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So Sunday before last, I boiled up my first batch of homebrew in just over twenty years. I chose a 5 gallon recipe for Newcastle style brown ale, which called for 6lbs of amber syrup and 24oz of assorted grains. I completed the boil, strained into my primary, and when the wort was down to about 75 degrees I pitched my (activated and firmly swollen!) smack pack of Wyeast #1275.
By Monday morning, the wort was fermenting nicely, and the airlock bubbled about every 6 seconds. This continued for the next two days, but by late Wednesday night the bubbling seemed to have ceased entirely. I was using a white bucket for a primary, so I couldn't see the activity inside...the airlock was my only guide.
In accordance with the 1-2-3 rule, I left the beer in the primary until the following Sunday afternoon, when I racked into a 5 gallon carboy. There was a good inch of sludge left in the primary, and I only managed to get about 4.5 gallons of clear beer. It looked gorgeous in the carboy, pristine and clear and very "Newcastley" in color.
So tonight I was digging through some storage boxes, and found my old hydrometer. (Which I never, ever bothered to use in the old days.) So, I drew a sample and tested it. 1.045 was the temperature adjusted reading, which oddly enough is exactly what the recipe states the starting gravity should be. So now I'm starting to worry.
What has happened here? I know I had a VERY vigorous fermentation going for at least a few days, and it seems like the specific gravity should be lower than that after ten nights. I wish I'd found the hydrometer earlier, so I could have measured right after the boil...or maybe I wish I'd never found it at all! Was my fermentation somehow tragically stopped, abruptly and prematurely? There is currently about 1/4" of sludge in the bottom of the carboy, but I don't know if it's from continuing fermentation, or simply settlement from the initial stages of fermentation. The beer itself remains clear and dead calm, with no bubbles or other signs of activity.
What's my next move? Just relax and wait? Re-pitch? I'd like to think that everything is cool, but it sure seems there is way too much sugar left in that brew. I'm starting to miss the carefree days when I didn't bother to measure, and my beer came out good anyhow!
By Monday morning, the wort was fermenting nicely, and the airlock bubbled about every 6 seconds. This continued for the next two days, but by late Wednesday night the bubbling seemed to have ceased entirely. I was using a white bucket for a primary, so I couldn't see the activity inside...the airlock was my only guide.
In accordance with the 1-2-3 rule, I left the beer in the primary until the following Sunday afternoon, when I racked into a 5 gallon carboy. There was a good inch of sludge left in the primary, and I only managed to get about 4.5 gallons of clear beer. It looked gorgeous in the carboy, pristine and clear and very "Newcastley" in color.
So tonight I was digging through some storage boxes, and found my old hydrometer. (Which I never, ever bothered to use in the old days.) So, I drew a sample and tested it. 1.045 was the temperature adjusted reading, which oddly enough is exactly what the recipe states the starting gravity should be. So now I'm starting to worry.
What has happened here? I know I had a VERY vigorous fermentation going for at least a few days, and it seems like the specific gravity should be lower than that after ten nights. I wish I'd found the hydrometer earlier, so I could have measured right after the boil...or maybe I wish I'd never found it at all! Was my fermentation somehow tragically stopped, abruptly and prematurely? There is currently about 1/4" of sludge in the bottom of the carboy, but I don't know if it's from continuing fermentation, or simply settlement from the initial stages of fermentation. The beer itself remains clear and dead calm, with no bubbles or other signs of activity.
What's my next move? Just relax and wait? Re-pitch? I'd like to think that everything is cool, but it sure seems there is way too much sugar left in that brew. I'm starting to miss the carefree days when I didn't bother to measure, and my beer came out good anyhow!