Advice needed: high finishing gravity

Hi folks. Long-time lurker, first-time poster.

I'm working on my first batch, a True Brew Irish Stout kit. Prepared according to the kit instructions, although I neglected to take an original gravity reading. The kit instructions claim the OG should be 1.043 - 1.045 and the final gravity 1.010 - 1.012. The kit contained 1 can of dark LME, 2 lbs of dark DME, steeping grains and Munton's Ale yeast. Shortly after pitching my yeast (at 80 degrees) -- about 6 hours later -- I saw bubbling in the airlock. 48 hours later the bubbling had stopped completely.

I then checked old threads in the HBT forums for advice on this and the consensus seemed to be to RAHAHB so I did. The beer has been in the primary fermenter for almost two weeks now at ~65 degrees and I haven't touched it until tonight when I took a gravity reading.

At 65 degrees, the hydrometer showed 1.020. I'm a little worried now that, after priming, any residual sugars in the beer might create bottle bombs. Am I just being paranoid?

could be the 1.020 extract curse...theres a nice little link in this thread too.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/slow-fermentation-wwyd-176038/

Using only dark extract, you were lucky to get that low. Unfortunately, there probably isn't anything you can do about it now. Warm it up into the low 70s and swirl the fermenter a few times a day, and if it hasn't dropped further after another week it's just done.

The most vigorous part of fermentation is over but that doesn't mean that your yeast are finished. I would let it warm up just a bit, like suggested, and check your gravity in a week or so. I usually don't even think about checking gravity until after 3 weeks.

I'm brand new as well, so this is just a question, not a statement with a question mark, lol.

Isn't 80 too high to pitch yeast since fermentation itself creates heat? What I mean is, if it were pitched at lower temp, you'd theoretically get a slower fermentation, but would that make the yeast more effective at eating the sugars?

JNye said:

could be the 1.020 extract curse...theres a nice little link in this thread too.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f39/slow-fermentation-wwyd-176038/

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Thanks for the link. Lot of good info in that thread.

a10t2 said:

Using only dark extract, you were lucky to get that low.

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Why is that? Does dark base malt contain fewer fermentable sugars as compared to pale?

Kast said:

Why is that? Does dark base malt contain fewer fermentable sugars as compared to pale?

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Yes. There is also a wide variability across manufacturers.

GT

tvtoms said:

I'm brand new as well, so this is just a question, not a statement with a question mark, lol.

Isn't 80 too high to pitch yeast since fermentation itself creates heat? What I mean is, if it were pitched at lower temp, you'd theoretically get a slower fermentation, but would that make the yeast more effective at eating the sugars?

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As I understand it, 80 is on the high side and may lead to a faster (although not necessarily healthier) fermentation. Optimum pitching temps vary but are usually in the low to mid-70s for ale yeasts. After the boil, I quickly found that chilling my wort was a lot more difficult than I had planned for, so I will be better prepared for my next batch.

I just finished listening to 3 episodes of Basic Brewing Radio podcasts on yeast with David Logsdon of Wyeast. There is a ton of good information in there. Check them out here.

After the boil, I quickly found that chilling my wort was a lot more difficult than I had planned for, so I will be better prepared for my next batch.

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Me too. Ice baths just don't cut it... need an immersion chiller or something better.

Have you tried the ice bath, and then adding a bunch of salt to it? It SHOULD allow the water to get even colder for longer, but I've seen lots of videos and read a lot, and nobody mentions it.

It would get the water colder, but that doesn't actually change the amount of energy required to heat or melt the ice. So the amount of ice needed to cool a given amount of wort to a given temperature would stay constant.

I don't like the idea of leaving my beer in the primary for more than 2 weeks but, after moving the fermenter to a warmer part of the house and giving it a good swirl, I decided to leave it for a few more days. The temp is now around 70 and I am again seeing slow but regular bubbling out of the airlock, so I am going to leave it alone. Maybe I can drop an additional point or two from the FG.

Thanks for the feedback.

Most people here primary for 3 or 4 weeks and don't even secondary at all unless they are adding fruit or dry hopping.

After moving the fermenter to a warmer part of the house almost five days ago, it seemed to kickstart the process again. I noticed regular bubbling in the airlock and I assumed all was well. Even today, I was noticing slow but regular bubbling in the airlock. That worried me, so I decided to go for another gravity reading and taste test.

