I have a batch (my first home brew) of organic Scottish 90/- shilling ale from a kit see ingredients below -- that spent 8 days in the primary at about 62.5 degrees and has now been in the secondary for 11 days at 63-65 (starting at the lower end, and moving to the higher end of the range upon prompting from people on this website).
It had an OG of 1.064 -- factoring in temperature and the seeming .002 inaccuracy of my hydrometer -- and is now at 1.018, as it has been for the last week. In response to an earlier thread here I roused the yeast a little a couple of days ago and moved it to its spot where it is a little warmer (65 degrees rather than 63). For what its worth, bubbles now come very slightly faster than they did before; maybe every minute ten seconds or so (v 1 min 30 secs). It does not seem to have affected specific gravity though.
The recipe led me to believe the FG would be 1.012 to 1.018. My original gravity was very slightly outside the expected range (1.066-1.072) on the low end, so not knowing any better - I would expect my FG to be lower.
In terms of errors, I realize its probably been on the cool side for this yeast, I may have racked it too soon from the primary, and Im pretty sure I didnt aerate it very well to begin with. Ho hum.
Barring any complications, based on advice I previously received I guess I would probably wait another week trying to keep the temperature up, and then bottle. However, I will be out of town for eight days beginning a week from today (during which time the heating will be off, and the house will, I expect, slowly drop in to the 50s, perhaps reaching the low 50s).
Do you think I should bottle tomorrow, so I have a warm week for in-bottle carbonation before temperatures drop? Or should I leave it in the secondary for a warm week and then the eight cool days Im gone, bottling after I return and after it warms up again? Which is likely to make carbonation more effective (i.e., a warm week in the bottle then a cold week, then room temperatures again, or instead bottle at room temperatures after a cool week in the secondary)?
Also, is there a way to confirm from the recipe what OG and FG should be? The recipe is:
7.5 pounds organic pale malt extract
1 pound organic caramel 60L malt
¼ pound organic roasted barley.
.5 oz NZ pac gem hops
.5 oz knt golding hop pellets
.5 oz german spalt hop pellets
½ teaspoon irish moss
White labs Edinburgh yeast
Thanks for any input.
It had an OG of 1.064 -- factoring in temperature and the seeming .002 inaccuracy of my hydrometer -- and is now at 1.018, as it has been for the last week. In response to an earlier thread here I roused the yeast a little a couple of days ago and moved it to its spot where it is a little warmer (65 degrees rather than 63). For what its worth, bubbles now come very slightly faster than they did before; maybe every minute ten seconds or so (v 1 min 30 secs). It does not seem to have affected specific gravity though.
The recipe led me to believe the FG would be 1.012 to 1.018. My original gravity was very slightly outside the expected range (1.066-1.072) on the low end, so not knowing any better - I would expect my FG to be lower.
In terms of errors, I realize its probably been on the cool side for this yeast, I may have racked it too soon from the primary, and Im pretty sure I didnt aerate it very well to begin with. Ho hum.
Barring any complications, based on advice I previously received I guess I would probably wait another week trying to keep the temperature up, and then bottle. However, I will be out of town for eight days beginning a week from today (during which time the heating will be off, and the house will, I expect, slowly drop in to the 50s, perhaps reaching the low 50s).
Do you think I should bottle tomorrow, so I have a warm week for in-bottle carbonation before temperatures drop? Or should I leave it in the secondary for a warm week and then the eight cool days Im gone, bottling after I return and after it warms up again? Which is likely to make carbonation more effective (i.e., a warm week in the bottle then a cold week, then room temperatures again, or instead bottle at room temperatures after a cool week in the secondary)?
Also, is there a way to confirm from the recipe what OG and FG should be? The recipe is:
7.5 pounds organic pale malt extract
1 pound organic caramel 60L malt
¼ pound organic roasted barley.
.5 oz NZ pac gem hops
.5 oz knt golding hop pellets
.5 oz german spalt hop pellets
½ teaspoon irish moss
White labs Edinburgh yeast
Thanks for any input.
