FG higher than desired - will I have bottle bombs?

[aggiejason]

I'm bottling an IPA tomorrow that didn't ferment down as much as expected. Can I still treat it "like normal" in terms of the amount of priming sugar?

Longer story...I kind I messed this one up. My OG was 1.068 but I under pitched my S-05 and/or under-oxygenated and it stuck at 1.026. I tried to get it going again with a temp change and stir but it was "done". Fermentation definitely complete. I didn't move it to secondary and the hydrometer reading has been rock solid for 2 weeks. Beer is finished and tastes decent ... A little sweeter than I wanted but drinkable. Just want to get it into a bottle to carb it up.

I've got about 4.5 gallons to bottle and was going to just throw in the 4oz of corn sugar from the LHBS but since this is the first time I've ever bottled when the beer didn't hit my target FG and so I'm concerned that I might need to make a modification.

Anyone else have experience with this that they can share? Trying to avoid making bottle bombs.

 

[k1ngl1ves]

If your fg hasn't changed, then go ahead and bottle. It will be sweeter, as mentioned, but you won't get any bombs.

The good thing is you still have beer!!!

 

[Shred]

You sure your yeast didn't just crap out? I might consider pitching some new yeast and see if it helps.

 

[agrazela]

Wonder why it finished so high? Is it extract? High mash temp? A lot of unfermentable adjunct (like maltodextrin)? What FG did you expect to hit? I too would be worried about bottle bombs.

What I'd do is get a flask (or a mason jar) and some foil to cover, sanitize those, transfer maybe 250ml of your (stuck) beer to that, add 2 or 3g of the same yeast, swirl it up a couple times a day for 3 days (room temp or warmer the whole time), and see if it drops more. Basically a "late stage" fast ferment test with minimal equipment.

(You could use bread yeast, but that might only tell you that there is more fermentation to be done, not necessarily your true FG)

If that test drops you more than 4 or so gravity pts, you're gonna have to do something to reawaken your ferment or risk bottle bombs. Even if it only drops you less than that and you decide to bottle, you should adjust your priming sugar, figuring that each pt above true FG will equal the priming sugar of about 0.6 to 0.7 volumes of CO2 (in my experience).

(For example, if that test says true FG is two pts lower than current gravity, and you wanted to carb to 2.4 volumes, instead calculate priming sugar for 1.0 to 1.2 volumes)

 

[aggiejason]

This was my second all grain batch ever and I did have some issues with my mash temps being higher than I had planned for. Still figuring out my setup. Not many non-fermentables. 12 pounds of 2-row and 2.5 pounds of other misc malts. I had expected an OG of 1.073 and an FG in the mid teens. Fell short on OG and high on FG.

I did in fact make beer. Tastes drinkable. Wish I had a keg setup so there wasn't a worry about the bombs.

The flask idea is interesting. Might give that a try.