Gravity readings off again

Hi all,

I'm currently brewing my 4th batch which is sort of a Belgian Wit/Ale. The recipe is below:

Amount Item
1.75 kg Pale DME (7.2 SRM)
0.75 kg White Wheat Malt (2.4 SRM)
0.50 kg Wheat, Flaked (1.6 SRM)
20.00 gm Saaz [4.00 %] (40 min)
15.00 gm Liberty [4.30 %] (20 min)
0.25 oz Coriander Seed (Boil 5.0 min)
0.50 oz Orange Peel, Bitter (Boil 10.0 min)
1 Pkgs Belgian Wit Ale (White Labs #WLP400)

Projected OG - 1.045
Projected FG - 1.010

I mashed the wheat malt and flaked wheat in a BIAB stove-top setup. During the mash, however, the temps were dropping quite low around 40 minutes in (below 64C) so I turned up the heat on the stove. Unfortunately, I overshot by quite a bit and it went up to roughly 78C, and I only noticed a few minutes later as different parts of the pot were showing drastically different temp readings. Because of this I'm afraid I may have mashed out early. I also forgot to take an OG reading for this batch, stupidly enough.

Anyway, this yeast got going very fast. After 12 hours there was a krausen forming and within 24 the krausen was massive with tons of airlock activity. I took a SG reading around 4 days after fermentation started and it was at 1.024. After reading some threads on this yeast, it became apparent that it would require a bit of nursing, so I started to gently rock the fermentation vessel gently every day to get the yeast back into suspension. After a week I also knocked the temperature up to 22C, up from 20C.

Anyway, long story short, it's been 10 days now and the SG still reads 1.024. It's a bit disconcerting as it firstly doesn't' even taste remotely sweet, but rather quite balanced, and secondly because I'm aiming for 1.012 at most. I'm using the cooper's fermenter so there's a little tap at the bottom where I draw my gravity readings from. I also have to lift this thing out of a chest freezer before I do so.

My question is, if I take readings like this, will the kicked up trub have an effect on the gravity, as I imagine that quite a bit of it gets into my hydrometer tube, or is it safe to say that I'm dealing with a stuck fermentation? Two identical readings 5 days apart can't be coincidental, right?

A stuck fermentation is one possibility, but also be aware that higher mash temperatures produce more dextrinous (i.e., less fermentable) worts. Mashing grain at a higher temp will yield a higher FG in the finished beer than mashing the same grain bill at a lower temp. So it is possible that your high temps are responsible as well.

To make sure your hydrometer readings are correct, you could take your sample and then let it sit for a while to let any trub settle out before you take the reading. Also make sure to correct for the temperature of the sample.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.

I figured that might be the case, but even 1.024 is a bit high with an OG of roughly 1.044 no? That would basically indicate that none of my wheat malt/flaked wheat got fermented, just doesn't seem possible to me. I'd accept something in the 1.01x range. I guess I'll let it sit for a few more days and take another reading. I've read that this yeast ferments slooooow sometimes, although my krausen is starting to fade already. Then again, the airlock's still bubbling. Maybe it's time to invest in a second hydrometer to shy away any doubts.

Thanks for the input.

Yeah, that does seem low. If my math is correct, that's something like 45% attenuation.

Of course we know that the hydrometer is the only accurate indicator of fermentation, but in the case, if your airlock is still bubbling, it is certainly possible that there's still some fermentation going on ... albeit very sloooowly.

I just checked out the reviews of the strain on the White Labs site, and I also saw that it takes some patience. And some people did have good results with gentle rocking to re-suspend the yeast, but I've never actually done that so can't give you any tips or recommendations (sorry).

I'd give it another couple of weeks and just keep checking it.

This is almost certainly a stupid question, but you tried putting your hydrometer in plain tap water and making sure it read 1.000, right? It doesn't sound like a wonked hydrometer is the problem here, but it's always worth a sanity check... I've started doing that before every reading I take (it only takes an extra 5 seconds) just so I can be completely sure the paper on the inside hasn't like slipped or something.

Haha yeah I've done it, and it does read .002 above what it should in distilled water so I already recalculate for that. The actual reading showed 1.026. I'm just gonna let the yeast do its thing. Krausen has fallen now and airlock activity seems to have seized. I'll give it a week and check again.

Well, after numerous consecutive tests, the SG is still the same over the course of about 4 days. I'd say fermentation is done, sadly. It's going to be a very light beer, just close to 3%. Gonna bottle it next week as a 'pansy-ass lightwit'.

I realize with my recipe that it doesn't really fit the Wit profile exactly. It's much more like a Belgian blonde, somewhere between a Leffe and a Hoegaarden. I think it'll still be a good beer.