fg 1.030

[treesboy]

Little help for a rookie?
Ive brewed about 20 extract kits and get a bit more daring each time to try and change it around a bit. This last time in Mid jan I brewed a partial mash extract kit using the typical steps
Ingredients:
8 lbs. Dark Dry Malt Extract
¼ lb. Black patent (grain)
½ lb. Chocolate ½ lb espresso beans -
1½ lb. 80L crystal add at end of boil,
¾ lb. Roasted Barley
1 oz Galena Hops (Bittering)
1 oz. No. Brewer (Flavor)

I let the grains steep for 60 mins at 155 insted of 30 minutes. I added about 5 lbs of organic blackberries, rasberries and blueberries that I pasturized to the fermenter with the wort, brought it to 5 gallons and cooled it. SG was about 1.10 if I remember correctly.

I pitch Whilte labs San Diego Super Yeast WLP090

It bubbled nicely for a week....and kept bubbling very slowly. About a bubble a minute until finally it stopped and I let it sit even more to be sure.

I have no idea why it did this but I figured it took a while to digest the extra sugar from the fruit?

Today I got off my butt and tested the gravity and it was at 1.030? Highest Ive seen. Maybe there were some unfermentable sugars I was thinking. But really didnt think much of it, relaxed had a home brew, and bottled it!!

Just talked to my buddy who is a bit more knowledgeable who says Im going to create bottle bombs and blow this black chocolatey goodness all over the place!!CRAP the GF will not be happy if this happens!
I mean...cough... I wont be happy.

What do you guys think? Im considering all kinds of crazy. Including pouring back into fermenter to finish or even dare I say it. down the drain.
^ actually not going to do that because I tasted it and its GOOOOOD! But advice, recomendations?

 

[lumpher]

if it's good, i'd keep it and drink it even though the fg is high. keep the bottles cold, though. that'll stop them from continuing to ferment ( the bottle bombs )

 

[treesboy]

So you think let them carb for a week or two then chill them to prevent the higher pressure?

 

[RDbrew]

I'm sure you already know all this but I figured I would start basic:
bottles explode because of too much gas buildup, which is caused by too much ongoing fermentation after bottling.

You need to make sure that only a certain level of fermentation continues after bottling in order to get the right carb. levels. Most people do this by waiting until all the fermentables have been used up, then adding a measured amount of fermentables right before bottling. (Alternatively you could bottle with a certain residual amount of fermentables and allow that to ferment, creating the gas required).

So finishing with a high sg doesn't matter as long as fermentation has completed. Typically it is best to take sg readings over a number of days and if there is no change in reading you can safely assume fermentation has stopped.

As you pointed out, a high sg doesn't mean there are a lot of fermentables remaining in solution, it simply means you have a relatively dense solution.

Sent via phone, please excuse any typos.

 

[amandabab]

Little help for a rookie?
Ive brewed about 20 extract kits and get a bit more daring each time to try and change it around a bit. This last time in Mid jan I brewed a partial mash extract kit using the typical steps
Ingredients:
8 lbs. Dark Dry Malt Extract
¼ lb. Black patent (grain)
½ lb. Chocolate ½ lb espresso beans -
1½ lb. 80L crystal add at end of boil,
¾ lb. Roasted Barley
1 oz Galena Hops (Bittering)
1 oz. No. Brewer (Flavor)

I let the grains steep for 60 mins at 155 insted of 30 minutes. I added about 5 lbs of organic blackberries, rasberries and blueberries that I pasturized to the fermenter with the wort, brought it to 5 gallons and cooled it. SG was about 1.10 if I remember correctly.

pasturized fruit, pectin
lots of dark extract
3lbs specialty malt (crystal added to the wort at end of boil?)
i don't see any partial mash.

being done at 1.030 isn't out of the question

 

[treesboy]

Thanks Rdbrew ! Amandadab not familiar with fruit brews or the effects of pectin, something I missed ? And didn't add crystal at end of boil just a crappy cut and paste job sorry

 

[amandabab]

all fruit has pectin in it, cooking/heating the fruit concentrates it.

it will cause haze and and a gravity increase(but not fermentables). adding pectic enzyme before fermentation breaks it down.

dark extract also has a lot of unfermentables

 

[Calder]

So you think let them carb for a week or two then chill them to prevent the higher pressure?

Let them carb a couple of weeks and then sample. You might want to store them in a large plastic tub while this is going on, just in case. If you find they start getting lively (gushers), you should probably place all of them in the fridge at that time to halt any further fermentation.

