Paranoid...maybe just a little

Pitched my first batch of ESB on saturday at 6:00pm. Temp in basement 68 degrees. Started seeing a bubble every 3-4 seconds 24 hours later. 24 hours after that, no more bubbles (or so it appears). Just left it alone for a few days and today I took a gravity of 1.015. Of course being a noob I aerated the batch before taking an initial gravity, so it was impossible to do thru all the foam. So I don't have an initial gravity to compare to. So I was just going to take gravities for the next three days. Does the gravity seem low for an ESB?

Thanks,
Greg

1.015 is not 'low' for anything - except maybe super sweet wine.

It will probably go down to ~1.012 or maybe a tad lower. If your reading is the same over the next three days then you're good to go.

What was your recipie? From that we could estimate your OG.

According to the Brewmaster's Bible the FG for an ESB should be 1.010-1.016. Now certainly individual recipes can change that range but I'd say if you have a 1.015 you're not far off from what you should expect. I'd bet that if the gravity remains the same for 3 days you're set.

boo boo said:

What was your recipie? From that we could estimate your OG.

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MidWest Classic ESB Extract Kit
6 lbs. Gold liquid malt extract
8 oz. Caramel 40°L
2 oz. Chocolate malt
2 oz. Roasted Barley specialty grains
3.5 oz. of hops
Irish Moss
Munton's 6 gm dry yeast.

I really like Bitter beer, so it was a logical first choice for me.

Although 6 grams of yeast will ferment the wort, it is a bit low. Usually I use 11grams for a typicial ale recipie if I'm using dry yeast and I re-hydrate it.
I would expect a further drop of at least a couple more points. Leave it for another week in primary ( or two ) and bottle from there, if the gravity remains the same over a three day peroid.

I believe your FG should be about 1.011 for that recipe. Maybe next time you check your gravity give it a bit of a stir to get the yeast back in suspension, then check it again in a couple of days to see if it drops. If it stays steady, bottle it. It's only been five days since you brewed it so waiting a while to bottle isn't going to hurt.

Extract brews will often finish with a slightly higher FG. I'd let it sit for a bit longer and see what happens.

HOOTER said:

I believe your FG should be about 1.011 for that recipe. Maybe next time you check your gravity give it a bit of a stir to get the yeast back in suspension, then check it again in a couple of days to see if it drops. If it stays steady, bottle it. It's only been five days since you brewed it so waiting a while to bottle isn't going to hurt.

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I gotta disagree with this advice. Don't stir! You'll aerate it, which is the last thing you want to do now. Just leave it sit, and when it's done, it's done.

Thanks for all the responses. Since everyone is sitting around watching their beer ferment, may I take this opportunity to ask a couple more questions.

1. So it is ok to give the wort a little stir to possibly liven things up a bit?

2. Will going to a secondary gain me anything in addition to clarity (probably a bad question considering the amount of opinions I've noticed on this subject)?

3. aaahh ... I forgot. If it comes to me later, I'll ask.

Thanks all,
Greg

YooperBrew said:

I gotta disagree with this advice. Don't stir! You'll aerate it, which is the last thing you want to do now. Just leave it sit, and when it's done, it's done.

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Could I get a few more opinions on the stirring. It's tied at 1 right now.

Greg

I would advise against stirring. If you have to do it, make sure to sanitize your spoon thoroughly, and stir very slowly and carefully so that you introduce as little oxygen as possible. Get in, get done, get out, as little intrusion as you can.

That said, just don't stir it. Trust your yeast.

nelsongg said:

Could I get a few more opinions on the stirring. It's tied at 1 right now.

Greg

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My opinion is that you should never question YooperBrew.

YooperBrew said:

I gotta disagree with this advice. Don't stir! You'll aerate it, which is the last thing you want to do now. Just leave it sit, and when it's done, it's done.

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I'm not saying shake it around or stir it vigorously, just a gentle stir with a sanitized racking cane. I'm far from an expert but my LHBS owner is (the dude has actually taken college courses on brewing at UC Davis) and I just had a discussion about this subject with him last weekend. He recommended gently stirring to stimulate fermentation. Is this really bad advice?

Yes, I think it's bad advice. If the sg is 1.015, it's about done. Now, if it was 1.020 and up, you could gently pick up the fermenter and sort of swirl it (without opening) just to resuspend the yeast. But in this case, it's actually done, or at least within a point of two. There is very little co2 coming out of suspension to protect from any oxidation. Oxidizing now would be the worst thing to do- it's not stuck if it's at 1.015, especially if it's been only 5 days since fermentation started! I don't know the yeast used, or the OG, so I'm guessing here at the finishing gravity, but if it was something like Windsor yeast or London Ale ESB yeast (those finish higher) and the recipe had some unfermentables in it, it's about done. In a couple of days, it might be about 1.013 or so, but I wouldn't expect much more.

Even it if was 1.020, though, I wouldn't open and stir. I'd swirl gently, but not open and stir.

Still, others have different ideas and that's ok. That's why we have a forum!

I'd recommend going with Yooper on this one nelson. When my LHBS guy told me to gently stir it was in reference to my IPA that's stuck at 1.022 and he said to do it when checking gravity because it would be open and I would be sticking a racking cane into it anyway. Your situation's different and Yooper is clearly a journeyman brewer and a reliable source of info.

My theory is that it probably wouldn't be a bad thing, but why risk it? 1.015 is a fine finishing gravity. Might be a little higher than we math nuts might like, but I'm betting you can barely tell the diff between 1.011 and 1.015.

You have two easy options: let it sit in primary to condition a little more (and possibly drop 3 more points), or move it to secondary to clear and condition (and I bet the act of racking does just the same as stirring and it goes down the same 3 points).

Either way - keep it in a bucket or carboy for at least 2 more weeks (primary or secondary) before you even think it's done.

it hasn't even been a week. don't agitate, don't stir. let it finish. i rarely rack a beer before it's been at least 2 weeks in the primary.

Thanks to all who responded and even to those who read the responses and learned some more as I did.
The ESB stays where it is until I get 3 days of equal gravity readings. Then it will be off to secondary. Why?? Just because I haven't done it before and to justify buying the carboys to the wife. She has to see me using all the new home brew toys.

Thanks all,
Greg

nelsongg said:

Thanks to all who responded and even to those who read the responses and learned some more as I did.
The ESB stays where it is until I get 3 days of equal gravity readings. Then it will be off to secondary. Why?? Just because I haven't done it before and to justify buying the carboys to the wife. She has to see me using all the new home brew toys.
Thanks all,
Greg

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LOL...thats funny. Best not to tell her all the details and then she wouldn't have known what you're not using.

jezter6 said:

I'm betting you can barely tell the diff between 1.011 and 1.015.

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You can certainly tell when you bottle it. If you still have four points to go when you prime and bottle it, then you can wind up with bombs on your hands.

I agree that you should not stir it. Besides being a pain in the butt, you risk oxidation and contamination for very little gain. After all, it hasn't even been in the primary for a week. I would wait until, at least, Sunday (preferably Tuesday or Wednesday) and then rack to your secondary. Racking rouses the yeast more effectively than just about anything else, so if it needs to finish up a few more points, it will. It sounds like you are going to rack, anyhow.


TL