High FG after 10 day in primary, help on what to do

[tcd2004]

I recently brewed a Brewer's Best India Black Ale kit and I am currently sitting fairly high on the FG scale compared to what the recipe says I should be at. Our OG was right on target at 1.058, directions call for 1.056-1.060. FG was first tested at about 5 days in and if I remember correctly we were around 1.023, the directions say FG should be1.014-1.016. Well yesterday was 10 days in the primary, tested FG and it was at 1.022. I don't have high hopes of it going any lower if I just let it sit there so I am looking for advice on what to do.

The only thing we changed in the recipe is adding more hops during the boil, but I can't imagine that threw it off because the OG was perfect. The plan is to rack to secondary and dry hop, but I need to add more yeast or something I figured it's better to do it in primary.

Link to the kit instructions. Only difference is mine included milenium for bittering, not magnum.
Any help/advice on what to do next would be appreicated. Thanks!

 

[pjcampbell]

What's the ambient temp where your are fermenting? Any chance your yeast was old?

 

[tcd2004]

What's the ambient temp where your are fermenting? Any chance your yeast was old?

It's kept in a closet that ranges from 68-71 degrees. Same place I let all the beers ferment and this is the first out of 6 batches that has an issue. I don't remember the date on the yeast pack, but it was whatever dry yeast came with the brewers best kit. There is a chance it was old, but I've got kits from this place before and they were pretty fresh.

 

[sweed]

Wait another week then check the gravity again. It's probably just taking its time eating.

 

[CBMbrewer]

14 days is a minimum for ales to ferment. Let it be for a while and it should go down some more.

 

[tcd2004]

14 days is a minimum for ales to ferment. Let it be for a while and it should go down some more.

I've done three ales before this one and all were at FG by day 7, so I'm not sure why this one would be taking this much longer. If that is the case though, should I leave it in primary until it reaches FG? And if by the end of day 14 it still hasn't budged much if at all, what would my steps be then?

 

[CBMbrewer]

If primary fermentation is done (its not producing a bunch of co2 anymore) you could go ahead and transfer to secondary. Although a lot of people don't bother with secondaries; your call. after its been fermenting for two weeks or more check your gravity then check it again in three days. If its the same both days your can bottle or keg.

 

[tcd2004]

If primary fermentation is done (its not producing a bunch of co2 anymore) you could go ahead and transfer to secondary. Although a lot of people don't bother with secondaries; your call. after its been fermenting for two weeks or more check your gravity then check it again in three days. If its the same both days your can bottle or keg.

If my FG is 1.022 and it should be 1.014-1.016, what would that effect in the finished product aside from a different ABV?

 

[Shuasha]

You're not measuring the FG with a refractometer, right?

 

[tcd2004]

You're not measuring the FG with a refractometer, right?

Nope. Hydrometer.

 

[sweed]

If my FG is 1.022 and it should be 1.014-1.016, what would that effect in the finished product aside from a different ABV?

It could be sweeter with that higher FG, also you could run into bottle bombs if its not all finished. Give it a little swirl to get the yeast back into suspension a little, but not to splash it around.

 

[ncbrewer]

If my FG is 1.022 and it should be 1.014-1.016, what would that effect in the finished product aside from a different ABV?

Extract beers often finish at a higher than planned FG. The beers that I've had that finished high were still very good. Now, when using an extract brand that seems to finish high, I add 3/4 lb of table sugar to the boil. The sugar ferments out completely and dries out the flavor a little. As stated before, be sure the gravity is stable before bottling.

 

[davemattb]

Leave in primary for 3-4 weeks. No need to secondary. Might be a tad sweeter than designed. As long as you pitched enough healThy yeast, fermented at proper temp, and aerated appropriately, you should be serving something better than most commercial offerings.