Fermentation problems? !?

[NativeSun]

My grain bill was:

3lbs 2 row
4lbs white wheat malt
1lb Carafoam
2lbs Light Munich

.5 mt hood (aroma)
.5 mt hood (bittering)

2 vials of WLP320 Amer Hefe

It was supposed to have a OG of 1.043 and FG of 1.012. I was able to reach 1.045 before i added the yeast. After day 7 of primary fermentation my beer is at 1.029. The problem with this batch was my fiance wanted to keep the windows open and the temp was difficult to keep at 70-72 degrees. For the most part the beer was fluctuating between 70-78 degrees throughout the day.

I plan on adding my watermelon juice to the wort today or tomorrow. Last time i made this the yeast reactivated to munch on the watermelon sugars. Do you think that will bring the gravity reading to where its supposed to be?

 

[pdxal]

How about some more information?
What was your mash temp? Are you sure it was correct?
What temperature was the beer at when you pitched the yeast?
Did you make a starter?
Have you checked the gravity on successive days to see if it is stable, or still going down? 1 week may be too early to expect the beer to be finished.
Are you measuring gravity with a refractometer, or hydrometer?

 

[KangerBrew6]

Don't ever let your fiance ever be an influence in the production of your beer ever again! Unless she understands just how serious you are about brewing my friend, there are some serious questions to be asked! Good luck buddy. Brewing and relationships can be a slippery slope.

 

[Hello]

Don't ever let your fiance ever be an influence in the production of your beer ever again! Unless she understands just how serious you are about brewing my friend, there are some serious questions to be asked! Good luck buddy. Brewing and relationships can be a slippery slope.

They can be when you have that mindset. Pretty bad advice to suggest that in my opinion.

If temperature control cannot be achieved because someone wants fresh air then invest in a fridge that you dan ferment in or build something like a son of fermentation chamber.

I'd say 1 week isn't enough to worry. Get the beer some place where temps are better controlled and wait. 78 is far too high for most yeasts.

 

[NativeSun]

How about some more information?
What was your mash temp? Are you sure it was correct?
What temperature was the beer at when you pitched the yeast?
Did you make a starter?
Have you checked the gravity on successive days to see if it is stable, or still going down? 1 week may be too early to expect the beer to be finished.
Are you measuring gravity with a refractometer, or hydrometer?

Mash temp was between 150-160. At one point 30 mins i noticed the burner was on and it brought the temp to 170 but I stirred and it came back down to the right temp quickly.

Cooling the wort was an issue cause it was late. I waited till the next day and pitched at 79-80 bc I couldnt get it down.

No yeast starter. Took two vials as predicted by brewtoads recipe builder.

I don't have a hydrometer. Just a refractometer. I haven't had issues in the past and I feel I was consistent with the process.

I added the watermelon juice and mint leaves. It has started to ferment again and will wait 10 days or more to see where it's at.

 

[boydster]

Did you correct for the presence of alcohol with the refractometer? Once fermentation kicks off, you need to account for the fact that alcohol refracts light differently than water, so the measurement will be skewed. There are conversion calcs online like Brewer's Friend that can help.

Also, you'll want to find a way to dial in your mash temp a little more precisely. 150-160 is a really wide range, and hitting 170 will denature the enzymes that are converting the starches to sugars. It's tough to call a high FG a fermentation problem when your mash was all over the place, since it is possible you got a lot of dextrins from a high mash temp and also possible that you didn't get complete conversion from getting hot enough to denature the amylase enzymes.

 

[unionrdr]

The problem I see here is mash temps getting too high. 170F could kill the enzymes that convert starches to sugars. Even 160 is a bit high, but not too detrimental. 147-155F is a better mash temp range. You may have a tough time getting it much lower. The watermelon juice will ferment out, but you could wind up with a higher FG as a result. Let it go & finish out. Then test again.
I've got a watermelon hefe with WL300 hefeweizen yeast going on 8 days in primary today. Wednesday will be 10 days & I'll do a first FG test on it then.

 

[seph]

Did you correct for the presence of alcohol with the refractometer? Once fermentation kicks off, you need to account for the fact that alcohol refracts light differently than water, so the measurement will be skewed. There are conversion calcs online like Brewer's Friend that can help.

Aside from the mash temps, this is what I'd look into to find out your real gravity reading. You really should have a hydrometer, for finding FG. You can use correction charts and calculators, but nothing beats the trusty hydrometer.

 

[pdxal]

I plugged your numbers into a refractometer conversion calculator and it gave your current gravity at 1.016 rather than the 1.029 you measured with your refractometer.

 

[KangerBrew6]

Hey Hello, It's called friendly humorous banter. It's not "real" advice. We do that down here. Or as we say "It's a joke Joyce." Cultural differences.

 

[NativeSun]

I plugged your numbers into a refractometer conversion calculator and it gave your current gravity at 1.016 rather than the 1.029 you measured with your refractometer.

hmmm well I made the switch from iPhone to Samsung. .the conversion calculator maybe a ****ty app and I freaked out for nothing. I'll try again to find another app..

Thanks for letting me know my readings were wrong!

 

[NativeSun]

It would appear the app that was on my phone does not account for the alcohol after fermentation has begun. Thank You other websites' calculators!!!