FG query

[Ladder]

Hi

I've only been brewing for a couple of years and taken it as seriously as I can afford too over the last year so still really new to it. I mostly brew on a 20 litre braumeister.

I recently brewed the attached recipe. Had some issues with hitting the OG and in fact in the original recipe the OG was 1065 with a efficiency of 70%, but think it was more like 65% so I reentered it.

I mashed at 68c for 70 mins and used Safale S05 but was only able to hit an FG of 1018/1020(Hard to read from the hydrometer) but lets say 1020.

Must confess I bottled it after 13 days. I tested the FG over two days and it was exactly the same. I have an 8 week year old baby so time is tight and brew at a brew club so not at home. A bad excuse I know but it did seem to have finished.

I'm a bit concerned now that I've bottled too early. I slightly underprimed it with a co2 level of 2 so hoping it will be ok. Just concerned of bottle bombs and wondered what the consensus on here was?

I've done a bit of research and it seems I was pushing the enzymatic power somewhat with the amount of specialty malt in the recipe and non fermentables. That with the higher mash temp might explain the FG?

i ferment at ambient temp of 18c.

Thanks for your help

 

[Ladder]

Just bumping this just in case anyone has any advice. I did an early 5 day test and it seemed ok but too early to tell.

Cheers

 

[flars]

It is difficult to say whether or not you bottled before the fermentation ended. The FG is high for a yeast like US-05 but accuracy of the mash temperature and conversion along with the adjuncts make a difference on the fermentability of the wort.

Open another bottle in a week to check the carbonation level. Are you bottle conditioning around 21° to 23°C?

Take your specific gravity readings 3 to 5 days apart for your next brew. Changes in specific gravity can be difficult to notice taking readings on successive days.

Your beer probably still had quite a bit of suspended sediments bottling after 13 days. Not a real problem but you will have more sediment in each bottle. The sediment can become nucleation points for the CO2 in solution. A rough pour can stir up these sediments causing foaming even though the carbonation level is not excessive. Handle the bottles gently before you test the carbonation level again.

With your time being tight for brewing I would have gone longer in the fermentor than shorter. My primary time is typically 3 weeks. You will be more sure on FG and the beer will have time to clear.

Hope this is of some help.

 

[Ladder]

Thank you!

The bottles are currently conidtioning at around 17c. It's got very cold in London in the last week so moved them to a cupboard in the bathroom where it's a tad warmer, but not much more.

Interesting point about the sediment. Last beer quite a bit got into the bottles and I had some foaming issues. With this beer I actually only bottled 15 litres from a 20 litre initial batch to make sure I left most of the trub at the bottom and always batch prime.

Will definitely leave it longer next time. Been a bit fixated on bottling each time after 14 days

Appreciate your help. Just hoping they don't implode! I used good quality bottles so hoping will be ok

 

[Calder]

1.060 to 1.020 is pretty poor. I would have left it longer just to make sure. A beer like that will not harm with longer in the fermenter. I usually go 4 weeks standard anyway for most beers, except for highly hopped ones.

1 lb Crystal, 1 lb Chocolate, and 1/2 lb Black will certainly raise your FG. You should have mashed lower to try and offset the sugars from these grains.

Mash 155 F and ll that speciality grain, could be the problem. Hard to say.

I strain out my hops when going into the fermenter to minimize trub. When I bottle, the cake is very compact, and lose only about 2 pints. Looks like you lost over a gallon.

 

[passedpawn]

First, and FOREMOST, stop your worrying. While bottle bombs are no fun at all, the worrying is far worse. This is a hobby, it's fun, even when we fail at it. Well, it should be - keep telling yourself that!

13 days is usually enough time to finish fermentation, assuming you were well inside the temperature range for your yeast. As Calder above said, more time can't hurt, but in this case probably wasn't necessary.

