Jamil's Chocolate Hazelnut Porter ruined???

Hi everybody,

I have brewing for a about a year now and decided to order Jamil's Chocolate Hazelnut Porter from More Beer a few weeks ago. I have have a few questions because I think the batch has been ruined. I pitched the yeast and about 48 hours later I noticed the air lock was bobbing as it should but, when I checked it 3 days later it had stopped bobbing. While I know that the yeast can still be doing its thing even if its not bobbing I waited a few more days and re-pitched the yeast again and add some yeast energizer. I let sit for another week and transferred it to the secondary. At that time I decided to check the gravity and it was 1.022. The directions stated it should have a final gravity between 1.058 and 1.062. While transferring it from the primary to the secondary I noticed the trubb had a sandy/sludgy look to it. Is this batch ruined or should I let it sit? I appreciate all the help.

Mike

You either misread the directions, or they are wrong: the OG is 1.058, not the FG (the FG will be lower). a 1.022 FG is probably pretty close to done. Just give it some time, it'll be fine. You didn't need to add more yeast. I don't know if that will cause off flavors or not. It'll probably all just settle out.

Doesn't your trub always have a sludgy look to it? I've never seen a trub that didn't.

The true appeared more sandy than I have seen. Thanks for the quick response. Your are right it he OG should be 1.058. I think might be misunderstanding the difference between OG and FG.

OG = Original Gravity - the gravity of your wort when it starts. The wort is very "heavy" at this point because it has tons of sugar. A typical wort will be around 1.050. A big beer around 1.080. A super big beer above 1.100.

The yeast eats the sugar, and the wort becomes lighter (and becomes beer), and eventually reads FG = final Gravity. 1.000 = water - beer is still heavier than water because it retains some sugar in it. so you'll see FG's from around 1.008 - 1.022 or so, probably some lighter and heavier.

I believe that pure alcohol is actually lighter than water, so the gravity would be something < 1.000.

As for the sandiness - I'm not sure. Maybe the second pitching of yeast just settled out immediately, causing that appearance?

I'd say at this point your best bet is to just taste it. Is it good? If so, awesome! If not, wait a few weeks, see if tastes any better.