Fermenting help please!

[jksports90]

I am making a robust porter with coconut. I brought my grains to a boil at 145-155 degrees last night for about 25 minutes. I then added my golden hops for an hour. I brought the wort to about 60 degrees and pitched my yeast. I used 1968 London esb wyeasy. After I pitched it I felt like there just wasn't enough wort so I added another gallon of water and shook it up nice and good to aerate. I have not seen any signs of fermentation and I got a little curious so I did a gravity reading. I'm currently sitting about 1.025. That seems pretty low right? Im afraid I have diluted the heck out of the beer and will have a watered down beverage in weeks to come. Keep in mind I went all grain. Please let me know if I need to pitch more yeast or need to do anything else. It's sitting in my dark closet right now.

 

[cease]

Sounds like the extra gallon of water really brought down your OG. The beer will be pretty thin. I wouldn't add any extra yeast, it will ferment out.

 

[jksports90]

Sounds like the extra gallon of water really brought down your OG. The beer will be pretty thin. I wouldn't add any extra yeast, it will ferment out.

Should I add sugar or anything to make the beer thicker? Trying to think of alternatives to make this beer good.

 

[Frilock]

Sugar is just going to make it even thinner. A pound or two of LME wouldn't hurt though.

 

[jksports90]

Sugar is just going to make it even thinner. A pound or two of LME wouldn't hurt though.

What is LME?

 

[RandallFlag]

What is LME?

Liquid Malt Extract

 

[masonsjax]

Not enough info here. What was the recipe? What size batch? Expected OG? Sparge method? Final volume before and after adding water?

 

[flars]

Your OG will be low because there would be very little conversion with the short mash time. You can boil some Dry Malt Extract, perhaps a dark DME for the porter, to add to the fermentor. One pound of DME will add 44 points per gallon to your SG. It could be added anytime within about three days.

After you empty the fermentor, with a measured amount of water, mark the gallon levels for future brews.

 

[jksports90]

Sugar is just going to make it even thinner. A pound or two of LME wouldn't hurt though.

Does it have to be a specific LME?

 

[flars]

Use dark malt LME or dark malt DME. Per pound DME will add more points than LME. LME is 36 points per gallon per pound.

 

[jksports90]

Use dark malt LME or dark malt DME. Per pound DME will add more points than LME. LME is 36 points per gallon per pound.

I have LME cbw special dark pure malt extract on hand now. Should I just use this since all brew shops are closed?

 

[flars]

I have LME cbw special dark pure malt extract on hand now. Should I just use this since all brew shops are closed?

That will work. Bring your water to a rolling boil, remove from heat, and stir the LME in to dissolve. The LME doesn't need to be boiled. The heat of the water will kill any bacteria that could be present.

 

[flars]

I should add, cool the supplementary wort to 65°F before adding to the fermentor.

 

[jksports90]

I should add, cool the supplementary wort to 65°F before adding to the fermentor.

Thanks you! Curious, I was going to see if I can make another batch with the spent grains? Is that possible? I have another yeast pack and hops.

 

[jksports90]

That will work. Bring your water to a rolling boil, remove from heat, and stir the LME in to dissolve. The LME doesn't need to be boiled. The heat of the water will kill any bacteria that could be present.

Also, how much water?

 

[flars]

I have never done this, but 3 pounds of LME should be easily dissolved into one-half gallon of water. You could start with less water since you will be adding it off the heat. If it seems to thick, add some more boiling water from a separate kettle.

 

[flars]

Thanks you! Curious, I was going to see if I can make another batch with the spent grains? Is that possible? I have another yeast pack and hops.

There would be no way of knowing what is left in the grains. You could try a mash for a one gallon batch and see what SG you get. I sort of think it wouldn't be worth the time though.

 

[masonsjax]

Your OG will be low because there would be very little conversion with the short mash time.

Well actually...
Mash conversion only takes a few minutes. Many of us have been using very short mash times, 15-30 minutes. With a proper crush and thorough agitation just before batch sparging, there's plenty of time for full conversion. I never mash longer than 30 mins anymore. You can go even shorter with BIAB because you can crush very fine without worry of stuck sparge.