Question on fermentation

Hello!! I am a relatively newbie. I have brewed about 2 decent extract beers in the past but the last one I made ended up nowhere near the correct FG. I think I figured out the problem (way too high OG, didn't calculate OG, etc).

So I recently got a new brew going and just wanted some advice...

Here's the details
2.2 gallon start
2 gallon batch

3.5 lb Muntons IPA LME
1 oz Falconers flight 7c at 40 min
1 oz Falconers flight 7c at 15 min
1 oz Centennial at flameout

Cooled to 70 degrees in ice bath
Pitched 10 gm rehydrated Safale US 05
Used yeast nutrient additive
Shook to aerate X 2-3 min

OG was perfect at 1.061 as calculated

Ferm is going well but checked SG yesterday (day 5 of primary ferm) and it was only down to 1.030!?!? (FG calc'd at 1.015)

Is this just a matter of needing more time or is there something I missed?
I was fairly meticulous with cleaning (I was a microbiology major in college) and am just not sure if I'm doing something wrong or just impatient. Airlock is still bubbling but has slowed dramatically from days2-3.

Thanks y'all for the advice!!!

Eric

Don't be in such a hurry. Give it another week. Yeast works on their own schedule, not the schedule of humans. They're alive. They do what they want to do. Patience is all that's needed. Also don't rack it, just leave it alone.

I agree with dmtaylor, relax and give it some time, if you really wanted to you could give it a quick the fermenter a quick shake if you think the yeast has stalled but nothing more.

Also, look at the optimal conditions for that yeast strand, at 70 degrees you might be getting towards the top pitch temp and if you are only doing an ice bath there might be a temp difference exceeding optimal conditions in the center of the fermenter.

I am a 3-4 WEEK primary guy, myself (depending on the beer). 5 days IMHO its just getting started man. Cover it and forget about it for a while. You will be rewarded for your patience.

Cheers
Jay

I'd give it a few more days and take another gravity sample and see where' you're at.

What temp are you fermenting at?
Also, don't judge the fermenting by the bubbling in the airlock. Yeast can still be active, and usually are, even though there's no airlock activity. Best bet is to keep taking gravity samples every few days and see if it's dropping. Once it settles out you can bottle/keg. Once you go through the fermentation process a few times more you'll be able to stop taking several gravity readings and just take one at the end of fermentation to know how much alcohol you made. It just takes time to learn your processes.

Get another fermentor and brew a 2nd batch. It will help you forget about this beer and you wont mess with it as much and it wont seem like you're waiting as long! Having more beer on hand isn't a bad thing either

If you read this, you'll understand why your first beer's gravity APPEARED to be off.... Attention new brewers, yes your original gravity reading is wrong. Don't panic.

And like the other folks have said, back away from your beer. I rarely even look at my fermenters for 3 weeks, and usually don't do anything to them for 4. We're not in charge, the yeast are, they don't read calendars or instruction, and if we leave them alone to do their thing, and give the time to do their thing (including cleaning up after themselves AFTER fermentation if you leave them alone long enough) you'll make great beer.

Thanks guys! I appreciate the input.

I was fermenting at 64-65 degrees before and I moved it to about 67-68 last night because I read 64-65 might be too low (per Safale ideal is 55-71). Should I move it back to lower temp ferm'ing. I did give it a quick shake as well.

I've got some cellared beers from the last two years I'll partake in to distract me for the next couple weeks!!

Thanks again

I'm a newbie as well. I read that aeration should occur prior to pitching yeast. Was this a potential flaw in OP process?

redface45 said:

Thanks guys! I appreciate the input.

I was fermenting at 64-65 degrees before and I moved it to about 67-68 last night because I read 64-65 might be too low (per Safale ideal is 55-71). Should I move it back to lower temp ferm'ing. I did give it a quick shake as well.

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I think you're fine. At this stage the most important factor is time. I don't think a 1-2 degree difference is going to change all that much, especially when its well within US-05's tolerances.

redface45 said:

I've got some cellared beers from the last two years I'll partake in to distract me for the next couple weeks!!

Click to expand...

That's a necessary step in any fermentation process!

TripelDubbel said:

I'm a newbie as well. I read that aeration should occur prior to pitching yeast. Was this a potential flaw in OP process?

Click to expand...

In my (relatively recent) experience aeration is not that big of a factor, especially in a very basic IPA profile. Its always nice to aerate, but I've found that the yeast will eventually "get there." Especially in a situation where the original recipe has pitching almost a full packet of yeast into a much smaller batch.

Its good practice to aerate but on some of my batches I have done it and on others I've forgotten and they've all worked out.

Thanks

Jaybird said:

I am a 3-4 WEEK primary guy, myself (depending on the beer). 5 days IMHO its just getting started man. Cover it and forget about it for a while. You will be rewarded for your patience.

