Brewferm Adij - Final gravity 1.024

[safcraft]

Hi all,

First post, and second time brewing, so really really young in the circle.
I would appreciate some advice, as i read a lot about this but not within my particular parameters.

I started a Brewferm Abdij kit last week and added 500g of Light Muntons Malt Exctract instead of the 500g sugar, looking for a more body and wheight in the final beer.

After only 5h in the fermenter, the bubbles started and went on bubbling for 2 days and then almost stopped. After a week, bubbles are slow to very slow and FG is 1.024. Seems high , even for a beer with a 1.070 start. Should drop to below 1.018....but it does not.

First thing i could have done wrong : everyone says to aerate the wort before pitching the yeast. I did shook the fermentor A LOT , but AFTER pitching in the yeast. Is this wrong ? It caused a lot of foam...

Also, when i checked the FG yesterday, i had a taste of the beer.
It does not taste sweet or anything near ! It actually tastes bitter and a bit TOO strong and malty... Is this normal after only 1 week fermentation ?

Final comment : the beer is very cloudy. It started clearing from the top down but it only cleared until half-way. Bottom part is still very brownish and foggy, while the top part is darker and clearer.

Hope to get some pointers...
Should i shake it ?
Should i pitch more yeast?
Should i wait ?

Thanks !!

 

[enokidaki]

No shakey only waitey!
So it's only been one week? You're only half way there at least. My 1.071 beer has been slowly going for 3 weeks and 3 more wouldnt hurt it, but most people on here will tell you to wait 3.

 

[safcraft]

What i find "odd" is that all Brewferm kit beers say 1 week fermentation plus 2 weeks in secondary...

But each beer its different...

My previous kit beer was Brewferm Diabolo and that started at 1.071 and in only 7 days was at 1.014. It now sits in the secondary bucket, will bottle it next weekend.

This Abdij (abbey) beer sure looks much more dense, darker , plus i used Malt Extract instead of sugar...

Will wait another week and take another measure...

 

[safcraft]

By the way, this is what it looks now....kinda messy ?

It sure looks cloudy and brownish from halfway to the bottom...

https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1450/24285408702_317c2e0677_k.jpg

 

[JonM]

More often than not, the kit directions are lousy. Just leave it in the primary for two more weeks. It looks normal to me. That cloudy gunk at the bottom is just trub and stuff settling.

Whatever you do, if your secondary is the same size as the primary, then don't use a secondary; the jug is way too big for a secondary.

 

[safcraft]

Well, in fact my secondary is even bigger.

My kit consist of two 30L buckets plus this 23L fermentor where the beer is now.
I was planning to move it to one of the 30L buckets this weekend, do you recommend to keep it where it is until bottling ?
If so, is this because of too much air in the bucket ?
Should a secondary be "just filled" to reduce oxygen ?

In the secondary 30L bucket i now have the 1st beer batch (diabolo brewferm) resting for 2 weeks, waiting to bottle next weekend.
Plan was bottle 1st batch, and transfer this beer to secondary....no go?

Thanks

 

[JonM]

A secondary is unnecessary. If you do choose to use one, it should be filled as close to the top as you can get it. Headspace leads to infection and oxidation. The more headspace there is, the more chance there is for bad stuff to happen.

 

[safcraft]

Update:
So 2 weeks have fully passed and i measured gravity again : 1.022
It dropped a little, but not much and seems still rather high .
Initial gravity was 1.070 so that gives around 6.3% ABV, which sounds low for a 8% target beer.
Will keep it in the primary for another week and retest gravity.
If it does not change, will it be safer to bottle or should i wait another week?

This is looking normal still :
https://farm2.staticflickr.com/1626/23891278903_1c1da78882_b.jpg

 

[safcraft]

One thought occurred to me:
When changing the original recipe of 500g sugar for 500g LME, was i in fact removing some sugar from the recipe?
I tasted the beer today, and is far from sweet. In fact it tastes sour, and i do prefer some sweetness in abbey beer.
Maybe the sugar just ran out, so yeast has no more sugar to eat....and final gravity will not change ...

Is it wrong to add more sugar at this stage ?
Thanks !

 

[safcraft]

So , i bottled it.
After 3 weeks it was not moving from 1.022.
It looked good, smells goods and as i don't know what it should be tasting like...well...i went ahead and added 7g sugar per litre, bottled it and stored it.
They will now stay carbonating a few weeks at 18ºC (i have no other way of storing at higher temps, so must wait longer).

On another front, i decided to experiment:
I have another batch of a brewferm kit (this is a Tripel) fermenting in another bucket. It is now 2 weeks and bubbling stopped only 4 days after start.
The SG is also static at 1.022 ...so i decided to throw in some sugar (150g for 9L) to see if the yeast was hungry or just plain dead...

After only 12h bubbling started again...so yeasties are eating.
I will wait a week and measure gravity again...hope to have dropped...if not...maybe bottle like i did the other one.