Ale FG stopped at 1025

I'm doing an extract-based Belgian Triple. It started at 1.081 and for 2 days hasn't changed from 1.025. It's now about day 10 of fermentation and the brew is at 68 deg F. Would there be any harm in moving it to a warmer location, like maybe around 75 deg F? It still tastes a bit too sweet and I want 'er to keep fermenting.

I'd give it another few days to a week before I worried about it. 68F is a good temperature so I wouldn't try taking it up too much but a degree or two wouldn't hurt.

I agree. What yeast are you using?

Hope I'm not in poor form for tagging to this thread. ...complete and utter newbie here... I'm in a similar situation with my first brew. All extract, belgian triple and seem to be stuck at 1.026. It's been there for a week at 66 to 68 degrees, after reading so many posts I'm just nervous about a bottle bomb. Should I bottle and go for it? Again I hope I'm not offending by jumping in here. thanks

Welcome to HBT!

No definitely do not bottle yet, if it's only been a week you need to give a big beer like that at least 1 more week in primary and then a month or so minimum in secondary. Use the same advice as was suggested for the OP, give it another week and see how it progresses.

First thanks for the welcome and advice. Second I should clarify. It's actually been fermenting for two and a half weeks. Has been holding steady at that SG for the past week. I think I know what you are gonna say to this part but I feel compelled to share it. Recipe said one week ferment then straight to bottle. LHBS guy said go a week in the secondary after that. ...anyway... thats where I am. Tastes pretty good actually. So excited to actually bottle and drink my first brew that I'm dying here. Patience was never one of my virtues.

Homebrewing will teach you patience, don't worry. It's hard at first but it gets easier.

You could try giving the fermenter a swirl (not a shake!) to get some yeast back into suspension. Raising the temperature to 70-75 at the same time should help get the yeast going again. Chances are they just flocculated a little bit early.

Beer is never really ready to bottle as early as a week. Even if fermentation is complete the yeast need time to clean up after themselves and drop out. The longer you let it sit the better your final product (up to a point of course).

That SG still seems high, maybe swirl the fermentor some to rouse the yeast a little. See if they ferment more. if the SG stays, maybe it would be ok to bottle.

Edit: Gar! bradsul beat me to it

Which yeast are you using? You're making a tripel which means you've likely got some sort of trappist/abbey yeast in there and there's no harm in cranking the heat up on those to dry them out.

I don't know the overall fermentability of the extract you used, but I'd say swirl it, warm it up a bit, and see what happens.

YooperBrew said:

I agree. What yeast are you using?

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I actually used the two packets of dried yeast that came with the two cans of BrewFerm LME that I used. The kit came with a smack pack but it was essentially too dead to use.

I'm gonna try the swirling thing and see what happens. I'm with the other guy barstar3 who jumped into this post (no worries, mate!). I don't mind being more patient once I have 2-3 batches already bottled. I've only got one batch bottled and 3 more in primary (4 after this weekend ). (Yes, I have let the obsession take over a bit). I promise to be more patient with all future batches! Besides, I won't have enough bottles so they'll have to stay in the carboys longer.

If patience is a problem for you guys you need to pick some smaller beers to build up your stock. Waiting for these big beers to mature is going to be pretty tough for you!

You guys rock! I'll be patient. I'm just so excited to drink beer that I actually made. So after giving a gentle swirl I have dropped a few points, down to 1.024, on my SG so I'm making myself wait it out. The kit said FG between 1.012 and 1.018. On the other hand, what can I make that will be a "quick" beer? maybe a wheat? I love those big beers but I need to try and get some experience as well as start stocking up. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Also Any established threads that I can read on a very step by step move up to partial mash?

Have a look at the wiki (link at the top) for info on partial mashing. As for recipes you can do, wheats are great since they tend to be lower gravity, ordinary bitter or mild ales are also excellent. Generally anything with a low OG (say < 1.050) will be ready in 6 weeks (stouts can be an exception depending on the recipe).

I would poke through the recipe database and keep an eye out for lower OG numbers and just see what interests you. I do highly recommend Orfy's Mild Mannered Ale if you like milds, it's REALLY tasty!

Good to hear as I was planning a Belgian Wit this weekend. Does that fall under the faster maturation category?

Personally, as a noob, I think it's worth the sacrifice of one or two batches to get it in the bottle a little early to encourage future batches. Having home brew ready to drink now coupled with the promise of it being even better if you let it go longer next time is good fuel to keep the brewing going.

FSBrewer said:

Good to hear as I was planning a Belgian Wit this weekend. Does that fall under the faster maturation category?

Personally, as a noob, I think it's worth the sacrifice of one or two batches to get it in the bottle a little early to encourage future batches. Having home brew ready to drink now coupled with the promise of it being even better if you let it go longer next time is good fuel to keep the brewing going.

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Yes, a wit would be faster, but it might take a little while for the coriander to mellow out.

"Faster" beers include wheats like hefeweizen, milds (like Bradsul mentioned), some lighter Engish Brown Ales (one in my recipe dropdown that was quick), blonde ales, and some pale ales that are lower ABV.

FSBrewer said:

I'm doing an extract-based Belgian Triple. It started at 1.081 and for 2 days hasn't changed from 1.025. It's now about day 10 of fermentation and the brew is at 68 deg F. Would there be any harm in moving it to a warmer location, like maybe around 75 deg F? It still tastes a bit too sweet and I want 'er to keep fermenting.

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It is now day 14 and for the last 6 days my SG has remained unchanged at 1.025. The recipe shows that the FG should be 1.016-1.022. It had been around 70 deg F for the past day or two, 68 F before that. Last night I brought it out here where it is closer to 75 or perhaps higher.

Any chance of this SG getting any lower?


I thinking I'm gonna play my impatient-noob card and bottle tomorrow.

Have you tried swirling the fermenter to get some yeast back into suspension? If not I would do that and wait a few more days and check the gravity again. You're only at 67% attenuation which is still kinda low. You really don't want to end up with gushers or bottle bombs when all it costs you is a bit more waiting.

bradsul said:

Have you tried swirling the fermenter to get some yeast back into suspension? If not I would do that and wait a few more days and check the gravity again. You're only at 67% attenuation which is still kinda low. You really don't want to end up with gushers or bottle bombs when all it costs you is a bit more waiting.

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How do you calculate that?

FSBrewer said:

How do you calculate that?

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https://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Understanding_Attenuation

I just do it with Promash though.

I was kinda mad. My German Oktoberfest has been in a primary for 2 weeks and in a secondary for 2 weeks on Tuesday. I was gonna bottle today but lone behold, my beer started fermenting again as there is a build up of krausen. While it's nice to see it fermenting again because the FG was .020, it still sucks that I'll now have to wait probably a week and a half to bottle.

Don't feel bad. I made a Doppelbock 5 weeks ago. It's been at ale temperatures for all but one of those weeks and the airlock is still bubbling.

It's now been an additional 2 days at higher temperature (75) after having also swirled. Still exactly at 1.025. I'm gonna bottle it either way this weekend, so now my question becomes: should I leave it at 75 for the rest of the week, or should I "cold crash" it for a few days before I bottle?

And finally, what could I do differently to get the FG lower next time? Is it the yeast?