Cheers
Jay

Click to expand...

One of the hardest lessons I ever had to learn in home brewing is time... Originally I was bottling after one or two weeks in the fermenter (after confirming with a hydrometer that I've reached FG), now I leave everything in the primary for at least a month. It makes for me a better aged product and helps with clarification... I've attached an image of my Octoberfest that was in the fermenter from late January to the end of April when I bottled it... It's already amazingly clear!

Let the beer sit in the Primary, test the gravity in a week and then see where you stand. RDWHAHB!

jpakstis said:

In my (relatively recent) experience aeration is not that big of a factor, especially in a very basic IPA profile. Its always nice to aerate, but I've found that the yeast will eventually "get there." Especially in a situation where the original recipe has pitching almost a full packet of yeast into a much smaller batch.

Its good practice to aerate but on some of my batches I have done it and on others I've forgotten and they've all worked out.

Click to expand...

On the basic brewing podcast recently, Chris White was at the Homebrew conference in New Zealand recently and gave a speech about yeast, I'm quoting out of context but in part of it he said aerating your wort is very important for the yeast to make sure they have what they need to attenuate, and even breweries are finding that they are under aerating their wort. He recommends a good 1-2 mins of dissolved 02 into the wort.

Now will you still make beer without it, of course but sometimes you want your beer to be the best it can be

feel free to bump up the temp to 70. most ester formation happens at beginning of process when yeast is multiplying/etc. by the time you hit midpoint thats done and yeast is slowing down, dying off, etc. i find that getting us05 to 70 kicks them into action if they've slowed down a bunch or stalled. then give it a few days and check again.

Ok so I drank some nice cellar beers and waited till today. It's been 2 full weeks and 10 days since I checked initially but I'm still sitting at 1.030!?!?!??? This is what I was afraid of. My OG was right on predicted. I used a yeast pitch calculator and added a correct amount of rehydrated US-05. Was kept at 64-65 degrees for ~ 7 d and has been at 68-70 for the last 7 days...... Any thoughts on what's going wrong? Can it be saved? I have some US-04 and some generic Muntons ale yeast around. Very frustrating but glad I picked up some local craft brews yesterday to temporarily drown my sorrows!! Thanks for you help (let's hope!)

redface45 said:

I did give it a quick shake as well

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Wait... what?

You shook your beer 5 days after brewing it? After fermentation was already well underway? How much did you shake it? How vigorously?

NEVER shake your beer after the yeast have gotten started. It's a recipe for oxidized beer.

redface45 said:

It's been 2 full weeks and 10 days since I checked initially but I'm still sitting at 1.030!?!?!???

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How are you measuring the gravity? Are you using a hydrometer, or a refractometer? Refractometers are inaccurate in solutions containing alcohol, and a correction factor must be applied. If you're using a refractometer, your gravity is definitely considerably lower than you think.

That said, extract beers also have a reputation for plateauing around 1.020, so I would be surprised if your beer gets much lower than that.

Unfortunately, he was just doing what Bean suggested in post #3... but yeah, don't shake anything post fermentation. Swirl gently? Maybe, maybe not. I'd rather add another shot of Chico strain or some wlp099 to finish off fermentation instead.

redface45 said:

Can it be saved?

Click to expand...

IMO you don't need to save it - it will be ok if it never goes below 1.030. Just not what you were going for.

Questionable timing of wort splashing notwithstanding, if everything was indeed done as described in the OP, then the 1.030 gravity after that much time in primary doesn’t add up if a healthy pack of S-05 was pitched.

Is it possible you nuked your yeast by rehydrating it in water that was too hot? Is it possible you thermometer is bunk and measuring wort temperature too low when you pitched?

Is it possible the little paper insert in your hydrometer has slid out of place, thus providing a bad reading? Do you see a kraeusen ring in your fermenter that is 1-2 inches above the surface of the beer?

For some clarification didn't shake it just gently swirled the fermenter

Thermometer is fine. I leave it near the fermenter and check it against the thermostat to make sure it's accurate

I did use a refractometer..... I didn't know about the correction factor. I'm gonna look that up now.

Definitely a krausen ring about 1.5 inch above the beer.

Dont think water was too warm when rehydrating yeast. I was at about 90-95 when I added yeast. Wort was at about 70-74 in center when I pitched.

Thanks for the advice. Hopefully the above info helps

Eric

Ah, I'm sure you're good to go. Gotta use a hydrometer post fermentation.

If you added the rehydrated yeast and then shook it for 2-3 minutes to aerate then I would say this was yeast abuse and may cause issues. If your using a refractometer to measure your gravity after fermentation has begun disregard those numbers and use a hydrometer.