Finishing Gravity TOO HIGH!

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mike1978

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I have had my newest IPA in the secondary for a week, (in primary for 8 days) and the FG reading is 1.030 when it's supposed to be 1.010-1.017. What should i do??? Do i pitch more yeast, if so how much and how long after do i let it sit before bottling??
 
well there is 3 things I can think of that would cause this:

1. your not taking tempeture into account when doing your gravity readings

2. Your yeast can't handle the alcohol content of your beer, then you should maybe throw a wine yeast to finish it off.

3. Or the sugars left that are to complex for the yeast to break down, in which case throw in some beano to bring down the sugar content and bring up the abv.

just my 2 cents
 
What kind of yeast did you use and what is the temperature at on the secondary?
 
I used Safale #S-04 Dry Yeast. The temp in the secondary runs from 68-72 degrees depending on the time of day.
 
The real problem is that you shouldn't have moved to secondary if fermentation wasn't complete or at least mostly complete. Secondary fermentation is a bit of a misnomer. Secondaries are really for clearing the beer or adding things like fruit or dry hops.

You may have to re-pitch to get it down to where you want. What was your starting gravity?
 
I moved it to the secondary after a week because i dry hopped it. The fermentation was nearly non existent when i moved it. The starting gravity was 1.061. If i re-pitch how much do i use and when can i bottle it after i re-pitch? And, is it nessecary to re-pitch? Is this gonna eff my beer up?
 
you have to trust your hydrometer, not visible signs. it is a common mistake.
especially with a higher gravity beer, the move to a secondary vessel should only be made after 2-4 days of hydrometer readings that are all the same. even then, there are biological processes going on that can be halted by racking to secondary.

if you learn to use the hydrometer and allow extra time in the primary vessel for yeast clean up and settling, you will take your beer's quality to a much higher level. it is one of the easist things you can do to improve your brewing.
 
You could rehydrate a packet of the same yeast and repitch. But you could also just leave it by and it will probably finish up, just more slowly. If you're dry hopping, you might want to repitch to speed things up.
 
Secondaries are really for clearing the beer

I disagree. Yeast falls out of solution to clear beer regardless of what vessel it's in. This can be done quicker by chilling the beer. Either way it doesn't need to be in a secondary.
 
I disagree. Yeast falls out of solution to clear beer regardless of what vessel it's in. This can be done quicker by chilling the beer. Either way it doesn't need to be in a secondary.

I think he was pointing out that a secondary was not for fermenting, not ruling out clearing in a primary.
 
+1 on what the cat-person said. you can wait or repitch. i know you just want to fix your beer, but the important thing is to learn from your mistake and then conquer the world!!!!
 
OK, so i just checked my IPA, which has been in the secondary for two weeks today. The hydrometer is reading 1.020, it's almost there, in need it to get to 1.010-1.017, should i pitch a little more yeast or just let it sit for a little while longer?
 
my hydrometer is reading 1.020 after two weeks in the secondary. Should i repitch a little more yeast or let it sit awhile longer?
 
well there is 3 things I can think of that would cause this:

1. your not taking tempeture into account when doing your gravity readings

2. Your yeast can't handle the alcohol content of your beer, then you should maybe throw a wine yeast to finish it off.

3. Or the sugars left that are to complex for the yeast to break down, in which case throw in some beano to bring down the sugar content and bring up the abv.

just my 2 cents

Two of these three suggestions should be ignored.

Sounds like you racked WAY too early
Only rack when beer is at or very near its FG (a Fast Ferment test will let you know what the FG will be)
 
it's reading 70 degrees. i've got a packet of Safale US-04 which is what i originally used. i was dry hopping it, i just removed the sache of hops today. i was told if i repitch to just add half of the packet of yeast on top. was this not good advice?
 
it's reading 70 degrees. i've got a packet of Safale US-04 which is what i originally used. i was dry hopping it, i just removed the sache of hops today. i was told if i repitch to just add half of the packet of yeast on top. was this not good advice?

Yes, it was bad advice.

S-04 has a tendency to stall (DOESNT make it a bad yeast, I use it)
Try warming it up to the mid 70's and see what that does.

A tub with warm water will do it
BE CAREFUL
Its easier to bring a beer temp up than down

If that doesnt work make the small starter and pitch active US-05
 
so, will a sanitized bottle of water filled with warm water, and then dropped into the bucket of beer, thats it?
 
i put it in the shower and had hot water running around it. I already see activity in the airlock. How long do i do this?
 
it's in a large container now, it's right between 75-77, no hotter. What am i looking for, do i leave it be, or take it out now and check the FG?
 
I'd leave it be for a few days and then check the SG. And I wouldn't let it get any warmer than that.

The thing is, you racked off your yeast too early. There's still yeast in suspension and they'll do the job with time. It's just going to take longer to get it done.
 
Honestly, I think this is a leave it alone and let it do it's thing situation. I don't think adding a little more yeast would be a bad thing if you really can't wait since it's not a matter of the yeast just stalling out.
 
Well, after 3 days of the same FG 1.020 i bottled, without repitching. It was pretty close, it tasted great, and looked super clear. Tomorrow i will be doing my first All Grain recipe, im pretty excited. Im gonna do an American Cream Stout. I made a mash tun today out of a 70 quart cooler which i already had. Total cost without cooler was $13, you cant beat that, it was checked and is water tight!
 
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