Forgot to take an FG, bottled at 1.030

[GrimyHoboSack]

Short version: I forgot to take an FG reading, so I bottled a brew at 1.030, what should I do with it now?

Long version: Made an oatmeal stout that started at 1.053. I was fermenting in a carboy with a heat belt hooked to a temp controller, aiming for 65°F. During the first day or 2 of fermentation the temperature probe fell off of the carboy, so the heat belt was going at full tilt until it was replaced. I don't know when the probel fell off so it's hard to say, but I doubt it was off for more than 24 hours. After replacing the probe I left the carboy for about 4 weeks in primary at what should have been 65°F (aside from the brief higher period) then bottled, but forgot to check my FG at bottling. I tried a bottle the other day and noticed the sweeter flavor, took a gravity reading and came up with 1.030. In retrospect heating up the yeast then cooling them back down would definitely be a cause for concern, but I didn't think it would have that big of an impact at the time. What's the best course of action from here? As far as I can tell my choices are to pour the bottles back into a fermenter and repitch, crack the bottles every couple weeks and recap, or throw the bottles in a couple layers of garbage bags and hope for the best then use gloves and eye protection when opening them.

 

[Stauffbier]

Short version: I forgot to take an FG reading, so I bottled a brew at 1.030, what should I do with it now?

Long version: Made an oatmeal stout that started at 1.053. I was fermenting in a carboy with a heat belt hooked to a temp controller, aiming for 65°F. During the first day or 2 of fermentation the temperature probe fell off of the carboy, so the heat belt was going at full tilt until it was replaced. I don't know when the probel fell off so it's hard to say, but I doubt it was off for more than 24 hours. After replacing the probe I left the carboy for about 4 weeks in primary at what should have been 65°F (aside from the brief higher period) then bottled, but forgot to check my FG at bottling. I tried a bottle the other day and noticed the sweeter flavor, took a gravity reading and came up with 1.030. In retrospect heating up the yeast then cooling them back down would definitely be a cause for concern, but I didn't think it would have that big of an impact at the time. What's the best course of action from here? As far as I can tell my choices are to pour the bottles back into a fermenter and repitch, crack the bottles every couple weeks and recap, or throw the bottles in a couple layers of garbage bags and hope for the best then use gloves and eye protection when opening them.

Get a big plastic tub with a lid from walmart that you can put them in and hope for the best. After 2 or 3 weeks try one, if they are well carbed chill them to stop yeast activity.. Drink 'em up and make another batch!

 

[Brak23]

Do you use any brew software? What does it say your FG should be?

I'd put them in a tub or bag and prepare for potential bottle bombs. But let it go and see what happens after a few weeks.

 

[BurgBrewer]

Kind of a silly question, but what does a bottle bomb usually sound like? I'm about to start brewing for the first time and I want to know if I should forewarn my roommates of any potential loud bangs in a 3 or 4 weeks if something goes wrong. Does it tend to involve glass shards or just the cap flying off followed by ole' faithful?

 

[uncleben113]

Kind of a silly question, but what does a bottle bomb usually sound like? I'm about to start brewing for the first time and I want to know if I should forewarn my roommates of any potential loud bangs in a 3 or 4 weeks if something goes wrong. Does it tend to involve glass shards or just the cap flying off followed by ole' faithful?

I had about 6 go off while I was on vacation. Obviously I didn't hear them but there were glass shards all over the place inside my little beer stash! Hundreds of little glass shards stuck into everything.

 

[pd230soi]

mine were a dull boom with maybe a light crack. I was a couple of floors away and could still hear them.

Just make sure the flying glass can not hit anyone or get somewhere hard to clean and the spilled beer can be cleaned up. Rubbermaid containers with lids is a very good idea. You then can store your grains in them after this fun!

 

[ResumeMan]

Another silly question - did you degas the beer before you took your belated FG? If not, there may have been CO2 bubbles that cling to the hydrometer and forced it...up. Making it look like your gravity is higher than it is.

If you just took a reading from a sample straight out of a bottle, try leaving the beer open for a few hours and warming it up. Maybe, just maybe, the beer isn't as under-attenuated as you think.

that said, you said it was sweet, so maybe it is under attenuated. I'd say just put them somewhere that you won't make too much of a mess if some of 'em pop, and keep trying them.

 

[lumpher]

years ago, i made an agreement with my wife. i wouldn't botle, only keg. 2 bottles exploded (louder than shotguns). they were in the office, 8 or so feet behind her office chair. shrapnel ended up in her chair, embedded in the lampshade by her chair, embedded in the back of her chair, and all over the floor. luckily, no 1 was in the room. no warning, just all of a sudden you go deaf. at 1.030, you're headed for this

 

[HopHeadGrady]

Kind of a silly question, but what does a bottle bomb usually sound like?

They can get nasty... Here's a carboy weapon..

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aw_du1GIHaw]BCB Wall Breaker - YouTube[/ame]


:rockin:

 

[dkennedy]

They can get nasty... Here's a carboy weapon..

BCB Wall Breaker - YouTube


:rockin:

Truck mounted = anti-tailgating device of the century!

 

[BurgBrewer]

Hmm. Well I'm glad was a only a focused demonstration and not like a home film of someone opening their pantry to find half of the wall missing. I'm thinking for my room mates (and my own) sake I'll let them mellow out in my 48 qt rubbermaid tote.

 

[boist]

After replacing the probe I left the carboy for about 4 weeks in primary at what should have been 65°F (aside from the brief higher period) then bottled, but forgot to check my FG at bottling.

This may be a silly question, but why do you think you would have bottle bombs? If you let the beer ferment for 4 weeks (regardless of the temperature issue) is should have had plenty of time to finish fermenting. If it's sweet it may be under-attenuated, but that's quite different than "still fermenting".

I like the point that ResumeMan made about degassing your sample. It may be that the gravity isn't nearly as high as you think.

 

[BoundForBeer]

The priming sugar might have givin you a false reading from the opened bottle as well.

 

[Stauffbier]

I put all of my newly capped bottles in rubbermaid containers just to be safe..

 

[GrimyHoboSack]

I popped a bottle after a couple weeks and there was a hiss and sediment in the bottle (though the sediment seemed "slimier" and more stuck to the bottom than usual), so I think it is still fermenting.

I took my gravity reading with a refractometer, this is my first brew using one, is there any special to do differently on FG? I don't have a hydrometer to calibrate against, the 2 I had broke, thus the switch to a more durable option.

Thanks for the advice everyone. I'll look for a Rubbermaid type sealed container to store the beers in and check them occasionally to make sure they aren't getting dangerously over carbonated.

 

[jbaysurfer]

LOL! I love the dramatic sound track of that video!

 

[william_shakes_beer]

It's also possible that your recipie had a high volume of un fermentable sugars that would give you residual sweetness and a high FG without necessarailly leading to bottle bombs. The problem with unattenuation is that if there are residual fermentable sugars, then you add more fermentable sugars (priming solution) and stir the yeast back into suspension, they finish the process and pressurize the bottles beyond the yeild point of the bottles.

 

[GrimyHoboSack]

I used CBBaron's Oatmeal Stout recipe, the FG should have been 1.018 according to his recipe, or 1.016 according to Beersmith.

 

[Walker]

I took my gravity reading with a refractometer, this is my first brew using one, is there any special to do differently on FG? I don't have a hydrometer to calibrate against, the 2 I had broke, thus the switch to a more durable option.

Yes, you have to do a conversion for FG with a refractometer.

You said you had an OG of 1.053, so I assume you had a refract reading of 13.

You said you think the FG is 1.030, so I assume you had an un-corrected refract reading of 7.5.

If you go here: Onebeer.net :: Homebrew :: Refractometer Calculator

and put in origial brix and final brix of 13 and 7.5, you will see that your FG reading is actually 1.015

 

[Homercidal]

They are loud enough to wake you up in the middle of the night and make your wife say "WHAT THE F#$#% WAS THAT??"

And look at you accusingly...

Those things WILL explode, so at LEAST get them in a plastic tote with a lid. If it were me, I'd yank the cap off and place a piece of sanitized foil over each bottle and let them do their thing.

When the gravity is down to a reasonable level, recharge with carb tabs or carefully measured amount of carbing sugar and recap.

 

[Walker]

FYI: 99 times out of 100, someone with a thread about their beer being stuck at or near 1.030 will have used a refractometer and not done the correction.

 

[Homercidal]

If you go here: Onebeer.net :: Homebrew :: Refractometer Calculator

and put in origial brix and final brix of 13 and 7.5, you will see that your FG reading is actually 1.015

Ah, then never mind my post

 

[GrimyHoboSack]

Yes, you have to do a conversion for FG with a refractometer.

You said you had an OG of 1.053, so I assume you had a refract reading of 13.

You said you think the FG is 1.030, so I assume you had an un-corrected refract reading of 7.5.

If you go here: Onebeer.net :: Homebrew :: Refractometer Calculator

and put in origial brix and final brix of 13 and 7.5, you will see that your FG reading is actually 1.015

Thanks, at least this sub forum is the right place for my stupidity. I clearly didn't look around online well enough, the things I read just kept saying that a refractometer was used just like a hydrometer.

 

[jbaysurfer]

Yes, you have to do a conversion for FG with a refractometer.

You said you had an OG of 1.053, so I assume you had a refract reading of 13.

You said you think the FG is 1.030, so I assume you had an un-corrected refract reading of 7.5.

If you go here: Onebeer.net :: Homebrew :: Refractometer Calculator

and put in origial brix and final brix of 13 and 7.5, you will see that your FG reading is actually 1.015

This is new to me. I just got a refractometer and am trying to learn to use it. How exactly is it that it's accurate pre fermentation and requires a correction post fermentation?

I'd like to get it wired so I don't have to have net access (for the very cool calculator you linked) in order to do the calculation.

 

[Walker]

This is new to me. I just got a refractometer and am trying to learn to use it. How exactly is it that it's accurate pre fermentation and requires a correction post fermentation?

Refractometers work based on the fact that light will bend as it passes through a liquid with sugar in it. Alcohol throws off the refraction of the light, so once the beer starts to ferment and there is alcohol present, the angle of refraction is no longer a direct measurement of the sugar. Before fermentation, there is no alcohol, so the reading is correct as-is.

 

[jbaysurfer]

Refractometers work based on the fact that light will bend as it passes through a liquid with sugar in it. Alcohol throws off the refraction of the light, so once the beer starts to ferment and there is alcohol present, the angle of refraction is no longer a direct measurement of the sugar. Before fermentation, there is no alcohol, so the reading is correct as-is.

This is a bitchin' response. You obviously know your stuff!:rockin:

I'll have to reread my Palmer when I get a chance to see if there's a hand formula I can use. Thanks!

 

[Walker]

Is your main concern internet access or just having to have a computer available?

The math is (I think) fairly complicated, but there are spreadsheets out there that will do it, so you could always just download the spreadsheet to your computer or smartphone and do it that way.

If you really want to do it by hand, I am sure you can find the formula, but I suspect you will not want to crank it by hand.

 

[jbaysurfer]

Point taken. I'm mostly concerned about internet access. I have a couple spreadsheets, but none that do this calculation.

 

[Fritobandito]

I had a stout with an OG of 1.065 stop at 1.030. I bottled it after 4 weeks and it was carbonated like it should be. I think I might have accidentally mashed way too high, which was my problem. Who knows, maybe your beer is just done.

 

[Homercidal]

There are several places online that you can download a spreadsheet, and a couple of apps if you have a phone.

The formula is pretty lengthy.