FG off by a few points

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kangabrew

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Checked my FG after 7, 9 and 10 days of fermentation and it is supposed to be 1.013 but it reads 1.016. I've used S 04 yeast. Fermented at 62.6 F (17 C).

Malt bill:
MO - 95,8 %
Cara pils - 2%
Crystal - 1.2%

Should I wait one more week before transferring to secondary? I really want to do a secondary on this one because I dumped all the kettle trub in to the fermenter.

Maybe I should raise the temperature a bit?

This is an IPA so I rather not wait too long to not loose any hop flavors (I am bottling so 3 weeks will be "wasted" for the carbing process). Would there be any issues if I transfer it now? Is there a way to account for 0.3 gravity points when I add priming sugar (assuming FG stays the same during secondary)?

Should I maybe give it a stir (this will disrupt the trub though)?

Edit: I should maybe mention that I didn't aerate the wort prior to pitching, other than the splashing from dumping it from the kettle.
 
no, there should still be plenty of yeast in suspension so it should be fine. There will be a little more yeasties on the bottom, but no biggie.

Now, bottling it before it's down, that's what really causes problems.

You should not have much, if any off flavors right now by bringing the temperature up, even to 70..
 
Thank you. Yes I realize the temperature might have been a little bit too low. My mash temp was 66 °C. I will raise the temperature and wait for few more days and see if it changes. I rather not stir/swirl if I don't have to.
 
Thank you. Yes I realize the temperature might have been a little bit too low. My mash temp was 66 °C. I will raise the temperature and wait for few more days and see if it changes. I rather not stir/swirl if I don't have to.

Definitely don't swirl or stir- you can raise the temperature if you feel that it would help but so4 is active at cool temperatures so it's just simply done. 1.016 is fine for a FG.
 
Definitely don't swirl or stir- you can raise the temperature if you feel that it would help but so4 is active at cool temperatures so it's just simply done. 1.016 is fine for a FG.

And no need to secondary.
 
Yeast cannot read a hydrometer. In most cases they will consume the sugars until there are none left that they can. The FG listed in a recipe is target. You might be high or low depending on recipe, aeration, temperature etc.

I suspect that you are at FG but you can raise the temperature to 68-70 degrees for a day or two to see if it drops any more.

There is no need for a secondary. If you dry hop you can do that in primary.

Bottle the beer and wait at least 2 weeks to test one. If it is carbonated you can begin cooling and drinking. If not, wait another week and try another bottle. It is common for bottle conditioning to take 3 weeks at room temperature.
 
Thank you so much everyone. I usually don't do secondary, but this time I wanted to do it because I dumped all the kettle trub (total volume in fermentor is 12.5 liters of which yeast and trub accounts for 1 liter), so I thought it might be a little too cloudy. But since I will use gelatine (after cold crashing) anyway it might not matter, so I will follow your advice and only utilize primary.

Just to be certain I will raise the temperature to 20 C for two days.
 
I would bump it to 21, no risk of off flavors at this time due to high fermentation temperatures.

I have seen this do nothing, and have seen it drop a few points after this, so it could go either way, post up what happened!
 
Update: I checked SG again today, and it's still 1.016. I will increase the temp to 21 °C and take another reading tomorrow or the day after. If nothing has changed, I will assume that it is done. Now, IF it's not done, and the real FG is 1.016, would I risk bottle bombs if I prime it with sugar (2.5 vol%)?
 
I wouldn't worry one bit about .003 gravity points. That could be any number of things. Your hydrometer could be off. You mash temp a degree or two off. Your mash thermometer could be off. In reality it's a trivial amount.

If it's done and you prime with the proper amount of sugar there would be no risk of bottle bombs. Doesn't matter if the FG was 1.025 or 1.005, done is done.
 
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