exploding bottles & pigs ahead!?

[stevedasleeve]

I'm not sure I ought to be doing this brewing thing since it is becoming apparent I truly suck at it! I've done 6 batches, the first two were OK but somewhat cidery, the 3rd was very good so I consider that a positive, but missed the OG by a bit and ended up slightly weaker than I had hoped (5% ABV) My 4th which I bottled this evening....

Well I think I fracked up that one. A magnum opus IPA with whole cascade hops added continuously for 50 minutes, dry hopped, and I let it ferment 3 full weeks in the primary fermenter. I did not even think to check the FG tonight, just siphoned 1/2 into the party pig and started filling bottles with the other half. I finally remembered, checked the FG and discovered it was 1020! It was supposed to be 1016 but the OG was off by quite a bit too - projected 1066, ended up at 1060.

So frack it all to hell I said to myself, tasted it (good but weak) and finished the bottles mouthing more elaborate and colorful and very crude metaphors all the while.

I have two theories, and these are unsubstantiated by any experience or smarts even, but there you are:

1. The bottles and my pig will blow up while I am away next week, the yeast despite vigorous early fermentation signs and good temps and plenty of time simply had not finished after 21 days. I should have taken hydrometer readings these last three days.

3. The beer was much weaker because the whole cascade hops sucked up all the juices and what went into the fermenter when topped up with water was too diluted, the result... this stuff!

This latter theory I came up with because when I poured the wort into the fermenter it was supposed to be 3 gallons, but with the enormous amount of vegetable material from the 4 Z of whole hop flowers it ended up a full gallon short - 2 gallons. I topped up the fermenter to 5.5 gals (my recipe was for this much.)

Thoughts? Corrections? Condolences? Anyone want to point at me and laugh their heads off?

 

[COLObrewer]

I think it will be fine, doesn't appear to be much weaker either, still should be around 5% (Oh, NM, I see you said that). Anyway, if you're worried about them exploding while you are gone, just put them in the fridge or some other cool place until you get back.

I don't understand your statement about the hops soaking up wort, there is still the same amount of liquid there. Maybe you had a long boil?

If all else fails, RDWHAHB. Merry christmas, Vern <----working, bah humbug.

 

[david_42]

Whole hops absorb 5-6 times their weight in wort, but they do not specifically extract the sugars.

I doubt there will be any explosions, as the FG was stable before bottling. The Target Final Gravity is an estimate, YGMV.

It might be a good idea to pick a recipe for a style you like and brew it several times until you get consistent results. At that point, you can branch out and experiment.

 

[hamiltont]

About the hops stealing your wort. It's okay to squeeze the wort back out of them. Cheese cloth works good. Just remember to sanitize it first.

 

[IrregularPulse]

You are fine. 102 is a very common finishing gravity. Search 1020 curse. I'm guessing you used extract? Your bottles will be fine. just try and aerate more next brew.