FG Finishing High w/ LME

[jarnock]

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I made a beer about 3 weeks ago (23 days). So It was an IPA, here is the recipe I used:

1.5lbs Crystal 10L Steeped 30 min @ 160
3x3.3lbs Coopers Liquid Malt Extract Unhopped (so 9.9 LBS)
1lb Coopers Brewcraft Dried Malt Extract

2 oz Columbus @ 60 min
1 oz Columbus @ 25 Min
1 oz Cascade @ 20 Min
1 oz Columbus @ 15 min
.5 oz Cascade at 10
.5 oz Cascade at 5 min
2 oz Palisade at flame out

Used White Labs California Ale Yeast, re hydrated the yeast and pitched at around 80, brought the temp down to 70 and everything went fine.

Gravity before I pitched the yeast was at 1.071.

Fast forward to today and I went to bottle and FG was around 1.020. So I preceded to continue to bottle, but I got kind of scared of bottle bombs so I bottled half and dumped the rest.

I think my hydrometer might have been a little off, cause it registers water at a little 0.097. My thought is that my beer actually finished at a Specific Gravity of 1.017. Either way, it gives me a ABV of 6.69% or 7%.

Does anyone have experience with Coopers Unhopped Light LME finishing a bit high? I.E. does it naturally finish a bit higher than 1.010?

I'm really worried about bottle bombs and safety, so I went ahead on the safe side and dumped half, put the other half in bottles in a box in the garage.

Thank you for your time ladies and gentlemen.

/Jarnock

 

[JeffD1]

I never would have dumped it. At the very worst, you'd have a mess on your hands. I also doubt that you would get bottle bombs with a gravity of 1.020. I've bottled at about that gravity without trouble. What matters more is that the gravity stays constant for a couple of days. And 3 weeks should be long enough.

 

[jarnock]

I never would have dumped it. At the very worst, you'd have a mess on your hands. I also doubt that you would get bottle bombs with a gravity of 1.020. I've bottled at about that gravity without trouble. What matters more is that the gravity stays constant for a couple of days. And 3 weeks should be long enough.

Thank you. Oh well, we live and learn right? I also forgot to add, I checked the gravity after I added 5 ounces for priming. I guess that would increase the buoyancy.

:smack:

 

[bizarrojosh]

Dude, never throw out beer. If you are worried about the FG being high just check your gravity over the course of a week. If the gravity readings don't change then there isn't too much to be worried about since it's probably not going to change in your bottles either.

 

[sok454]

If I'm not mistaken its not the fact the FG was perceived by you to be high, that would lead to bottle bombs. It is the issue of if fermentation was still continuing when u added the 5pz to the bottles for conditioning/carbonation that would lead to bombs.
As they said. If the gravity reading is stable after 3-4 days then bottle away. I usually leave in primary for min 3-4 weeks anyways.

 

[jarnock]

If I'm not mistaken its not the fact the FG was perceived by you to be high, that would lead to bottle bombs. It is the issue of if fermentation was still continuing when u added the 5pz to the bottles for conditioning/carbonation that would lead to bombs.
As they said. If the gravity reading is stable after 3-4 days then bottle away. I usually leave in primary for min 3-4 weeks anyways.

Thanks. I really wish I would have calmed it down earlier and not thrown it away. Oh well, I looked and I have a 6 pack of 12 oz bottles, 2x1 Liter Bottles and 2x750 ML bottles. Oh well, I bet it'll be my best beer yet.

 

[sok454]

No worries... honestly I posted relentlessly before during and after my first batch. I mean I was posting questions while I was boiling!!! Everyone really helped out and walked me through it all. And trust me I had some dumb questions!

 

[Yooper]

I've had a lot of extract beers finish at 1.020, but in this case since the reading was after priming sugar, and the hydrometer may be off, I'd expect that your FG was more like 1.016 (4 points give or take for the priming sugar).

In other words, it sounds perfectly fine with an OG of 1.071, and there would be no chance of bottle bombs if it was done fermenting.

A good way to ensure fermentation is done, whether the FG is 1.020 or 1.008, is to take Sg readings at least 3 days apart. If they are the same, it's safe to bottle.

The reason the FG finished higher probably wasn't all because of the LME- using 1.5 pounds of crystal (that's a LOT!) would increase the FG as well.

 

[jarnock]

I've had a lot of extract beers finish at 1.020, but in this case since the reading was after priming sugar, and the hydrometer may be off, I'd expect that your FG was more like 1.016 (4 points give or take for the priming sugar).

In other words, it sounds perfectly fine with an OG of 1.071, and there would be no chance of bottle bombs if it was done fermenting.

A good way to ensure fermentation is done, whether the FG is 1.020 or 1.008, is to take Sg readings at least 3 days apart. If they are the same, it's safe to bottle.

The reason the FG finished higher probably wasn't all because of the LME- using 1.5 pounds of crystal (that's a LOT!) would increase the FG as well.

Thank you Yooper! All along I thought that amount was okay, in my all grain batches the amount of crystal was similar. I totally copied off a recipe from morebeer with the amount of crystal. Oh well, at least now I know! Thanks again!