Odd Fermentation, Please Advise!!!!

[Drunk_Mick]

Hi,

I recently took a stab at making an Bourbon Barrel Stout. Here's the recipe and specs.

10# 2-Row
1# Midnight Wheat(Midwest)
.5# Roasted Barley
.5# Carafa III
.5# Chocolate Malt

Mashed for 60 minutes at 160* (I wanted a LOT of body to stand against the oak, vanilla, and bourbon)
Sparged with 2 gallons of 170* water. Chilled with my immersion chiller and tossed onto half of a Nottingham yeast cake from an Oktoberfest ale. I had an OG of 1.066.

It took of 30 minutes after pitching onto the yeast cake. My airlock stopped rocking 19 hours later, out of sheer morbid curiosity I checked the gravity...1.018, hit my FG in under a day. I was in disbelief, still kind of am. I let it sit on the yeast cake for another 7 days so the yeast could clean up and do thier thing. I racked to my secondary and added my vanilla beans and oak chips soaked in Makers Mark, I checked the gravity again and was confused, I got 1.026, I poured the sample into a glass for later consumption. I waited a minute or two and pulled a sample from the racking tube again. This time it was 1.030!!!! I have no idea what the hell happened! Please help!

I did taste alcohol in the first and subsequent samples. But with so much residual sugar I have no idea if I am at 6.4% like I had calculated.

 

[Drunk_Mick]

Edit: the sample I took both times was from the racking tube. I racked the beer onto the oak chips and vanilla beans, so no chamber of them throwing off my reading.

 

[Kentunkel]

This seems like a hydrometer/measurement problem. My hydrometer is accurate at 60° but even if you took the readings at different temps it wouldn't throw you off 18 points. An infection would do the opposite and dry your beer out. Personally, I would get a new hydrometer.

 

[AmandaK]

I would advise you to get a new hydrometer.

 

[passedpawn]

Use your hydro to measure water. Should read 1.000.

Now, weigh out 8 ounces of table sugar, then add enough water to make exactly one quart. stir and wait an hour to ensure it's dissolved. Should read 1.092.

Make sure to correct for the calibration temp of your hydrometer.

 

[dbennett78]

One other thing that points to the hydrometer is that Im not sure how you would get 1.066 OG with a grain bill like that. Seems a bit higher than expected.

 

[AmandaK]

One other thing that points to the hydrometer is that Im not sure how you would get 1.066 OG with a grain bill like that. Seems a bit higher than expected.

81% efficiency using simple calcs. It can be done.

 

[Darwin18]

I usually let my beers ferment at the appropriate temperature range for each yeast style for a minimum of two weeks, usually three. I think 8 days for a large beer like that might have been a little premature, but plenty of people do it with great success.

 

[Drunk_Mick]

One other thing that points to the hydrometer is that Im not sure how you would get 1.066 OG with a grain bill like that. Seems a bit higher than expected.

With the exception of my first batch I average 71%-81% with BIAB. This batch I ended on the higher side because I separated my mash into three small bags, sparged, and gently squeezed all the bags. I am gonna shoot for 85% with my next brew.

 

[Drunk_Mick]

I will test the hydrometer tonight, thanks for the info and help guys!

 

[OldWorld]

Soaking chips in bourbon is not a bourbon barrel stout. Unless you are using a real barrel it's just a flavored ale...why bother? I would just leave the beer on the yeast a few more weeks. Airlock activity is no indicator of fermentation...Pop open the air lock and see if you get a good whiff of CO2...Are ya feeling it?

 

[Drunk_Mick]

Comment edited to suit forum rules.

Thanks for your help with my question. The whole thing stemmed from my hydrometer readings, not airlock activity. You know where to find old bourbon barrels for under $150?? Please share something other than your opinion, it would help tremendously.