think I cold crahsed too early...high FG with keg ferment

[odie]

Just starting with the keg fermenting so still working the bugs out of my processes...

I did a doppelbock back in May. Fermented in the serving keg. Full length dip tube. I did not use a "spunding" valve but instead I used a lower pressure PRV and a pressure gauge on the gas post. The red one which pops around 30-35 psi.

During fermentation I routinely vented the PRV back down to almost zero repeatedly. Basically I just watched the PSI gauge climb, vent and watch climb again, repeat. Once it "appeared" to stabilize somewhere below the PRV limit for a couple days, I think around 15-20....my assumption was that it was done fermenting. So into cold storage it went for largering and to wait until fall.

So I pulled it out a couple days ago, drop it in the kegerator, pour a glass to flush the yeast cake from the pick up area (bottom dip tube). Taste a sample and was not as strong as my last doppelbock and a tad sweeter. I looked at my notes and I didn't log an FG? So I do it now. 1.030 is pretty high. My last one (same recipe) was under 20. OG was 1.071

What I'm going to do is pull the keg and leave it out in the living room for a couple weeks. I hope the remaining yeast in the keg will wake up and finish the job. Being under pressure I'm not too worried about it being in the 70s temp wise.

 

[Dland]

Hopefully it will get going again, chances are pretty good.

In the future, maybe use a gauge to check for sure that activity has ceased and pressure is stable.

I usually do not cold crash until pressure rise has stopped and remained stable for a few days. My understanding is there can still be some yeast activity "cleaning up" the brew even after most of the pressure rise has stopped.

 

[odie]

well, after sitting out for about a week I pulled a sample last night. 1.027 only a 3 point drop. I could even attribute that to a slight difference in sample temp or a reading error. I did note a slight rise in PSI after the keg had been stable at 5PSI for a few days. Maybe it's just beginning to wake up?

This morning I shook the keg to break up the yeast cake. Maybe I should have done that at the beginning?

Based upon my last batch I expected this one to finish below 1.020

 

[crazyjake19]

One of the advantages of keg fermenting is the ease of pulling gravity samples without introducing oxygen. Never rely on pressure buildup or airlock activity to judge a fermentation - you're just guessing.

 

[Falstaff]

That is like 60% attenuation, which is low. If it is stable for a while I'd bottle. Nothing wrong with 1.027. I've only noticed sweetness above 1.02 in most of my beers.

 

[odie]

down to 1.023. Started at 1.071

My last batch was 1.080 and finished at 1.020 so I missed the OG by a few points this time around.

 

[Ridenour64]

I use a liquid ball lock, maybe 2 or 3 inch of vinyl, then a picnic tap as a sample valve. If your fermenting under pressure you’ll get foam but just let it sit for a bit.

 

[odie]

1.018 now. hopefully it will bottom out soon.

 

[odie]

1.015 yesterday. gonna call it done.