Maximum Final Gravity...

Howdy folks,

Working on my 1st 5 gal coming off mr. beer, and am getting a tad concerned on day 13 of fermentation here.

Unadjusted for temperature, my OG was 1.052. sounded ok to me.

Today (day 13) I'm getting 1.022.

I looked at just about all the recipes over on hbd.org, and I don't see anything w/ FG above 1.018.

I made a satellite bottle w/ sample brew day, and that's where I got the 1.052 from. A week later I got 1.020 from the bottle sample, but now I'm getting 1.022 from the ferm bucket sample.

First week the bucket was hovering around mid 70's (on top of heater), then I moved it to the floor, where it's now hovering around 65.

1.022 seems kinda high to me. I can take another sample tomorrow and see what's doing, but based on the satellite reading I took several days ago, I don't expect to see much movement.

Krausen is gone, just some white clumps floating on surface.

Thoughts?

Duane_Austin said:

Howdy folks,

Working on my 1st 5 gal coming off mr. beer, and am getting a tad concerned on day 13 of fermentation here.

Unadjusted for temperature, my OG was 1.052. sounded ok to me.

Today (day 13) I'm getting 1.022.

I looked at just about all the recipes over on hbd.org, and I don't see anything w/ FG above 1.018.

Click to expand...

Pretty much a noob here myself, but I've heard here and elsewhere that some suspect dry yeasts (Munton's, I'm looking at you) don't attenuate very well.

I looked into it and asked around because I found that my first batch wouldn't go below .020 after a little over a week. Finally I decided (based on what I read) that I'd just leave it an extra week or two and just go with it.

It might wind up a little sweet, but I figure it's worth a shot.

Give your carboy a swirl (without splashing) and let it go for another week. The swirling will rouse the yeast on the bottom and hopefully re-start your fermentation.

Fingers said:

Give your carboy a swirl (without splashing) and let it go for another week. The swirling will rouse the yeast on the bottom and hopefully re-start your fermentation.

Click to expand...

And if it doesn't, then just call it a day at 1.02'ish and bottle and hope for the best?

Is this and extract brew? Some people(myself included) have been bit by the 1.020 bug. Sometimes the extract darkens and caramelizes, raising the gravity without raising the fermentables. I've had a couple darker beers that finish at 1.020 or 1.018 without bottle bombs or serious problems. Give it a swirl, wait, and if no changes over 3-4 days, bottle and go about your day.

bikeboy389 said:

Pretty much a noob here myself, but I've heard here and elsewhere that some suspect dry yeasts (Munton's, I'm looking at you) don't attenuate very well.

I looked into it and asked around because I found that my first batch wouldn't go below .020 after a little over a week. Finally I decided (based on what I read) that I'd just leave it an extra week or two and just go with it.

It might wind up a little sweet, but I figure it's worth a shot.

Click to expand...

Hm. Just pulled my Palmer book, and on page 253, he seems to recommend Muntons extracts as one of the more better attenuating. But you're referring to yeast, so I don't know.

At any rate, the was an Edme extract (English IPA) 2/ 3lbs of LDME.

Based on what I'm reading in Palmer and here and my symptoms (Bubbled furiously for 1 day, but then slowed down and stopped, stuck hydrometer reading at 1.022, and green apple smell and taste), I need to work on 2 major things for my next brew:

1) Wort Chilling - I called it quits after 1/2 hour thinking I reached my time limit even though the temp was probably still above 90 degrees.

2) Aeration - Got good splash action when pouring wort into bucket, but that's all I really did except for a little piss-poor whisk action before pitching yeast.

StoutFan said:

Is this and extract brew?

Click to expand...

Yah, 4 lbs of Edme English IPA + 3 lbs LDME

A week later I got 1.020 from the bottle sample, but now I'm getting 1.022 from the ferm bucket sample.

Click to expand...

Small amounts of wort ferment will ferment out faster, but they tell you what to expect. You have 57% in the fermenter and 62% in the sample. Give it a swirl and another week.

Well, thanks for all the replies regarding swirling the wort and waiting.
Did that on Sunday.
Today is Tuesday -- still 1.022

Guess it's done, good, bad or ugly.

Thoughts?

I have bottled as high as 1.020 and come out ok

My 1st two brews finished at 1.020. Both were fine. I did some research and decided I didn't aerate enough and did not pitch enough yeast. For my third and fourth brews I made starters and paid attention to my aeration - both finished at 1.013. All contained extract.

JLem said:

I did some research and decided I didn't aerate enough and did not pitch enough yeast. For my third and fourth brews I made starters and paid attention to my aeration - both finished at 1.013. All contained extract.

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Same here, I think.

Earlier in thread, I mentioned 2 areas I wish did better at:

Cooling: I might have shocked the yeast by pitching at to warm a temp (I think it was still in the 90's).
Solution: Ordered immersion chiller from LHBS, so this might go smoother next time. (Ice melted too fast)


Aeration: Only aerated from wort pour, probably not enough.
Solution: Picked up one of those long drill-attached vortex-style paint mix from Home Depot.

Next time.