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kenpotf

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All,

I brewed a Kolsch last week. The SG was at 1.046, and the FG is supposed to be "estimated" 1.006 and "measured" 1.010 according to beersmith. So, I was going to rack to secondary today and did a measurement. It measured at 1.011. Is that close enough, or should I warm this up to continue fermentation, or should I leave it in the fermenter for the next couple of days?
 
I just brewed with that strain and it was a mega krausen bomb inside my fermenter.

Your gravity is fine. Kolsch is traditionally fermented cool then pseudo-lagered for a few weeks in the 40ies. It might come down a point or two then but 1.011 is fairly attenuated


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I'd like to provide an answer, but instead I have the same problem. I brewed a golden ale on Feb 1 and after two weeks, my beer has about 1/4" of krausen and looks to still have some fermentation left to go (although there is scant air lock activity). I have not done a gravity reading.

I used WLP001 for the yeast, and I don't think my fermentation is warm enough for that yeast. Currently my thermometer shows around 64-66F.

I want to get it into secondary so I can dry hop, but I think I'm going to leave it alone for another week, pending feedback from this thread.

Have you tasted this batch? That's always the final arbiter for me.
 
I haven't tasted it yet. I put the bucket back in the fermenter and put the blowoff tube back in the bucket. Sure enough, I could hear it start bubbling again. I decided to take the blowoff tube out and put an airlock on. I was going to secondary, but then I was going to cold crash to put gelatin in it this week, but I may wait. In my hydrometer vessel (not sure what it's called), I emptied a thief into it and at the bottom was what seemed like a lot of sugar, but it could've been yeast....not sure...thick granule looking things.
 
I'd like to provide an answer, but instead I have the same problem. I brewed a golden ale on Feb 1 and after two weeks, my beer has about 1/4" of krausen and looks to still have some fermentation left to go (although there is scant air lock activity). I have not done a gravity reading.

I used WLP001 for the yeast, and I don't think my fermentation is warm enough for that yeast. Currently my thermometer shows around 64-66F.

In my experience the only reliable way to tell if fermentation is complete is a hydrometer reading. Leftover krausen on the top of the beer can happen without it meaning the yeast are still working.
 
It's only been a week, they're still cleaning up. I'd give it another whole week, then cold-crash it if you can before bottling/kegging it.
 
A very common thing in the beginning is to get very nervous around this time. Folks get worried because the FG they were told doesn't come or it hasn't happened in the "4-6 days" the beer kits promise before transferring to a secondary. Then the panic sets in and guys start tinkering too much.

First off, just relax. Have a beer. Now, contrary to what all the kits say and what you may read, most of us do not wait for a magic number to come in a set number of days. Most of us do not bother with the secondary fermenters at all. Rather than worry over your beer on a day to day basis, let it sit for a while. One week is way too short to start moving the beer around. Even if the "magic FG number" comes, there is a bunch of subtle clean up the yeast still need to do, and they can do that work in the primary fermenter.

Many of us give this advice each week, and I've given this advice 3 times today on other threads. Not to say we are annoyed, rather to make the point that it is common to worry and this advice usually helps.

Leave your beer in the primary for 2-3 weeks. I do 3 weeks myself.

Then take a gravity reading. If your FG is the same for 3 days in a row, then you are safe to proceed to bottling. There is no magic number. You will have an estimated FG, but your beer may finish higher or lower. 1 or 2 points means nothing. If you are off by 10 points then come ask us what to do next.

Forget the secondary for now. Maybe in the future, you might make some specific beers that benefit form a secondary, like a fruit beer. If you have a carboy, add some pretty marbles to it and put it on your mantlepiece. Maybe collect your loose change in it. When it gets filled, go to Vegas and let it ride.
 
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