Still high Gravity

[Ryan1977]

So my brew has been in the primary fermentor now for 5 days exactly and I was able to draw a sample out via the bottom spigot...the hydrometer reading was 1.048 and the activity has decreased dramatically. I had a nice 1 inch Krausen head on it for 4 days which has subsided over the last 24 hrs.

I read somewhere that you might want to agitate it to stir up the yeast bed to the yeasties going again. Any thoughts would be great....

Cheers,

 

[JoeBronco]

Leave it alone for another week and check again.

 

[bbeckett]

I had a similar issue, but it seemed like the act of taking the hydrometer reading agitated it enough and it started going again, eventually finishing up right on target. Maybe agitate a little, but be gentle as I believe too much agitation may oxidize the batch. I think the batch I referenced ended up taking about 2 weeks to finish up. Extra time in the primary will not hurt.

good luck!

 

[rudu81]

...Extra time in the primary will not hurt...

I like one month. Plenty of time to ferment and clean up!

 

[JoeBronco]

I had a similar issue, but it seemed like the act of taking the hydrometer reading agitated it enough and it started going again, eventually finishing up right on target. Maybe agitate a little, but be gentle as I believe too much agitation may oxidize the batch. I think the batch I referenced ended up taking about 2 weeks to finish up. Extra time in the primary will not hurt.

good luck!

Two weeks to three weeks is a good rule of thumb. But when your hydro stays the same for 3 days its done.

I still say wait a week and check the hydro one more time to see what it says.

 

[Ryan1977]

Thanks Gents

Cheers

 

[dcp27]

wait, are you saying the sample u pulled had a gravity of 1.048? if so, what was the OG?

 

[Ryan1977]

wait, are you saying the sample u pulled had a gravity of 1.048? if so, what was the OG?[/QUOTE

I don't exactly know what my OG was...my hydrometer only reads up to 1.070, and it was above that which according to my estimates it should've only been 1.061....this is why I'm concerned.... thoughts?

 

[dcp27]

oh wow, nearly no matter what the og was 1.048 is high. I think you got a stuck fermentation or a messed up hydrometer. so can figure out what may have went wrong, what was your recipe, mash temps and fermentation temps? oh and double-check your hydrometer in water to rule that out

 

[Ryan1977]

I'm pretty confident that my refractometer is accurate. However; I did get 3 days of very active fermentation, which made 1.5 inch Krausen head...WTF is going on?

 

[Ryan1977]

I'm just impatient that's what's going on....

 

[dcp27]

did you use the adjustment for the ethanol in the fermented beer? refractometers need to be adjusted for fg's

 

[VTBrewer]

Here' sa link for the adjustment for a refracto. If you were at 17 to start with, and 12 now, that would be 1.070 to 1.035. but i'm just making those numbers up based on some of the numbers you had mentioned.

Anyway, it's not like a hydro, you have to use it the spreadsheet.

http://www.clubhomebrew.com/refracto.xls