Blackmuse
Well-Known Member
I recently tweaked a William's Brewing Porter Kit to make a chocolate ginger root porter... Here's my Brew notes and a few questions.
5 gallons - 3 gallon boil
6 lbs of "Dark" LME (William's Kit) @ 60 min mark
Bittering Hops (William's Kit) @ 55 min mark
1/4 cup (just over) Shredded Fresh Ginger root @ 40 min mark (yes in boil)
Finishing Hops (William's Kit) @ 5 min mark
1/4 cup Cacao Sweet Nibs - added to fermenter just before yeast
Pitched Yeast (German Ale Yeast WY1007) @ 78 degrees (yes I know, TOO HIGH)
Starting OG = 1.044 (with temp variance included)
- William's Kit did not give hops names or Ounces
- Also didn't give the yeast strain temp ranges so I was not aware of Ferm. temps being able to tolerate 55 - 68 degrees!
Fermentation started sometime that night (after 10 pm) and by day 6 all bubbles had stopped. Temp range (ambient) during that time ranged from 62 to 67 until day 8 and 9 when it hit 68-69 and I brought it down stairs to 60 degree fermenter temperature (thermometer taped to outside of bucket).
On day 7 I did a quick taste test (spigot on bucket) and it was amazing!! Slight ginger taste with perfect dark chocolate aftertaste!! Very dark, mellow brew. Soooo good!
So what's the issue? Why trouble shoot?
Today marks day 13 and I did another taste test and a gravity reading...
First, the taste test:
Wicked ginger taste and smell, not horrible but definitely at the front! Yet, the chocolate aftertaste is nothing more than a slight bitterness you'd get from a piece of dark chocolate! Bummer - I had such high hopes! Not that it is bad but from my first taste I thought this was going to be killer and that a second taste a week later would only taste better!
Second, Final Gravity:
1.022! Stuck ferm? It went for 6 days and then some!
I may be over reacting as I have only taken the one FG test but I figured it would be much lower by now! It started only at 1.044... It still has a ways to go for 1/4 of the OG or is my math wrong?
So my questions:
As far as the ginger taste:
1. Did I just use too much ginger?
2. Did the high Ferm. temps cause a stronger ginger taste? (there was no fruity or harsh alcohol tastes usually caused by high ferms.)
3. Should I not have put it in the boil (it smelled so good!) but rather dropped it in a secondary fermenter for a few days instead? (I really didn't want to rack to a secondary just for the sake of ginger)
As for the Gravity:
1. Is 1.022 too high to have after nearly 2 weeks with a start of 1.044?
2. What should my FG be? (I thought 1.011)
3. Do you think it is stuck or will it drop enough?
I understand all brews take their own sweet ass time and that no bubbles doesn't mean it isn't still fermenting (it is) but I was hoping to bottle next weekend and I don't think it has dropped nearly as much as it should have. This IS only my 3rd brew and I am learning new things all the time but there still seems so much more to master!
One last question:
Could I boil some more Cacao Nibs down with my priming suger to regain some of that chocolate taste it used to have? If I did, would it be better to just add it after the priming sugar has boiled and begins to cool?
Sorry for such a long post but I was just trying to provide enough details to get some Q' answered. I realize the myriad variables.
5 gallons - 3 gallon boil
6 lbs of "Dark" LME (William's Kit) @ 60 min mark
Bittering Hops (William's Kit) @ 55 min mark
1/4 cup (just over) Shredded Fresh Ginger root @ 40 min mark (yes in boil)
Finishing Hops (William's Kit) @ 5 min mark
1/4 cup Cacao Sweet Nibs - added to fermenter just before yeast
Pitched Yeast (German Ale Yeast WY1007) @ 78 degrees (yes I know, TOO HIGH)
Starting OG = 1.044 (with temp variance included)
- William's Kit did not give hops names or Ounces
- Also didn't give the yeast strain temp ranges so I was not aware of Ferm. temps being able to tolerate 55 - 68 degrees!
Fermentation started sometime that night (after 10 pm) and by day 6 all bubbles had stopped. Temp range (ambient) during that time ranged from 62 to 67 until day 8 and 9 when it hit 68-69 and I brought it down stairs to 60 degree fermenter temperature (thermometer taped to outside of bucket).
On day 7 I did a quick taste test (spigot on bucket) and it was amazing!! Slight ginger taste with perfect dark chocolate aftertaste!! Very dark, mellow brew. Soooo good!
So what's the issue? Why trouble shoot?
Today marks day 13 and I did another taste test and a gravity reading...
First, the taste test:
Wicked ginger taste and smell, not horrible but definitely at the front! Yet, the chocolate aftertaste is nothing more than a slight bitterness you'd get from a piece of dark chocolate! Bummer - I had such high hopes! Not that it is bad but from my first taste I thought this was going to be killer and that a second taste a week later would only taste better!
Second, Final Gravity:
1.022! Stuck ferm? It went for 6 days and then some!
I may be over reacting as I have only taken the one FG test but I figured it would be much lower by now! It started only at 1.044... It still has a ways to go for 1/4 of the OG or is my math wrong?
So my questions:
As far as the ginger taste:
1. Did I just use too much ginger?
2. Did the high Ferm. temps cause a stronger ginger taste? (there was no fruity or harsh alcohol tastes usually caused by high ferms.)
3. Should I not have put it in the boil (it smelled so good!) but rather dropped it in a secondary fermenter for a few days instead? (I really didn't want to rack to a secondary just for the sake of ginger)
As for the Gravity:
1. Is 1.022 too high to have after nearly 2 weeks with a start of 1.044?
2. What should my FG be? (I thought 1.011)
3. Do you think it is stuck or will it drop enough?
I understand all brews take their own sweet ass time and that no bubbles doesn't mean it isn't still fermenting (it is) but I was hoping to bottle next weekend and I don't think it has dropped nearly as much as it should have. This IS only my 3rd brew and I am learning new things all the time but there still seems so much more to master!
One last question:
Could I boil some more Cacao Nibs down with my priming suger to regain some of that chocolate taste it used to have? If I did, would it be better to just add it after the priming sugar has boiled and begins to cool?
Sorry for such a long post but I was just trying to provide enough details to get some Q' answered. I realize the myriad variables.