The gravity had dropped to 1013, but I could immediately tell that something was wrong. The color of the beer had gone from stout black to a milky, dark amber brown. It didn't smell bad, but it did have a medicinal, band-aidy odor. It tastes terrible. I couldn't even swallow it. It left a lingering, burning sensation in the mouth, more akin to Listerine than beer.

Seems like bacteria to me. It's a damn shame too because I was incredibly anal about sanitation throughout the process. I think the failure was a result of moving the fermenter to such a warm part of the house after the beer had been sitting idle for almost two weeks. I should have just bottled it.

I think the real problem was with the yeast. That Muntons Ale Yeast is selected for kit beers with added table sugar. After doing some reading, it appears that this strain of yeast doesn't do well with dark malts and more complex sugars, so it's no wonder the fermentation stopped after a little over 24 hours. My recipe was all dark malt. The yeast had done as much as it could do. And when I moved it to warmer temps I practically invited bacteria to finish devouring those more complex sugars left in the wort.

Oh well. I'll do better next time.

Aww crap.

Kast said:

it did have a medicinal, band-aidy odor.

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There are experts who are expertier than me on this, but I believe the band-aid odor can also come from chlorine in your water. (But then why would that wait 2 weeks to show up? Not an expert...)

Is this one of those things that will go away with time and maturation? I hope you didn't throw it away yet.

SlipknotMcGee said:

Aww crap.

There are experts who are expertier than me on this, but I believe the band-aid odor can also come from chlorine in your water. (But then why would that wait 2 weeks to show up? Not an expert...)

Is this one of those things that will go away with time and maturation? I hope you didn't throw it away yet.

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I didn't notice that odor in my earlier taste test, so it's a new addition. Actually, during my last taste test, the beer was quite good. The contrast between then and now is striking. Besides, I used a campden tablet to knock the chlorine out of my water. I may be a total noob, but I don't think any amount of aging is going to turn this stuff back into beer.

I haven't dumped it yet but I am going to. I want to clean up the fermenter so I can get started on another batch right away. As the saying goes, we learn more from our failures than our successes. That makes me wonder why I'm not a damn genius by now.

its only been 3 weeks. you are nowhere near dumping stage. the fact that you can't even swallow it does sound troublesome, but still i wouldn't go dumping yet. at least spend the hour to bottle it.

It's possible your swirling aerated the beer and introduced something bad to it. How fierce did you swirl?

If you managed to restart fermentation, then you might be getting some nasty flavors from the yeast that hasn't broken down, but will with time.

It's also possible that your warm fermentation caused the off flavors but they didn't become apparent until you warmed the beer. The good news there is that since you will be drinking your beer at a cooler temperature you'll never notice them again.


As everybody else said, it's way to early to dump.

ReverseApacheMaster said:

It's possible your swirling aerated the beer and introduced something bad to it. How fierce did you swirl?

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I kept the lid and swirled the fermenter around in one direction for about 3 seconds, then rolled it in the other direction for 3 seconds. Becuase we aren't sterilizing this stuff, there are bound to be some bacteria spores in the wort at all times. The question is whether or not we're giving them the opportunity to outgrow the yeast. In my case, those spores were either there from the beginning or I introduced them when taking that initial gravity reading. In either case, it seems the higher temperatures and lack of yeast activity were enough to make the environment favorable for bacteria growth. But this is just a guess.

If you managed to restart fermentation, then you might be getting some nasty flavors from the yeast that hasn't broken down, but will with time.

It's also possible that your warm fermentation caused the off flavors but they didn't become apparent until you warmed the beer. The good news there is that since you will be drinking your beer at a cooler temperature you'll never notice them again.

As everybody else said, it's way to early to dump.

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This stuff is pretty nasty. I wouldn't call it an "off flavor" so much as flavorless cough medicine. Also, the whole color thing throws me off. How did it go from being black to hazy amber? That's definitely weird. Is that a common occurrence with contamination?

Maybe I'll pick up another fermenter for my next batch and leave the stout in the fermenter for another week and see what happens.

Kast said:

How did it go from being black to hazy amber?

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It's probably just yeast mixed through the beer because of the swirling. This could definitely be the source of 'off' flavours. If you're intent on dumping it, at least wait until the yeast have dropped out of suspension again and give it another taste.

And then...wait another couple of months before deciding it's ruined. You'll never learn anything if you don't find out what happens over time. Even if it IS infected (which it almost certainly isn't), you're not going to learn a huge amount by tipping it out at this stage. Chances are you would end up tipping out your next brew too, and then giving up on brewing.

Good luck.