fermentation has stopped

[johnboy1984]

i am having a problem with the an ale i am brewing at the moment. it is only my second brew so i am still pretty new to this.
it is a kit beer that includes
1.7kg Lion real ale kit
1kg coopers brew enhancer 1
og= 1.036
i followed all the kit instructions and pitched the yeast at 23deg C and it fermented like crazy for 2 days then stopped with a gravity of 1.018. and there it has stayed for 5 days.
I have tried swirling the bucket but that doesn't seem to have any affect.
Do i leave it longer and see what happens, or can i bottle it now as the beer tastes fine as is?

 

[jester5120]

I'd give it atleast another week. what temperature is the beer fermenting at and did you account for the temperature difference when you took your gravity reading?

 

[david_42]

What yeast (Cooper's?) and what was the volume? 50% attenuation is rather poor, but a yeast selected for malt + cane sugar will not ferment as much of the coopers brew enhancer as a yeast like Munton's Gold.

 

[johnboy1984]

im not sure of the yeast it is just whateve came in the kit. i have kept the temp at 23deg C (not sure what that is in deg f). i took the readings at 20 deg C but that is what my hydrometer is calibrated for anyhow.
i would like to get it a bit lower coz at the moment it will b a pretty weak beer.
Do i keep swirling at this point? all that seems to acheive is make the beer very cloudy.
thanks for your help

 

[eastoak]

im not sure of the yeast it is just whateve came in the kit. i have kept the temp at 23deg C (not sure what that is in deg f). i took the readings at 20 deg C but that is what my hydrometer is calibrated for anyhow.
i would like to get it a bit lower coz at the moment it will b a pretty weak beer.
Do i keep swirling at this point? all that seems to acheive is make the beer very cloudy.
thanks for your help

with an OG of 1036 it's going to be low alcohol even if it goes down to 1008 or so. nothing wrong with a low ABV but if you want more alcohol you have to start with a higher OG.

 

[RM-MN]

Give it more time to see if it will reduce the final gravity but even if it doesn't it will improve the flavor. When you buy a kit you are at the mercy of the kit maker as to how well it will ferment out. Changing to a different yeast may help on the next kit but it also may not as there may just be to many unfermentable sugars in the extract.

There isn't anything wrong with a low alcohol beer and what you taste now isn't what you will taste when it is bottled and fully carbonated. Give it plenty of time to carbonate and mature before you pop the top on the first one. At least 2 weeks in the bottle and 3 would be better.

Have you started planning what your next beer will be? Before you purchase another kit, you should ask here for ideas. We feel that there is quite a difference in the quality of the kits available and can give you hints on what to choose. It would be helpful to know what is available in your area but if you want to buy online we can suggest places that have good reputations for producing their kits. Some hint of where you live would help too because shipping from the midwest of the US to say Australia may be a bit more expensive than you would want to deal with.

 

[johnboy1984]

so even if nothing changes, is there any risk of bottles exploding after bottleing with a fg of 1.018? the reason i say that is my last batch finished at 1.016 and 3 bottles went boom.
also what is the best temp to store the bottles at while conditioning?
as for my next brew i havn't decided yet. but i deffinatly will use a different yeast as both of my brews have not completed fermentation from kits.
as for where i live, i live in new zealand and my local homebrew shop doesnt have much selection in the way of kits so maybe ill try something different. anyone know of any easy recipies for a rookie?
thanks for all your help

 

[eastoak]

so even if nothing changes, is there any risk of bottles exploding after bottleing with a fg of 1.018? the reason i say that is my last batch finished at 1.016 and 3 bottles went boom.
also what is the best temp to store the bottles at while conditioning?
as for my next brew i havn't decided yet. but i deffinatly will use a different yeast as both of my brews have not completed fermentation from kits.
as for where i live, i live in new zealand and my local homebrew shop doesnt have much selection in the way of kits so maybe ill try something different. anyone know of any easy recipies for a rookie?
thanks for all your help

you may have had bottle bombs from too much priming sugar. final gravity can be virtually any number depending on what the original gravity was. if you are an extract brewer you could make a simple beer with just extract, hops, water and yeast. it does not have to really conform to any style, just make a fizzy yellow beer. look in the recipe section on these forums for some ideas and get some dry nottingham yeast to ferment whatever you make.