My first Beer: Hanks HefeWeizen First Gravity Reading and Questions

[NaplesVin]

Last Update:
Thanks for the help guys, you've all been awesome! I checked my Gravity again today and it remained the same. The Krausen at the top has fallen and was smelling delicious! I bottled it today and it looks great! Pictures below in the thread!

UPDATE:

Checked gravity today, it's now at 1.015... 4.59% ABV.... Krausen still there by the looks of it. I posted the pics in the thread! I am going to probably wait till Sunday to check again, hopefully it drops... I just need to wait it out I guess as it seems it's still fermenting! At least I know I am not stuck at 1.020 lol!

Hey guys, I am pretty excited after I took my first gravity reading after 10 days of waiting! I have some info to share and trying to seek advice of some ways I should go.

Hank's HefeWeizen (Extract Kit)
Here is some information:
Recipe here: http://www.midwestsupplies.com/media/downloads/40/Hank's Hefeweizen Instructions.pdf

I pitched WL300 Liquid Yeast into the wort @ 70 F. Within 24hrs I had active fermantation @ 1 bubble a second for 48hrs. Then the fermentation dropped to once every 5 seconds for another several days. It is currently bubbling at once every 10 seconds.

Suggested Gravity Readings:
OG: 1.049-1.053
FG: 1.010-1.012

Gravity Readings from my batch:
OG: 1.050
FG: 1.020
ABV: 3.97%
(All readings adjusted for temperature)

General information:
Temperature has been from 59-63 F for the first week. It has now been sitting at 65 F and I plan to keep it at that for the remainder until I bottle it.

I tasted the sampling from the reading and I got a slight bitter hit with a slight banana/clove taste in the back of my mouth. The consistency of the liquid is comparable to a regular beer (Comparing it to the Heineken I was drinking at the time).

The beer in the primary looks like the Krausen is still there with nice white caps and other goodness (Should've took a picture but I don't want to open it again if I don't have to). It looks like it is partially falling out but I cannot put my finger on it as it's my first time looking at it in 10 days with no experience. I need an attack plan here, I have a feeling I am going to wait till Friday to take another reading but I have a feeling the FG needs to come down a little more.

Notable mistakes:
Took an hour to cool down wort to 70 F which I pitched at.
Taking sample from the beer I accidentally blew bubbles into it with baster.
(I don't count not using a starter as a mistake yet )

I guess my question is, where do I go from here? Do I just check the FG in a couple days and see if it's going to get any lower? If it doesn't, should I just go ahead and bottle it? I don't know if 1.020 is too high off my mark or not. Any help would be appreciated

 

[LLBeanJ]

Congrats on you first brew. 1.020 is still a bit high and I'd give it some more time to go lower; however, that may be as low as it goes due to this being an extract brew (not uncommon for extract brews to stall at 1.020). Wait until Friday as planned and see if it has dropped any more. If it has, wait 3 days and check again. You need 3 days between identical readings to be safe to bottle.

Edit: to help bring the gravity down, you can gently stir the beer to rouse the yeast back into suspension. But, based on your description, it doesn't sound like the yeast has quite fallen yet, so I'd assume that they are still working, especially since you are still seeing airlock activity. I wouldn't rouse until a) the krausen has fallen and the beer is clearing, and b) you are stuck above FG after subsequent readings 3 days apart.

 

[phyllobeddo]

I would say that you should wait a few days and recheck the Gravity. I believe it will come down several points. I just brewed Hank's Hefeweizen a couple of weeks ago and my Final Gravity was 1.012. I did miss my OG, though. It was 1.046 I think. I left it in the primary for 12 days and in the secondary for 7 days.

Edit:
I fermented this batch in the basement which was 70 degrees ambient.

 

[MonsterBrew]

I agree that you should wait a couple days and see. Also a quick stir might not be a bad idea either. It still could drop a little bit more. If not, I have bottled beers that have been stuck around 1.020 and they were fine.

-Jeff

 

[NaplesVin]

UPDATE:
Checked gravity today, 8/15/14

Drum roll.......
OG: 1.050
Current Gravity: 1.015
ABV: 4.59%
(Adjusted for Temperature)

Woo! So I don't have a fermentation stuck at 1.020! I am going to wait till Sunday and test it. If all goes good maybe bottle on Monday? From the looks of it however, it looks like krausen at the top is starting to subside (Prominent ring above the current krausen level) What happens if it doesn't settle before I bottle (If I get a constant reading)? As always, I need those tips! It seems I cannot retain all the information from the Palmer book lol.



(First pic before it settled on the 1.015 line... I don't know if it was gas or what)

 

[LLBeanJ]

Yep, looks like there's still some work to be done.

 

[NaplesVin]

I bottled 47 bottles out of 48! I am pretty happy with that figure. (That was with leaving a generous amount of liquid in the pales.