Major help needed

[kennyk2104]

Okay, so this is only my fourth beer and I think it may be a disaster! So, it's a kit for a vanilla porter recipe can be found here: https://www.boomchugalug.com/downloadables/recipes/monkey_finger.pdf. I used the dry yeast suggested. We have an original gravity of 1.05 which is wayyy off! I had some major blow offs during fermentation. Our final gravity was way off as well, 1.037. Since we are so new and have nothing but success so far, I kegged it anyway! It's only been in kegerator for a night I tasted a little and it tastes like Un-fermented beer and coffee... Is this just done?? Can there be anything that can save this mess?? Thanks for any help or info you can give!!!

 

[kennyk2104]

My thought was to take it out of kegerator, get it to room temp, transfer to carboy and repitch yeast, try and get something going again? Thoughts?

 

[ncboiler]

If your gravity readings are right then your abv is only going to be about 1.7% if you don't do something. You are obviously going to have to get the fermentation going again which will involve getting it back to room temp and re-pitching.

How long did you let it ferment?

Part of taking the FG reading is to see if it's done fermenting (by taking gravity readings over a few days) and to see if you reached your expected FG. If you're not done fermenting or drastically missed your expected FG then, in general, you shouldn't keg it.

 

[Braufessor]

Yes - how long did you ferment? If you cut the ferment short, you could have stopped fermentation early. I would definitely take it out of the fridge, warm back up, possibly pitch some more yeast in the keg (I have done that before with success).

Other details..

*Was this an extract beer? If it was, and you had the correct volume of water, your beer really CAN'T miss its original gravity - it is almost certainly a case of some sort of measuring error, or adding top off water and not mixing thoroughly enough before taking gravity sample.
What was the OG suppose to be? Was the sample at room temperature when you checked gravity?

*Did you chill your beer well before pitching yeast? Did you rehydrate yeast?

*Are you sure your hydrometer is working properly?

 

[kennyk2104]

OG supposed to be between 1.068-1.072. It was from a kit. I fermented 3 weeks as it suggested. It was at about 70 degrees when I took reading and about the same when I pitched the yeast. This was a dry yeast and recipe suggested just sprinkling it in, so no rehydrating done. I have removed keg from kegerator. If I repitch in keg, doesn't it need some sort of airlock or blow-off? Thanks again for all your help! Tough being a new brewer and I would really hate to dump this!

 

[btbnl]

As mentioned above, if you used all the extract and ended up with the right volume of wort you really can't miss the OG, and the error there was simply insufficient mixing before taking the reading.

Assuming the FG reading is correct, it seems like you had an initially strong fermentation that stalled. How are you controlling the fermentation temperature? If it's based on ambient (room/basement/garage/wherever), did that drop significantly at some stage?

You might be able to rig up a blow-off tube on one of the keg's post holes (post removed, obviously). My other concern would be providing oxygen for the repitched yeast without compromising the beer.

 

[kennyk2104]

I had to top off about 2 gallons of water, so could be a mixing issue for og.

 

[kombat]

You might be able to rig up a blow-off tube on one of the keg's post holes (post removed, obviously).

It's even easier than you think. Leave the posts on. Take a spare gas quick disconnect and attach it to a 3-foot length of gas line with a hose clamp, just like you would for any other gas line. Leave the other end just plain open. Attach the disconnect to your "gas in" post, and drape the open end into a pail of StarSan. Voila! Airlock.

 

[Braufessor]

It's even easier than you think. Leave the posts on. Take a spare gas quick disconnect and attach it to a 3-foot length of gas line with a hose clamp, just like you would for any other gas line. Leave the other end just plain open. Attach the disconnect to your "gas in" post, and drape the open end into a pail of StarSan. Voila! Airlock.

Yep - this^^

My guess is that you won't get much of an 'explosive" ferment.... whatever you get will be slow and steady.

I would rehydrate the yeast you put in though...... dumping dry yeast directly into beer that has alcohol in it will kill more than 50% of the yeast straight off the bat.

Another possibility is to get a small starter going (500ml or so) with some DME and add that after about 24 hours....Having the yeast actively fermenting when you add might up the chances of them being able to keep rolling when you add to your stalled beer.

 

[btbnl]

Looking at the Selden temperature records, it seems like you had a pretty big swing over the course of the fermentation, from a maximum of 50F at pitching (3 weeks ago) to a maximum of 25F a week later. Pending any information about your temperature control, I suspect that that's what stalled it.

 

[JoshuaW]

My thought was to take it out of kegerator, get it to room temp, transfer to carboy and repitch yeast, try and get something going again? Thoughts?

You can let it warm up to room temp and repitch and leave it in the keg, if you want to run the gas port to a cup of water to serve as an airlock. Otherwise, yes, just rack over and give it time.

 

[kennyk2104]

Looking at the Selden temperature records, it seems like you had a pretty big swing over the course of the fermentation, from a maximum of 50F at pitching (3 weeks ago) to a maximum of 25F a week later. Pending any information about your temperature control, I suspect that that's what stalled it.

I think I agree with you, I looked at the temp on side of carboy and it was about 59-64 range in the 3 weeks I looked... So based on what you've said, I am going to make a starter and repitch. Do you think I should just repitch right on top without introducing oxygen to it? Or should I rock it as I would prior to initially pitching?

 

[Braufessor]

I would pitch right into keg - no Oxygen. If you get a starter going a bit, it is less likely that yeast will really need O2......that is most important as they are getting started. you do not want to oxygenate a beer at this point in my opinion. I would make it a relatively small starter ....300-500ml probably(as you may not have much room in your keg, and you don't want to necessarily add a bunch of starter wort to your beer either.) Unless you can really rack it well, under pressure to a CO2 purged fermenter, you might be asking for trouble racking it a couple more times. That is why I would just try it in the keg.