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Pumpkin ale stuck, and I made a mistake

Discussion in 'Fermentation & Yeast' started by narddawg314, Oct 3, 2015.

 

  1. #1
    narddawg314

    Well-Known Member

    Posted Oct 3, 2015
    Ok so rookie mistake.... I was excited to bottle my pumpkin ale since this was the first one I've done and had zero issues up to this point. I transferred over to my bottling bucket which already had my 4oz of corn sugar water mixture in it. About halfway through the transfer I took a sample to get my final og and that's when I found my problem. It's only dropped to 1.032 from 1.056 , and should have dropped to 1.011. Not thinking clearly I finished transferring to my bottling bucket and bottled it all.

    Now I'm wondering is there anything I can do to save it? I thought about adding a few drops of yeast to each bottle and letting them age for a few weeks, but not sure it's a good idea. I'm definitely worried about bottle bombs since I've added the carb sugar already. What are my options here?

    EDIT:

    10lb 2 row
    1lb Crystal Malt
    1/2lb Carapils
    1/2lb Aromatic
    1/4lb Special Roast
    1lb roasted pumpkin
    1oz Cascade 60 minutes
    1oz Goldings 10 minutes

    OG 1.056

    Primary for 5 days at 67deg F
    Secondary for 11 days at 67deg F
    Added spices to secondary

    Cold Crashed to 39deg F after 11 days in for 36 hours

    boiled 2 cups water with 4oz of corn sugar

    cooled sugar water to 70deg F and added to bottling bucket

    transferred secondary to bottling bucket and took sample from secondary (not with the sugar water added)

    FG at this point is 1.032 and needs to be 1.011

    bottled anyway
    -----------------------------------------------------
    UPDATE:

    We sanitized all of the bottles and dumped them back into the glass carboy. There was some foaming going on so it looks like carbonation was starting to happen.

    I bought a second pack of dry Nottingham Ale Yeast. Rehydrated the yeast and pitched it into the carboy followed by a gentle swirling. I didn't see any activity after 18 hours so I swirled the carboy again this morning. This time I'm holding it at 64deg F and hoping for the best. Anything else I should be doing?
     
    Last edited: Oct 5, 2015
  2. #2
    BlueHouseBrewhaus

    Well-Known Member

    Posted Oct 3, 2015
    How long did you ferment? What yeast? What temp?
     
  3. #3
    Posted Oct 3, 2015
    I would transfer the bottling bucket to a carboy, and wait it out. Make sure that the temperature is in the upper 3/4 range of the yeast used. For example if the range was 60F-70F, make it 67F in your fermentation chamber. You want to wake them up but not stress them.
     
  4. #4
    narddawg314

    Well-Known Member

    Posted Oct 3, 2015
    5 days in primary, 12 days in secondary. Both at 67° and used one pack of WLP039 Nottingham Ale Yeast.
     
  5. #5
    narddawg314

    Well-Known Member

    Posted Oct 3, 2015
    I've already bottled them though. Also, the bottling bucket was after the secondary transfer so I don't think there is enough yeast left to do anything major. I'm not opposed to dumping them into a carboy and pitching another pack of yeast if that would do the trick.
     
  6. #6
    Posted Oct 3, 2015
    5 days in primary for me is way too early. I don't even rack wine or mead that soon (7-8 days depending). I wait a minimum of 3 weeks before bottling beer. I take a gravity reading before I rack to the bottling bucket.

    I would try to transfer everything to a carboy (from the bottles) with minimal splash. Then store in a fermentation chamber at the appropriate temperature and wait it out. Otherwise, if the yeast kicks off, you will end up with bottle bombs. I know it sounds like a PITA but that is what I would do. Bottle caps are nothing when comparing to losing a batch due to bottle bombs.
     
  7. #7
    BlueHouseBrewhaus

    Well-Known Member

    Posted Oct 5, 2015
    Quick question I should have thought of before. Did you measure FG with a hydrometer or refractometer? Once alcohol is present, a refractometer isn't accurate. You would need to correct the reading.
     
  8. #8
    narddawg314

    Well-Known Member

    Posted Oct 5, 2015
    refractometer during the boil to hit my OG, and hydrometer after transferring to secondary. Updated my original post with more detail too.
     
  9. #9
    narddawg314

    Well-Known Member

    Posted Oct 7, 2015
    Been a couple days now and still no activity as far as I can tell. Should I try a more aggressive yeast?
     
  10. #10
    narddawg314

    Well-Known Member

    Posted Oct 12, 2015
    Waited another week and took a sample last night, but no change at all in the gravity reading.
     
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