For beers to be properly "digestible", you really want them to finish at 1.015 or less. An FG higher than that makes a beer more of a sipper, and that's OK if you're making a high-ABV stout or similar. Many of those malts have zero enzymatic potential, so that could be your problem. Enzymes are not consumed in their action: given enough time, they will convert all available starch to simple sugars. If you're looking to lower your FG in the future, mash at a low temp (i.e., 150F) and let it go longer. Try 90m. You can buy alpha amylase in a powder form too, cheap, so if all else fails add a teaspoon of that to your mash. I've never done that myself.

Good luck!

 

[Ladder]

Thank for all the feedback. Will make those adjustments next time.

When you say for 90mins did you mean in the mash or the boil?

I had a taste last night and it was tasting lovely. I've been focusing on stouts the last few brews and I'm really happy with this one. It's got a great mouthfeel in particular which probably isn't surprising.

 

[Zver]

Always fill 1 PET bottle to check carbonation.

Also you can take a dose of young beer and use stirplate to check if FG changes or not.

 

[Ladder]

How do you do this?

I will look into it.

Sorry not familiar with this method.

Thank you

 

[RM-MN]

Thank for all the feedback. Will make those adjustments next time.

When you say for 90mins did you mean in the mash or the boil?

I had a taste last night and it was tasting lovely. I've been focusing on stouts the last few brews and I'm really happy with this one. It's got a great mouthfeel in particular which probably isn't surprising.

Doing a mash takes time, time to stir in the grains, time for them to get wet through (starch gelatinization), time for the enzymes to do their work, time to extract the sugars produced. Most of the time in a conventional mash tun this will be done in 60 minutes but that time is dependent on the crush of the grain (which also is the limiter for mash efficiency, better crush gets better efficiency). If your grain isn't crushed real well, mashing for 90 minutes can get you more mash efficiency and a more fermentable wort.

My stouts taste pretty strong roasty when I first bottle them but mellow with time. I've never been able to leave mine alone so I run out by the end of 2 years but they seem to be still changing a bit by that time, getting smoother.

 

[Ladder]

I should have added that I made this in the Braumeister.

Will definitely reduce temp and increase length next time.

I increased on this occasion as I wanted better body.

 

[Zver]

How do you do this?

Just take a dose of young beer to magnetic stirplate. Aeration helps yeast to finish their work, in short time they'll achieve FG. Then take a measure and compare with initial gravity.

If nothing changed - beer is ready for bottling.

 

[Mer-man]

At that mash temp, I would expect 1.012-1.014 depending on the yeast, and at a reasonable OG. But that's with 90% base malts. You're using only 75% "easy" fermentables, so I think you're in the neighborhood.

You didn't mention whether you rehydrated your yeast, or how many grams you used. Take good care of your yeast and they will take care of you.

 

[Ladder]

Just take a dose of young beer to magnetic stirplate. Aeration helps yeast to finish their wors, in short time they'll achieve FG. Then take a measure and compare with initial gravity.

If nothing changed - beer is ready for bottling.

Thank you! Will definitely try that.

 

[Ladder]

At that mash temp, I would expect 1.012-1.014 depending on the yeast, and at a reasonable OG. But that's with 90% base malts. You're using only 75% "easy" fermentables, so I think you're in the neighborhood.

You didn't mention whether you rehydrated your yeast, or how many grams you used. Take good care of your yeast and they will take care of you.

I used one packet of dried S05, which in hindsight I don't think was enough. Amateurish of me.

 

[Mer-man]

@Ladder we're all amateurs here. But that's an easy area for improvement for next time.

 

[Ladder]

@Ladder we're all amateurs here. But that's an easy area for improvement for next time.

What software do you use to work out pitching rates? Do you think fundamentally I underpitched or it needed to be rehydrated?

 

[RM-MN]

What software do you use to work out pitching rates? Do you think fundamentally I underpitched or it needed to be rehydrated?

There have been studies that show that without re-hydration the pitching the dry directly into the wort can kill up to 50% of the yeast cells. If that happened you underpitched by nearly 1/2 which can lead to less attenuation. Make sure to rehydrate the next time and see if that makes a difference.

I don't see where you aerated the wort. If not, you inhibited the ability of the yeast to propagate. Make sure to aerate the wort well.

