beer gravity

I took a hydrometer reading after a week because from what I was reading I pitched and kept my carboy too warm for a porter. Being paranoid I checked everything after a week. Everything seems fine, I don't know what the standard process is but OG is 1.062 and after a week is to 1.02. This is a baltic porter where I did add some blackstrap molasses and buckwheat honey. I plan to leave this in the primary for a total of a month before a secondary for flavoring. My general question is (and I know every beer is different) but how long generally would it take for a beer to go from 1.02 to around 1.01? Just curious how this all works. Thanks for any input

Your beer may be as low as it will go now or it may drift down a bit but what is most important is that it is at a stable low point before you decide it is done fermenting. Then additional time in the fermenter is generally good pratice.

Good luck - Mike

the reason to not ferment to high is because it can have off flavors. with this being a porter it will probably be ok, because it will mask some of those flavors. at what temp did you ferment?

Howdy!

First thing is, we need to know the yeast you used, and the recipe would be incredibly helpful.

Give the carboy a bit of a shake to rouse up the yeast, as I tend to get quicker attenuation than you are seeing. Have you seen any signs of fermentation? Bubbling air lock (yes other posters, I know that isn't always an indicator), krausen still formed, etc.?

For me, I get brews to go from 1.060 to 1.012 in about 10 days. Give it another week, but check it in a few days to make sure it is still fermenting.

it tastes okay, alittle molassy, i was told this will refine over time, probably pitched around 80 degrees, i had some issues, if i went on with what they were, this would be a long post, for about 4 to 5 days it fermented in a room that was 74 to 77f , 3 to 4 days later when it started to creep to 80 i moved it to my room and where its 73 to 75, i dont know how much this matters really, i cant remember the yeast, i thought it was a dry ale yeast, if that makes sense, the rest of the brewers best baltic porter kit is
6.6lbs of Porter LME
2 lb Amber DME
Grains
8 oz chocolate
8 oz caramel 80L
8oz caramel 120L
12 oz Crushed Munich 10 L
Hops
2oz bittering
.75oz flavoring

I know the airlock is not an indicator of fermentation, but if bubbles come out, its obviously yeast still doing its thing, I will tap the carboy once in awhile and once inawhile a bubble will pop through,

Sounds like you are right on track to a tasty homebrew. Check the gravity in another week or so and I bet you will be right around your FG.

Until then, kick back, relax and have a homebrew!

okay so i took another hydrometer reading, hasn't changed..., im a little disappointed as I was hoping to be a higher gravity beer, this time I did stir up the bottom, forever that is worth. Hypothetically speaking lets say the alcohol content is not going to change, can't I just rerack to a secondary now and flavor, what would the point be of leaving it in the primary for two more weeks?? Oh, it does taste much better now too. I plan to give it another week as I did stir up the bottom, but as this being my second batch ever, I don't see what stirring the bottom up will do.

rycov said:

the reason to not ferment to high is because it can have off flavors. with this being a porter it will probably be ok, because it will mask some of those flavors. at what temp did you ferment?

Click to expand...

+1 on this. I fermented my first two batches way hot. The first was a porter, and it was decent, and in fact has conditioned up pretty nicely. The second was a pale ale. Well, was supposed to be a pale ale. I'm calling it an "Accidental Belgian" because it has so many freakin' phenols that it tastes more like a sorta-lousy-ish Belgian than anything you might call an APA.

I switched to fermenting in the basement and haven't had a problem with significant off-flavors ever since. (I'm sure a competition judge would beg to differ with me, but hell, it's a hobby and I've only been at it a few months, and I'm really happy with my results so far)

since this is a baltic porter, 1.02 is about where you want to be for an FG. its very unlikely this would get near 1.01 and honestly I dont think you'd want it to.

dcp27 is right about it having a proper FG. Baltic Porters have an FG range of 1.016 to 1.024, so you are where you need to be for the style.

When stirring the brew in the fermenter be careful not to do it too vigorously; at this point adding oxygen is a bad thing. As posted above, you are trying to kick back up some yeast that is settled but able to keep fermenting, but is unable to get to the beer.

okay i am content with the 5.4% content, if i did that right, so theoretically can i rerack and flavor now?, or is there a benefit to let it sit for another week or two? thanks for the thoughts

Yes, it benefits to leave it for a bit even if it's not fermenting down more. The yeast is still conditioning the beer. How long has it been? I'd aim for 3 weeks since brew day (a 4th week wouldn't hurt).

BTW, Baltic Porters typically use lager yeast, although I suspect this kit didn't. If the beer starts with "Porter" LME (?) and Amber DME and then adds a couple pounds of specialty grains, it will not get down to 1.010. There's too many un-fermentables for that.