Edworts Hause Ale - fermented down to .1020

[britishbloke]

Hey all.

I just made a batch of Edworts Hause Ale. It was at .1050 when made. I added a pound extra of 2 row? and 1/2 pound extra of crystal. This was my first all grain attempt.

Fermented like crazy for 3 days. Waited 9 days once it was done. Checked the gravity and it surprised me. Its at .1020 ???

I placed it in the secondary while taking the reading. Could this be unfermentable sugars that would put up the hydrometer?

It tastes pretty good and not too sweet. I hope this wasn't a failure. Any ideas if I should referment or what?

 

[bradsul]

The extra crystal will raise the FG for sure. What was your mash temperature? A higher mash temp will contribute to a higher FG. Watch the secondary for a few days and see if there is any further activity. It's possible the yeast just flocculated a little early and racking to secondary may wake the remaining yeast up a bit.

By the way; if it tastes good I wouldn't call it a failure.

 

[Evan!]

Hey all.

I just made a batch of Edworts Hause Ale. It was at .1050 when made. I added a pound extra of 2 row? and 1/2 pound extra of crystal. This was my first all grain attempt.

Fermented like crazy for 3 days. Waited 9 days once it was done. Checked the gravity and it surprised me. Its at .1020 ???

I placed it in the secondary while taking the reading. Could this be unfermentable sugars that would put up the hydrometer?

It tastes pretty good and not too sweet. I hope this wasn't a failure. Any ideas if I should referment or what?

1. It's 1.050 and 1.020, you've got the decimal in the wrong place...just to avoid future confusion.
2. Did you aerate your wort?
3. I routinely have beers finish out that high or higher. Try pitching some Nottingham on it to see if it starts back up. If not, then it could be excess unfermentables...and it'll still be good. What you don't want is gushers, so be careful and make absolutely sure that those extra sugars aren't fermentable. I just went throught this long and laborious process on my double IPA that finished at 1.040. Just to make sure the yeast hadn't stalled, I first stirred up the wort. No dice. Then I added some dextrose and more nottingham. Logically, if fermentation started back up, but only fermented the new corn sugar, then the rest of those sugars are just unfermentable. Turns out that was indeed the case. A small fermentation started back up, and when it appeared finished, I took another gravity reading. Just about the same. So the yeast was still viable...not sure if you need to go through all this trouble, but I'd still give it a few more weeks and another yeast addition just to be sure. You didn't use and laaglander DME, did you?

 

[britishbloke]

Lol, Sorry yeah. I don't think it was a failure. I just thought maybe it was a little too low in alcohol. But I really didnt mean to add an extra half pound of crystal. I accidentally put the whole bag into the crusher with the 2-row without thinking.

It looks and smells good though. I'll keep my eye out on the gravity though. Cheers!

 

[britishbloke]

I didn't airrate my wort. I just pitched the yeast after it cooled to 70 degrees.

I used all graina nd didnt use any DME or liquid.

 

[bradsul]

Accidents like that can sometimes lead to your favourite recipes. Just remember to keep excellent notes because you may want to duplicate this brew in the future.

I once mixed up my roasted barley with my black patent. That was not a keeper.

 

[bradsul]

Not aerating could be part of the problem. The yeast needs the oxygen to reproduce at the beginning stages of fermentation. I would try as Evan! suggested and pitch a sachet of Nottingham or some other neutral yeast just to be sure fermentation is complete.

 

[EdWort]

Did you use Nottingham? It ferments out clean and dry, so you should be getting down around 1.015.

Did you calculate for the temperature difference?

 

[malkore]

sometimes racking to secondary will stir things up enough to finish the ferment.

otherwise, how reliable is your thermometer when mashing/lautering? If you got too warm, you converted the starches to unfermentable sugars, which do raise gravity of the finished product.

 

[mediumsk]

ive had this same problem with my last two beers.
the beer thats fermenting now was AG, aerated, and pitched onto a decent sized cake. initially it fermented down to 1.025 from 1.055 , and stopped. i added a 1 qt. starter and this only got it down to 1.020.
im beginning to wonder if 1 to 2 minutes of aeration isnt enough? or if possibly using a single step mash with 6 row being most of the mash doesnt provide enough nutrients?
im at a loss.
any ideas?

 

[britishbloke]

I assume this would be a super low alcohol beer. As it only went from 1.050 yo 1.020.

Im not sure what the exact % would be. I'll keep posting in a week and I hope it goes down some. :cross:

 

[EdWort]

I assume this would be a super low alcohol beer. As it only went from 1.050 yo 1.020.

Im not sure what the exact % would be. I'll keep posting in a week and I hope it goes down some. :cross:

If it does not change, it will be a nice session beer at 4% abv.

 

[britishbloke]

cool, thanks.

I think i'll leave it for 2 weeks in the secondary and then bottle it.

Even if its 4% id still be happy. But it going down to 1.020 makes me think it might only come out to 3% ... Hmmm.

 

[TheSultan]

Hi, I'm borrowing this thread for a minute. As I wrote in another thread (https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=34739) I also have an ale that appears to have stopped fermenting too early.

If I decide to re-pitch some yeast just to be sure all fermentable sugars are gone, should I also re-aerate?

Thanks,
Mattias

 

[FSR402]

Hi, I'm borrowing this thread for a minute. As I wrote in another thread (https://www.homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=34739) I also have an ale that appears to have stopped fermenting too early.

If I decide to re-pitch some yeast just to be sure all fermentable sugars are gone, should I also re-aerate?

Thanks,
Mattias

No you do not. I would just take some bottled water, re-hydrate the yeast and put it in.

 

[FlyingHorse]

But it going down to 1.020 makes me think it might only come out to 3% ... Hmmm.

Great news! You don't have to "think" about what it "might" come out to. You can calculate it:

(OG - FG) * 131

Example: (1.050-1.020) * 131 = 3.93%

 

[britishbloke]

Thats not so bad.

I guess it will come out to around 4.5% while secondary.

It needs to clear for a week or two before bottling.:cross: