First time chocolate stout

[SadDadBrewing]

Hello brewers names eric first time brewer. I have only 1 under my belt and currently have a stout fermenting. Okay so heres the problem i got the OG reading but it was taken before topping off with water after boil. I let wort reach around 85F took a sample and put that in the fridge till it was 68F, i then checked the OG reading and i got 1.022. Keep in mind i was aiming for a chocolate stout at 7% ABV. Is there anything i can do to fix also i see no activity coming from airlock first day there was serious bubble activity i checked for a leak since its in a plastic fermenter and seems pretty tight i will be doin a secondary fermentation to add chocolate and cherries. If any advice please share thank you all

 

[C-Rider]

If this was an extract kit you got the OG that the kit said. You just have a poor mix after adding the top off water. Relax and enjoy your beer.

 

[SadDadBrewing]

This wasnt really a kit it was something i made up but they did help me at my local homebrew store i know the guy used some kind of calculator to make this recipe. Its a 5 gallon batch partial brew. I did actually pitch the yeast at 80F not sure if that was a mistake and then i shook the fermenter 10mins after letting the yeast sit on top again not sure if that was another mistake. I jus saw today this morning that there was a leak because i see the bottom of the outer rim has beer there could this be a problem as well? Should i rack now to a glass carboy?

 

[Rob2010SS]

So, I'm a noob brewer but here's my thoughts...

1. 1.022 seems REALLY low for an OG reading. Assuming you were to use a yeast that is rated at 80% attenuation, like US-05, that puts you at an ABV of 2.3%. Something is off with your OG reading.

2. 80* is definitely too hot to pitch yeast. I'm not sure what to tell you to do at that point. One of the local experts will have to chime in there.

3. As far as the leak, I'm assuming you're fermenting in a plastic bucket? I don't think the leak is a huge deal. I think your risk of infection is higher if you try and transfer to another carboy. I would think just wipe down the outside of the bucket with some sanitizer and leave it alone for now. You said you were planning on doing a secondary so at that point, you can transfer it to another carboy and take care of the leaky bucket lid.

I think to help you more, we're going to need some more info in regards to your recipe, your boil volume, how much water you added after, clarification on your OG reading, etc.

 

[SadDadBrewing]

My first batch was a citra pale ale i pitched yeast at around 75F that came out good for my first time, it was a kit. So this time i did same thing a lil different from last brewing method i instead of boiling 3 gallons i brewed 3 and half gallons because i knew i was goin to loose a lot of water from steeping grains, in which i did jus not a tremendous amount. Once boiled i add DME 6lbs and did everything else jus like last batch only this time i did not use as much hops. I was told from my local homebrew to take aome wort out and mix in the cacoa so it would be easier to mix. I did jus that and last remaining 5 mins i add lactose not exactly sure how much i kno the bag is 454 grams about a 1lb and i used bout half. I dont have a wort chiller so i used the ice and water method in a sink to drop temp. Thats wen i got a sample to put in fridge for OG reading now there was some sediment in the sample couldnt tell how much but it was still at 68F. I soon realized after topping off with cold water and picthing the yeast i knew i messed up getting the real OG reading before pitching the yeast. So fermenter is in dark closet i cant seem i to get it below 70F i seen the airlock bubbler goin crazy the first 2days now it stopped. I did however clean the lil spill there was on outer rim of course sanitizing everything before opening lid and i could see bubbles rising so i kno its doing its job jus curious if i should worry because of airlock bubbler not bubbling.

Yeast: Safale 04
Hops 1: Mt Hood 1 oz
Hops 2: Hallertau German 2 oz
Pale 2 row: 1lb
Chocolate malt: 1lb/ 4oz
Flaked Oats: 9oz

 

[MBasile]

I'm willing to bet that the wort didn't get mixed well enough after you topped off, meaning that the fender wort is at the bottom and the watered down wort is at the top. It'll even out as it ferments.

 

[BMWillis]

Rob is 100% correct in all the points he made, I'll chip in a couple pennies worth of advice:


-RHAHBDW! You've done all the work, this batch is well on its way to beer.

-Airlock activity (or lack thereof) isn't a reliable indication of fermentation. You said you cracked the lid and saw bubbles, so thats a good sign! Keep that lid on your pale as much as possible though, the less o2 exposure you have, the better final product you'll end up with.

-Pitching at 80F and fermenting at 70F will more than likely throw off some esters, especially with an English strain like S04. Not automatically a bad thing at all, might just not be exactly to style or your personal taste. For your next batch, you might want to look into a swamp cooler to try and bring that fermentation temp closer to the ~65F range (depending on what yeast you go with of course).

-Try and get detailed measurements of ingredients you add, and take as many notes as possible. Many a brewer has made The Best Beer in the World™, but they cant replicate it because they didn't take notes throughout their brew day. I always have a scratch piece of paper on my counter top to scribble stuff down, and transfer to a more permanent 'brew log' in BeerSmith.

 

[flars]

My first batch was a citra pale ale i pitched yeast at around 75F that came out good for my first time, it was a kit.

So this time i did same thing a lil different from last brewing method i instead of boiling 3 gallons i brewed 3 and half gallons because i knew i was goin to loose a lot of water from steeping grains, in which i did jus not a tremendous amount.

Rinsing the steeping grains with warm water will make up for the lost volume to boil off. Rinsing the grains will also add residual sugars and color remaining in the grains to your wort.

Once boiled i add DME 6lbs and did everything else jus like last batch only this time i did not use as much hops.

I was told from my local homebrew to take aome wort out and mix in the cacoa so it would be easier to mix. I did jus that and last remaining 5 mins i add lactose not exactly sure how much i kno the bag is 454 grams about a 1lb and i used bout half.

You do need to get a digital scale for measuring ingredients.

I dont have a wort chiller so i used the ice and water method in a sink to drop temp. Thats wen i got a sample to put in fridge for OG reading now there was some sediment in the sample couldnt tell how much but it was still at 68F.

I soon realized after topping off with cold water and picthing the yeast i knew i messed up getting the real OG reading before pitching the yeast.

You can take a OG reading after aerating the wort and pitching the yeast.

So fermenter is in dark closet i cant seem i to get it below 70F i seen the airlock bubbler goin crazy the first 2days now it stopped.

Having the fermentor in a swamp cooler will help control the rise in the fermentation temperature from the activity of the yeast. Yeast produces heat as the sugars in the wort are fermented.

I did however clean the lil spill there was on outer rim of course sanitizing everything before opening lid and i could see bubbles rising so i kno its doing its job jus curious if i should worry because of airlock bubbler not bubbling.

CO2 is most likely escaping around the rim of the bucket rather than going through the air lock. This is not a problem. Take a SG reading in 10 days. Take another reading 5 days later. You will probably find FG has been reached. Taste the SG samples. Look at the samples for clarity. A lot of CO2 bubbles in the samples will suspend excess yeast and sediment.
More time in the primary will allow excess yeast and sediment to settle out.

Yeast: Safale 04
Hops 1: Mt Hood 1 oz
Hops 2: Hallertau German 2 oz
Pale 2 row: 1lb
Chocolate malt: 1lb/ 4oz
Flaked Oats: 9oz

Hope this one turns out good also. Best you can do for future brews is work on temperature control of the primary.

 

[Hopsimus]

Plugging in your recipe in Beersmith in comes up with these estimates:
Original Gravity of 1.060
Final Gravity of 1.019
ABV of 5.4%

So, possibly a little under what you were shooting for, but still a fine beer.

Also, I feel it should be pointed out that the Pale 2 row and the Flaked oats need to be mashed.
By steeping, you are effectively doing a partial mash, which is OK.
But, you should be aware of this in the future so that you use the correct amounts of water, temperature and amount to time, so that the starches in the grains are correctly converted to sugars.
Chances are you steeped for around 30 minutes at 150F, which is probably sufficient to convert the 2'ish pounds of grain you used.

Other posts have covered the bubbling and temp, so I won't comment on those issues.

At any rate, don't sweat it, you should end up with a decent brew.

Cheers!

 

[SadDadBrewing]

Thanks everyone for the comments i know i am learning and thought i can do this myself, guess i was wrong and not as easy as it looks on youtube. I am planning to rack monday 7/31, to secondary adding fresh puree cherries i bought the extract and tasted like cherry cough syrup so i dont want to use that. Should i take OG reading before racking into secondary or wait once i keg? Talking to a local hombrewer at more beer he recommend that i puree fruit wen using fruit. Any thoughts or ideas on that too? Thanks again

 

[jkweinza]

Hey Eric,
Could you post the recipe? Here are my thoughts on your issue (not super experienced either so take it with a grain of salt). If the OG was taken after the addition of water, it was probably low because the added water was still on top. I panicked over a low OG once and tried to add more sugar only to come up with a 7.5% alcohol wheat beer. If not then it may be an issue with your hydrometer or the temp you are using it at. If you added the extract correctly then I would just put your recipe into an online calculator and figure out what the OG should have been and go with that or just go with what you have and see how it turns out!

As for the yeast issue, if it was fermenting then it probably wasn't a problem. There should still be bubbling happening after just one day though maybe only slowly but definitely still happening.

Last thing, I am assuming this is an extract brew. If it is all grain then you could definitely be having issues with your extraction which could easily cause the very low OG. A recipe is definitely needed to help further.