Did I do the right thing?

Hey,

Just went to bottle an IPA from extract kit. Has been sitting in primary for four weeks. After sterilising my gear I then decided to check the gravity (arseways I know) only to find out it was at 1.017. Fek! Temp was a fairly constant 18 degrees celcius but can't say for sure as I was away for a while.

I checked the hygrometer and it is properly calibrated so then I got my paddle and stirred up some of the trub at the bottom, stuck on a brewbelt 2 inches from bottom and refilled the airlock. I'm hoping something happens in next few days as I would really like to clear out my bins for the next brew. I wont be around for about 4 weeks after that you see. All my planning gone out the window!

Some more info - OG was 1.041, expected FG is 1.01 (I think). I think I have a pack of Safale 04 somewhere so his could be an option I guess. Any ideas?

Thanks,
Steve.

I would expect it to get to about 1.012 to 1.010 at best. What yeast is this?

Hopefully the stir and the heat will encourage them to finish, but you're really not THAT far off. Some beers just don't attenuate as much as we'd like. I don't think it's really worth another yeast packet. I recently put a packet of s-04 into my pumpkin to bring the FG down from 1.026 and it didn't do anything. I must have been high on unfermentables, but that's not likely the case in an extract brew.

Hi, thanks Coastarine. If it is still 1.017 on Monday do you reckon I should just go and bottle it? Am I putting myself at risk of bottle bombs?

Also, I have my sugar soln in the pot still and it has cooled (obviously I was overconfident that this was bottling day!) - will this keep for a few days or should I just write it off and chuck it?

I wouldn't have used a paddle to stir it up. If I thought it were stuck, I would have re-sealed and gentle agitated the sealed fermenter gently to re-suspend the yeast.

If you did that today, I wouldn't bottle, I'd wait a few days, (a) to see if you drop a few more points. And, (b) To let all the trub you kicked up fall back down and let the beer clear a bit more, since all that beautiful 4 weeks of patient clearing has now gone away for a bit...So just let it re-settle for a few days.

I find that anything below 1.019 is okay to bottle...I've even bottle a 1.020 that had stayed that way for several days...anything above that I feel is a risk for bottle bombs.

Also a 2-4 points above the expected FG range is no big deal....

Since you agitated and warmed, you'll probably get a few more points over the next few days, as the yeast wake up from their snooze.



(If you have a sanitized jar, you can save the sugar water in the fridge...just reboil and cool on the NEW bottling day. Or since you have some "simple syrup" now, whip up a batch of Mint Juileps with it.)