Hydrometer and ABV on my new batch?

So my OG was 1.054 on an Irish red ale kit from AHB. I added their "Alcohol booster" just to see what it would do.
My last two readings were 1.023 and the one I took about 4 days earlier was 1.026. It seems fermentation has stopped but by my calculations I have a 4% beer on my hands( 1.054-1.023= .031 X 131= 4.0? WTF? I mean the gravity could have dropped a little bit from yesterday to today, I'm not really sure as if it did it's a very minute amount, so should I leave it for another week in secondary?
I mean it only called for 5 pounds of LME...could that be the issue? Any advice? I was planning on bottling tomorrow but now I'm not so sure.



Dan

in my opinion 1.023 is too high to bottle.
most beers finish around 1.008 to 1.012.
what fg did the instructions say to shoot for?

FG should be around 1.012 from what the AHB guy said.

Ok so I called AHB and they said to give another yeast packet a try with a yeast energizer. I described my process and he said I didn't aerate enough after the boil and that's probably why I got the stuck fermentation. He told me not to worry about aerating it again (whoops, I already had) and that if the new yeast didn't work to just bottle and enjoy as it still tastes good. We will see, but at least now I know what I did wrong.

What was cool is that they are shipping the stuff out to me free of charge.
Dan

hope it turns out ok
good luck

rod said:

hope it turns out ok
good luck

Click to expand...

Either way it's still beer and it tastes good, it will be around 4.5% instead of the 5.5 to 6 I was hoping for.



Dan

well I followed the instructions and added the Yeast energizer and sprinkled the nottingham on top. It's been about a day and a half. There are clumps of yeast on top and very few bubbles but no real action. Not sure what I should do now? Bottle?


Dan

I don't think you are going to see a lot of airlock action like when it was fermenting at early stage. I assume the temperature is in the mid to high 60's because a warmer temp may help get the yeast working harder. I would twist the fermenter a few time to stir it a bit and wait.

What temperature are you fermenting it at?

The temp as per the fermometer is at 70 and we keep our house at a steady 72-74 degrees so that should be about right. I didn't figure I would have as much activity as before because of the alcohol content but right now I can't tell if there is any at all. Right now based on the gravity readings it's about 4.5% ABV which is cool if thats all I'll get out of it. I can move it to a warmer area in the house which will bring it up a couple degrees if that will help. I will probably check the gravity again tomorrow and see where it is.


Dan

If it's at 70 then it should be good. If the OG is not dropping then you have a stuck ferment 1020+ is to high if it's supposed to get to 1012.
You;ll probably find that given time it will drop. If not give it a swirl to agitate and get the yeast back into suspension. (Lasy Ba****ds)

orfy said:

If it's at 70 then it should be good. If the OG is not dropping then you have a stuck ferment 1020+ is to high if it's supposed to get to 1012.
You;ll probably find that given time it will drop. If not give it a swirl to agitate and get the yeast back into suspension. (Lasy Ba****ds)

Click to expand...

Yeah luckily I'm in no shortage of beer so I think I'll let it sit another week and see. I think I should be able to let it ferment out to around 1.017-8 or so. I think it's just slow is all. At least with this batch I learned about the whole aeration part and realized what I did wrong because I wouldn't have discovered that in my notes. So this won't happen next time. I'm glad there are people that love beer as much as I do out there that are willing to write books, start internet forums, and stores that are willing to help you as well.


Dan

Welp, no fermentation and the gravity is the same as it was a week ago. Looks like I will bottle tomorrow. I took a reading last night and it was 1.021 down from 1.056. which leaves me with about 4.5 ABV and really nice tasting Red, albiet a little sweeter. We will see how it comes out of the bottle in a week or so. Thanks for everyones help.


Dan