OG and FG question

[mortox]

Doing an Oatmeal Stout recipe from Brewer's Best.

The OG called for 1.048 -56 range and expected FG of 1.012 - 16

Once enough water got me to the 5 gal mark i was at 1.070 so put the airlock on at that after pitching.

After 4 days the reading has dropped to 1.036

What should i expect? Just a stronger beer? (that's what i want) any negatives to doing this?

 

[Calder]

If it's a kit with extract, I would say your reading or volume is incorrect.

If it truly was 1.070 (maybe because the levels on your fermenter are incorrect), then you can expect a stronger beer, and a higher FG. Looks like the kit is designed to be 75% attenuation max. That would mean you could expect to get down to 1.017 at best; probably 1.017 to 1.020.

 

[pkeeler]

1.070 is much higher than what the recipe was shooting for. It is also up in the range where it gets harder for yeast to work. Did you use a starter? Did you aerate the crap out of it? It could be your yeast are done. Now, for an oatmeal stout, it will probably taste good. It is suppose to be sweet with lots of body. Next time, I'd add water to bring the OG down to range. That way you get more beer!

 

[HBHoss]

I would wait. A high gravity beer can take up to 3 weeks to a month to finish. I did a Strong Scotch Ale and the airlock was still bubbling at 2 weeks.

 

[mortox]

yeast was not started, just pitched and mixed. it was aerated pretty well. Very little activity on the airlock but it's obviously working if it's down to 1.036 from 1.070, ya?

 

[PurpleJeepXJ]

That is only because all the crap floating around has settled to the bottom therefore lowering the gravity of the solution. That is why the OG was so high to begin with.

 

[pkeeler]

Yeah, just give it some time and see what happens. Oatmeal Stout is a pretty forgiving style.

 

[Calder]

That is only because all the crap floating around has settled to the bottom therefore lowering the gravity of the solution. That is why the OG was so high to begin with.

The floating solids have no affect on the SG. The hydrometer will the same if the particles are in suspension or not.

 

[dcp27]

+1 to everything Calder said. There's no way its 1.07 if your volume was right. Sounds like you topped off first which would explain the issue. It's very difficult to effectively mix wort and water enough to get an accurate reading. What temp are you fermenting at? Regardless, 4 days is way too early to be checking your FG, wait 2-3 more weeks and check again.

 

[mortox]

Took another reading today and it's still at 1.036 - is that confirmed to be stuck? time to repitch?

 

[dcp27]

what temp are you at?

 

[mortox]

61-62

 

[Calder]

61-62

Yeast have gone to sleep. Too cold for them.

 

[dcp27]

+1, warm it up a bit and gently swirl the fermenter. it should get going again

 

[Jota21]

slight thread hijack, but it sounds like you got your answer, so i hope you dont mind. I'm actually waiting for my Brewers Best Oatmeal Stout to boil, so i figured i'd chime in before its too late. Is starting the yeast neccessary with an extract kit? If so, what is the best process. The cheap directions say nothing about starting the yeast, and i dont exactly have too much time to search on my dinosaur of a computer.

Thanks

 

[dcp27]

depends on the gravity

http://www.mrmalty.com/starter_faq.htm

http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html

 

[pkeeler]

Repitch for what reason? Not enough yeast is not the problem. Just chucking a pack of yeast into 1.070 wort and expecting them to have a stress-free time doing all the reproduction they would have to do, probably without enough oxygen to boot, is going to end up stuck. You could dilute the gravity down. You could try energizer and maybe racking it to rouse the yeast. You could try moving it to a warmer spot.