However, you may be done, with 3 lbs of specialty malts and dark extract, and may not have a problem. 5 lbs of fruit is not going to contribute much sugar to offset the unfermentables in the main recipe. 5 lbs probably is the equivalent of 8 ozs of sugar.

it will cause haze and and a gravity increase(but not fermentables). adding pectic enzyme before fermentation breaks it down.

Interesting, that's the first I've ever heard that it will increase gravity. I'd like to find out more. Any suggestions where to look?

I always thought is was particulate suspended in the wort/beer that would not affect gravity (like yeast, trub, break material, etc) rather than being homogeneously mixed with the wort/beer.

 

[hanzy]

I would also recommend secondary fermentation. At least two weeks. Especially for a high gravity like this one. A lot of the thick stuff will settle to the bottom and also give that yeast a little more time to eat up any more fermentables in the brew. I've found that all my brews come out better this way.

 

[treesboy]

i will def get the enzyme great advice thanks. Yeah the secondary would have been smart. It was thick at the bottom near the yeast cake and I had a pretty hard time siphoning

 

[Jbird]

If you keep it could then the yeast will stop working and you might be better off then. You might get a little over carb. Other then that you could uncap one and see what happens. If it does not shot out like a fire hose then you could recap and go from there. You would have to use new caps. You could do that to all your bottles.
But if it shots out like a fire hose just open one outside and when the foam dies down just drink the rest or maybe recap one and see what happens.
Good luck.

 

[treesboy]

Update. It is carbonating well. Tested today by slowly opening a grolsh bottle to listen for the hiss. It popped nicely. No bombs yet. Moving to the fridge tomorrow to bring down temp a bit because summer is coming fast here in AZ

 

[BxBrewer]

One question i didn't see asked. What was the temp of the wort and the OG ?

 

[treesboy]

The starting gravity was about 1.10. Got complacent and didn't document. The temp in my bathroom tub where this was stowed away was a pretty constant 70 while fermenting.

 

[Calder]

The starting gravity was about 1.10. Got complacent and didn't document. The temp in my bathroom tub where this was stowed away was a pretty constant 70 while fermenting.

8 lbs. Dark Dry Malt Extract
¼ lb. Black patent (grain)
½ lb. Chocolate ½ lb espresso beans -
1½ lb. 80L crystal add at end of boil,
¾ lb. Roasted Barley
1 oz Galena Hops (Bittering)
1 oz. No. Brewer (Flavor)

I let the grains steep for 60 mins at 155 instead of 30 minutes. I added about 5 lbs of organic blackberries, raspberries and blueberries that I pasteurized to the fermenter with the wort, brought it to 5 gallons and cooled it.

I suspect you are a little high with the 1.100.

8 lbs of DME will get you to 1.072
The grains might get you an additional .007, but the dark grains will not add much.
5 lbs of fruit is about the same as 0.5 lbs of sugar (or an additional .005 in 5 gallons).

My estimate of your OG would be 1.084.

 

[treesboy]

Couldn't help it. Chilled one to sample. My mug was a bit too cold I think. Froze the head so I'm unsure about retention. Did not gush when opened. Good carbonation. Lots of berry flavor. Very tart. Espresso on the finish. Not to hot on the alcohol. I'm going to have to chill another to check head retention tomorrow I think.

 

[treesboy]

Calder you are prob right. Like I said I did not document. I'm about to go all grain and will put a little more effort from here on out. Have a triple burner set up. Ten gallon cooler w false bottom and ss ball valve set up. Brew kettle should hopefully be here tomorrow!. Which software do you use and how do you like it ?

 

[Jbird]

Couldn't help it. Chilled one to sample. My mug was a bit too cold I think. Froze the head so I'm unsure about retention. Did not gush when opened. Good carbonation. Lots of berry flavor. Very tart. Espresso on the finish. Not to hot on the alcohol. I'm going to have to chill another to check head retention tomorrow I think.

Looks pretty good from here.

 

[Calder]

Calder you are prob right. Like I said I did not document. I'm about to go all grain and will put a little more effort from here on out. Have a triple burner set up. Ten gallon cooler w false bottom and ss ball valve set up. Brew kettle should hopefully be here tomorrow!. Which software do you use and how do you like it ?

I use BeerSmith, but mostly for the hop utilization. I mostly do the gravities in my head when I'm planning a brew.

Next time pour that beer in a room temperature glass, it will taste much better; it's not a Bud! Too cold and you lose a lot of the taste.

 

[treesboy]

Check it out !!

 

[treesboy]

Thanks for the help guys. Look forward to all grain brewing Cheers !