Help with first time homebrew

I am making the brewers best Imperial Nut Brown. It does not have a FG listed. the OG was 1.072 which is in the range it should be. I brewed on 1/23 (1.072), transfered to secondary on 1/28 (1.052), took a reading on 2/6 (1.024). The reading I took today, 2/19, says the gravity is 1.030. It is fermenting at 68 degrees. I imagine that the reading I took on 2/6 has to be incorrect because there is no way that the gravity can go down and then up, is there? Should I just let this sit for another few weeks and see what happens?

Recipe
6.6lbs Amber LME
2lbs Amber DME
8oz Maltodextrin

Grains
4 oz Crystal 80L
4oz Chocolate
9oz Victory

HOPS
1oz Bittering
1oz Flavoring
1oz Aroma

YEAST
Safale S-04 yeast

 

Welcome to HBT!

First, check your hydrometer for accuracy. It may be out of whack and giving you incorrect readings.

It is always better to give it a little more time but it sounds like you might have a sluggish or stuck fermentation. You can give your fermenter a gentle swirl to get your yeast going again. Don't splash it around! This sometimes helps to get the yeast back into suspension and eating again.

 

You shouldn't transfer to secondary until it's finished, 5 days wasn't enough time in the primary IMHO.

 

Oh cripes, I missed the line about moving it to secondary. Taking it off the yeast in high fermentation stalled your beer pretty effectively. You might want to get a new packet of yeast and try repitching.

 

Really? I'm getting ready to start my first round today. When I picked up my kit at the local home brew store, the lady told me to start fermentation in the bucket, then rack to carboy after 4 days. It sounds like that would essentially give me the same problem.

 

Thanks for the help guys! Do you recommend using the same type of yeast or something very similar if my home brew store doesn't carry that type? Will I proof the yeast and then add it directly to my carboy or should i rack to a bucket since it would be easier to incorporate the solution in a bucket? how much yeast should i add?


I thought that I may have transferred a little early but I had read that it should be done after 4-5 days, once the bubbles had slowed to about one a minute.

 

Hydrometer readings are the only sure way to tell. You should have a target gravity with your recipe. Once you are very near it you can secondary or the best advice around here is when the gravity hasn't changed in three days. That's a lot of sampling.

Most nooB's want beer NOW, I was the same, and it just doesn't work that way. Now I ignore my beer in the primary for 14 days, then check for target gravity, then rack to secondary. Everyone here has their own methods but the main thing is that it takes a long time.

Re-pitching is your best option, if you can't get the exact yeast a similar strain will do. Proof it, or if liquid make a starter. You will eventually have beer, don't give up yet.

 

I would get another packet of S-04. It's pretty common yeast so your LHBS should have some. Hydrate it in some water and pitch in directly into your secondary. Don't try to aerate because your beer is half fermented. It should start up again in a few days.

 

There is not a target/final gravity listed in the recipe. Ive tried using some of the free homebrewing software out there but cant find all of the ingredients listed on the programs. Would I re-pitch into the carboy or do i need to transfer back to a bucket? Ive heard that if you take your OG and multiply it by .25 then that should give you a ball park number for a FG, is that true?

 

How much headroom do you have in your carboy? If you have a couple inches you could leave it in the car boy and use a blow off hose just in case. That would be the easiest option and also wouldn't introduce more chance of an infection.

 

You probably know by now that you transferred to the secondary too soon. But you can save the beer. You can stay in the secondary, no need to transfer back to the primary. But, if you have an empty primary, you should start another batch.

Take another hydrometer reading. Be sure to adjust for temperature. Also check to see that there is no CO2 sticking to the sides of the hydrometer, which may make it more buoyant. Twirl the hydrometer to get rid of these bubbles. Taste what is in the hydrometer jar, If you don't drink it all, throw it out, don't return it to the beer. Repitch with the same or similar yeast after rehydrating the yeast, as others have said. Fermentation should increase in activity. Wait a couple of weeks. Take a hydrometer reading. Taste and record. Repeat on the following two days. if the hydrometer reading doesn't decrease, you are ready for bottling.

Time in the fermenter or bubbles in the fermentation lock are not reliable indicators of fermentation activity. Hence you need to take hydrometer readings. They really should teach this stuff in High School Chemistry.

 

Went to my local homebrew store, purchased some yeast. he had me mix the yeast into a sanitized wine bottle the had a half cup of priming sugar and 2 cups of boiling water in it. I added the yeast once the temp of the solution dropped to about 70 degrees. added the yeast, shook the hell out it and let it sit with an airlock on the bottle till there was plenty of action then added the mixture to my carboy. had bubbling within 12 hours. That was on the 19th. took a reading today (the 25th) and there is no change, still sitting at 1.030. Its been a week since i repitched the yeast. i was not expecting the beer to be ready to bottle today but i was at least hoping to see a change in the reading. My hydrometer is accurate at 60 degrees and I make sure to spin it so there are no bubbles. i guess i will let it sit another week and see what happens,. unless anyone has any suggestions. The carboy is sitting in my closet and is between 66 and 68 degrees.

 

Have you tested that hydrometer? It should read 1.000 in distilled water and only slightly higher in tap water. I had one that was off by .006. Yours would be a WAY off it reads 1.02 or so, just something to check.