 

[eric19312]

What software do you use to work out pitching rates? Do you think fundamentally I underpitched or it needed to be rehydrated?

None of the software is really built around good data for pitching rates for dry yeast/ Mr Malty says there are 200 billion cells per pack. Fermentis the manufacturer of US-05 says >6 billion cells per gram--11 gram pack I get 66 billion cells.

Fermentis does recommend following pitching rates:
Ale 50-80 grams per hectoliter, Lager 80-120 grams per hectoliter >12C or much more <12C. Looking at their recipes they post a 1.056-1.060 amber beer pitched with 50 g/hL S-04 at 60F. They also show an IPA 1.048-1.060 pitched with 150 cells/hL US-05 at 52F! I've never tried 05 that cold it is interesting idea.

Anyway standard 50-80 g/hL rate works out to 9-15 grams in a 5 gallon batch so your single pack was probably plenty of yeast.

Fermentis does recommend rehydration and provides good instructions for doing this. Rehydrate in warm water (temp depends on ale vs lager yeast) 10x weight of yeast, mix, wait 30 min, pitch.

They also note it is possible to rehydrate by direct sprinkle and provides specific instructions for how to do this (there is a mixing / aerating step 30 min after sprinkle that I don't believe many homebrewers follow).

I do the rehydration step pretty religiously and have good results.

 

[Ladder]

It is difficult to say whether or not you bottled before the fermentation ended. The FG is high for a yeast like US-05 but accuracy of the mash temperature and conversion along with the adjuncts make a difference on the fermentability of the wort.

Open another bottle in a week to check the carbonation level. Are you bottle conditioning around 21° to 23°C?

Take your specific gravity readings 3 to 5 days apart for your next brew. Changes in specific gravity can be difficult to notice taking readings on successive days.

Your beer probably still had quite a bit of suspended sediments bottling after 13 days. Not a real problem but you will have more sediment in each bottle. The sediment can become nucleation points for the CO2 in solution. A rough pour can stir up these sediments causing foaming even though the carbonation level is not excessive. Handle the bottles gently before you test the carbonation level again.

With your time being tight for brewing I would have gone longer in the fermentor than shorter. My primary time is typically 3 weeks. You will be more sure on FG and the beer will have time to clear.

Hope this is of some help.

Hi Flars.

Hope you're well

I made a porter last week. OG of 1060. I'm really swamped with work and a newborn at the minute and might have to leave it in the fermentor for 20 days before bottling. Do you think it will be ok?

Noticed you said last time that your primary time is typically 3 weeks.

Cheers

 

[RM-MN]

Hi Flars.

Hope you're well

I made a porter last week. OG of 1060. I'm really swamped with work and a newborn at the minute and might have to leave it in the fermentor for 20 days before bottling. Do you think it will be ok?

Noticed you said last time that your primary time is typically 3 weeks.

Cheers

I think it will be ok with 20 days in the fermenter. I think it will be better if you leave it 40 days and maybe better yet if you leave it 60 days.

Porters need some time to mature and you can give them the time in the bottles or in the fermenter, whichever works best for you.

 

[Ladder]

I think it will be ok with 20 days in the fermenter. I think it will be better if you leave it 40 days and maybe better yet if you leave it 60 days.

Porters need some time to mature and you can give them the time in the bottles or in the fermenter, whichever works best for you.

Thanks. Yeah will be a mix of fermenter and then bottle. Just thought I'd leave it a wee while longer after issues with my stout last time.

 

[flars]

As @RM-MN Has said. More time in the primary can be good for the flavors of a porter. More time in the fermentor also means more of the suspended sediments and excess yeast will settle into a compact trub layer. Without sediments settling out in the bottle during conditioning the entire contents of the bottle can be poured into the glass.

 

[Ladder]

As @RM-MN Has said. More time in the primary can be good for the flavors of a porter. More time in the fermentor also means more of the suspended sediments and excess yeast will settle into a compact trub layer. Without sediments settling out in the bottle during conditioning the entire contents of the bottle can be poured into the glass.

Thank you. Pleased I'm leaving it a bit longer.