Fermentation stopped when I transferred to secondary...

[TRedVR6]

I am attempting to brew a batch of Vanilla Weizen beer from a recipe I found online. I got the ingredients from my local homebrew supply store. After boiling the wort and cooling it to 78F, I found that the liquid yeast was past the expiration date. The directions on the bottle said to make a starter if you wanted to use it past the expiration. Because it was too late to make a starter, I pitched the yeast and hoped for the best. It took a couple of days, but fermentation started and I thought everything would be fine. When the fermentation slowed to <1 bubble per minute, I transfered to the secondary. It's been a week now in the secondary and still no additional activity. My starting gravity was 1.058 (a little higher than the recipe called for) and I did not take a reading when I transfered to the secondary. I am going to pull a sample tonight to see if I'm close to the ending gravity that the recipe calls for.

My question is, if I'm not at the correct ending gravity, what should I do? Get some more yeast and repitch? Don't worry about it and bottle? Throw it away?

I've only brewed 2 batches of beer and they both came out great. Both had activity in the secondary for 5-10 days after it was transfered. When fermentation had slowed to <1 bubble in 3 minutes, and the specific gravity was consistent for 3 days straight, I bottled.

 

[Baron von BeeGee]

You should be fine. Activity may have been tapering off pretty rapidly when you transferred. As long as your FG is relatively close to the predicted value and it doesn't drop for a few days you're good to go. If it's significantly higher than you expected *and* it isn't continuing to drop you may need to take some corrective action.

 

[enoughstuff]

Well there starts another good thread!

"As long as your FG is relatively close to the predicted value and it doesn't drop for a few days you're good to go. If it's significantly higher than you expected *and* it isn't continuing to drop you may need to take some corrective action."

What is the best way (or tool) to determine SG and FG when you are not working with a scripted recipe or kit? I've been tinkering lately and for sure have an SG and an FG, but really no idea what these readings should be.

I'd really like to understand SG and FG in better terms. So far, I really haven't grasped these readings, and often do not bother. What am I missing?

 

[enoughstuff]

And I have NEVER "thrown it away". There is always something worthwhile in there!!!

 

[david_42]

OG - original gravity This is a measure of the amount of fermentables and unfermentables in your wort. It can tell you how good a job you've done in converting and extracting your malts. It also gives you some idea of the potential ABV of the ale.

SG - specific gavity The current density of the wort/ale compared to water.

FG - final gravity. A measure of the unfermentables in the ale. (OG -FG) * 1300 ~= ABV The target FG is about what to expect when the ale is done and you had a perfect batch.

We track SG to know how the ferment is doing. Say an ale starts with an OG of 1.052 and has a target FG of 1.012. If a week into the ferment it is at 1.034 and stays there for several days, we would know the ferment is stuck and pitching more yeast would be a good idea.

Most of the time when the ale is moved to the secondary it is within a 6-8 points of the target FG. It will continue to drop, but at a much slower rate than the original ferment.

 

[Darth Konvel]

Another note about (Specific) Gravity: Its basically a measure of how "thick" a liquid is.

edit: Along those lines, the drop is gravity of the wort / beer is due to sugars in solution (the stuff making it "thick") being converted to alcohol, which - being thinner then water - "thins out" the beer.

 

[TRedVR6]

Alright - I just took a specific gravity reading and it's at 1.000. The ending gravity range in the recipe is 1.008-1.014.

It appears that fermentation is complete, however, this brings up another question. It's been about 8 days since I transferred to the secondary. I added the vanilla beans when I transferred. There is a vanilla flavor to the beer right now (I tried a little when I took the SG reading), but should I leave it in the secondary for a few more days to get more vanilla flavor? The recipe only indicates to wait until there is at least 3 minutes between bubbles in the airlock.

 

[bikebryan]

Alright - I just took a specific gravity reading and it's at 1.000. The ending gravity range in the recipe is 1.008-1.014.

It appears that fermentation is complete, however, this brings up another question. It's been about 8 days since I transferred to the secondary. I added the vanilla beans when I transferred. There is a vanilla flavor to the beer right now (I tried a little when I took the SG reading), but should I leave it in the secondary for a few more days to get more vanilla flavor? The recipe only indicates to wait until there is at least 3 minutes between bubbles in the airlock.

I have a feeling you are not correcting your SG readings for temperature. The SG of 1.000 is a giveaway that you are doing something wrong, as most hydrometers are calibrated so that a SG of 1.000 is a reading of plain water at 60 degrees Farenheit. If you have ANY sugar left in the solution (and you can bet you do) then your SG MUST be higher than 1.000. Your hydrometer should have come with instructions on how to correct the reading for temperature.

 

[TRedVR6]

Your right - I didn't correct for temperature. My hydrometer is calibrated for 60F and my sample from my secondary was at room temperature (68F). I found the instructions that came with the hydrometer and they say to add 0.001 to the reading if the sample is at 70F so my final gravity would actually be 1.001.