freisste
Well-Known Member
Hi all,
I'm still pretty new, but I think I'm starting to get used to the whole process. For my fourth brew, I decided to do the obligatory "New Brewer Goes All Out" brew. It is an Imperial Stout to which I am going to add bourbon, vanilla and oak chips.
I brewed a couple weeks ago and put it in my root cellar. Plenty of airlock activity. It ended up getting pretty cold (like low 40s), which obviously slowed fermentation. I brought it upstairs so I could keep it in the low 60s Wyeast 1056, BTW), which is ideal. Out of curiousity, I took a gravity reading. From an OG of 1.108, it is down to 1.040. I used Hopville to create the recipe, and it suggested it would have a FG of 1.024.
So my questions:
1. Is it likely that I have a stuck fermentation from cooling the yeast too much? I already got it back up to the low 60's and gave it a bit of a swirl, so hopefully it will get going again if that is the case.
2. If not a stuck fermentation, is this possibly an extension of the 1.020 extract barrier? It was a partial mash with ~9lbs grain + 6lbs DME, so could I be getting 20 points from the extract and 20 points from the mash?
Further questions:
3. How much will this brew change from a mouthfeel/head perspective? I tasted the sample and it was pretty good (a little harsh, like I mixed a shot of coffee with a shot of cheap vodka, but I'm not worried about that), but what I loved was the head retention (I actually had to use a straw to suck off the foam so I could read my hydrometer) and body. Is it likely that these things will degrate during aging?
Sorry to be so long-winded. Thanks in advance for your input. This forum is great.
I'm still pretty new, but I think I'm starting to get used to the whole process. For my fourth brew, I decided to do the obligatory "New Brewer Goes All Out" brew. It is an Imperial Stout to which I am going to add bourbon, vanilla and oak chips.
I brewed a couple weeks ago and put it in my root cellar. Plenty of airlock activity. It ended up getting pretty cold (like low 40s), which obviously slowed fermentation. I brought it upstairs so I could keep it in the low 60s Wyeast 1056, BTW), which is ideal. Out of curiousity, I took a gravity reading. From an OG of 1.108, it is down to 1.040. I used Hopville to create the recipe, and it suggested it would have a FG of 1.024.
So my questions:
1. Is it likely that I have a stuck fermentation from cooling the yeast too much? I already got it back up to the low 60's and gave it a bit of a swirl, so hopefully it will get going again if that is the case.
2. If not a stuck fermentation, is this possibly an extension of the 1.020 extract barrier? It was a partial mash with ~9lbs grain + 6lbs DME, so could I be getting 20 points from the extract and 20 points from the mash?
Further questions:
3. How much will this brew change from a mouthfeel/head perspective? I tasted the sample and it was pretty good (a little harsh, like I mixed a shot of coffee with a shot of cheap vodka, but I'm not worried about that), but what I loved was the head retention (I actually had to use a straw to suck off the foam so I could read my hydrometer) and body. Is it likely that these things will degrate during aging?
Sorry to be so long-winded. Thanks in advance for your input. This forum is great.