Fermentation probably finished, but high final gravity

[Zamp]

Hello everyone and first of all I'm sorry if some of my vocabulary is weird, but I'm not a native speaker.

I am super noob, I actually did a previous attempt brewing kit beer, it kinda worked, but probably due to lack of patience the batch likely did not finish fermenting and the bottles were... explosive (nothing was damaged, but just impossible to open without wasting half bottle, and beer was excessively sparkling)

Now I've tried a new (kit) 23l batch with the following characteristics:
-MUNTONS MIDLAND MILD ALE
-seafale s-04 yeast
- 1kg brown malt extract + 200g sugar. Kit suggested 1 kg sugar, but suggested a similar proportion when using malt instead.

the temperature was around 20°C all the time (ideal would be 18, but I don't have an appropriate way to decrease it) ,original gravity 1031.
Now it's been fermenting for 7 days, and measuring gravity both yesterday and today it is 1016; if I understand correctly, in the case that it keeps at that level even tomorrow, it should mean that fermentation is over, right?

So my questions:
-isn't the fg a bit too high? Could I have done something wrong?
-the airlock keeps going on with a decent frequency, like 1/90s. I'm aware that it does not really indicate that fermentation is in process, but still it seems a bit frequent, is it normal?
-there's been a white-yellowish layer at the bottom, at the beginning it was like 5 cm, now it's around 2. Might it be malt not in solution? I read around that there will be sediments from yeast and proteins, but compared to the amount of what I sprinkled, it seems way too much.

Sorry for the many (probably ignorant) questions, I hope you can help me!

 

[rburrelli]

How are you measuring gravity? Refractometer or hydrometer? What was the target FG? Bottling too soon is definitely a recipe for bottle bombs. Be patient. Give it some more time.

 

[ajm163]

my somewhat unwritten rule is don't touch it for 2 weeks. Patience is hard but bottle bombs are far worse. a little different if your keging but for bottling i would wait a full 2 weeks

 

[RM-MN]

-there's been a white-yellowish layer at the bottom, at the beginning it was like 5 cm, now it's around 2. Might it be malt not in solution? I read around that there will be sediments from yeast and proteins, but compared to the amount of what I sprinkled, it seems way too much.

When you first put the wort into the fermenter there will be a lot of protein "break material" that is fluffy but over time it will compact down and you will recover the beer that was mixed in with it. That's why you had 5 cm and now have 2. Give it more time and it will compact more yet. Being a bit careful when you transfer it to the bottling bucket will leave most of it behind so it doesn't end up in the bottle

 

[Jim R]

I don't even bother to check FG anymore and instead just wait 2 weeks before transferring. Even if it is done with active fermentation sooner, it will benefit from more time to develop.

 

[hotbeer]

Against all others that say two weeks is plenty, I let my first batch of brew ferment for 4 full weeks. I was only doing a 1 gallon batch and didn't want to extract the 6 fl oz that it would take to do each of the two tests with the hydrometer.

So I just waited till the beer quit bubbling inside the fermenter. Once it got over the 2 or 3 days of very very active bubbling that pushed a little foam and crud into the bubbler, it settled down to a steady state with lots of fine bubbles like a fine champagne or beer. There were larger bubbles that came out of the layer at the bottom that brought up stuff from the layer with them and kept the beer hazy.

It did that till just a few days short of four weeks. Then the beer started clearing up. The trub layer and yeast layer started getting more compact at the bottom. I probably could have waited a few more days but I bottled it yesterday, Monday, March 22.

I've looked at many views on the subject of how long is too long to ferment. Both here on this forum and elsewhere I settled down to three groups of thought.

• Those that have not and will not go longer than 2 weeks because they fear off tastes.
• Those that have let their ferment go longer but had some off tastes and decided it was the long ferment and never tried longer ferments again.
• Those that have fermented longer and have had good and bad results just as often as they have when they do a short ferment.

I figured I'd just see for myself what letting ferments go for longer than two week is like. We'll know next Monday when I try a bottle and see what it's tasting like.

If you are doing larger batches and can check with a hydrometer, then all you need is to have two samples show the same specific gravity a day apart. That supposedly tell you no more fermentation is going on.

Comparing FG and OG isn't the thing to do. Something else may have caused you not to reach the expected FG. Such as your conversion to fermentable sugars. Or simply your ingredients not measured correctly.

All this is my opinion. Though it's based on what I've read and heard that sounded good to me.

 

[Zamp]

Thank you all for the answers!
I'll try to answer to all of them, I just live in a different time zone, so they might happen at weird times.

efractometer or hydrometer? What was the target FG?

I'm using and hydrometer, the target FG was 1008 in the base kit, I don't quite know how it will be influenced by the malt

Regarding all the suggestions of letting it ferment for a longer time, at this point I'll definitely wait at least some more days, I've been told that the bottom layer might indeed be malt that was not well diluted (I did not pre-dilute due to inexperience), so I will hit the 2weeks mark and check gravity again, since these days it has been kinda stable, but it might also just be super slowly decreasing due to the solid malt not being digested easily.

Thanks again for all your answers!

 

[madscientist451]

Grab your fermenter and swirl it a little (don't shake it!) rousing the yeast this way may make it finish a little lower. Let the yeast settle a few days after it stops and pull a sample and take a gravity reading.