrated US04 you could probably shave 4-5 points out of that.

IMO, this would bring your porter to an optimal FG.

enjoy the beer

I did use 2lbs of specialty grains including smoked malt that might have kicked up the unfermentables?

jtums said:

I did use 2lbs of specialty grains including smoked malt that might have kicked up the unfermentables?

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If you didn't mash the grain, the smoked malt will not have given you anything except for a smokey flavor.

Post your recipe if you want more input.

unionrdr said:

You could've done without the maltodextrin. That would sweeten it up,since it's only 5% fermentable at the most. And I like the 15g cooper's ale yeast available from midwest & NB. That bigger packet works really well re-hydrated. It's also high flocculation,compared to medium for US-05. The fruity esters can be held to minimum when fermented at 64-66F.

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Maybe I missed it, but the OP didn't say anything about Maltodextrin.

Here is my recipe:
GRAINS
1lb Smoked Rauch Malt
1lb English Brown
1lb Crystal 40L
12oz Black Patent
8oz Chocolate

MALT EXTRACT
7lb Breiss Extra Light LME
1.5lb Light DME

HOPS
1.5oz Cascade 60min
1.0oz Cascade 1min

Yeast
Safale S-04

I've decided to warm it up with a heating pad and let it sit a 4th week. I'll post final gravity then.

jtums said:

Here is my recipe:
GRAINS
1lb Smoked Rauch Malt
1lb English Brown
1lb Crystal 40L
12oz Black Patent
8oz Chocolate

MALT EXTRACT
7lb Breiss Extra Light LME
1.5lb Light DME

HOPS
1.5oz Cascade 60min
1.0oz Cascade 1min

Yeast
Safale S-04

I've decided to warm it up with a heating pad and let it sit a 4th week. I'll post final gravity then.

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I don't know what "English brown" is, but I assume it's brown malt?

A robust porter can often stop at 1.016, even an AG version, and so you are not that far off. I wouldn't mess with it, as it will be a very pleasant beer once it's carbed up. It's not worth oxidizing the beer to drop the SG about .003 points.

With the black malt, crystal malt, chocolate and the brown malt, the beer is simply finished.

Calder said:

Maybe I missed it, but the OP didn't say anything about Maltodextrin.

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Hmmm,musta mentioned it in another thread? I was drinkin last night.

The heating pad I think has had an affect. I notice some more pressure in my airlock. The last gravity was at 1.019 so if I can get it down a couple points I'll be happy.

How did this end up? I have a milk stout sitting at 1.026 and a black IPA at 1.029 both were higher OGs I think the malto I added had some impact. As did not using a starter

a couple years ago i brewed a porter with an OG of 1.060. it finished at 1.020. it ended up being a really good porter to my surprise. that was back before i did starters. anyway, keep us updated

I've been enjoying my smoked porter the last couple weeks. The gravity never did go below 1.019 but my specialty grains covered up any residual sweetness. It could have been better but turned out great never the less.