High gravity after 1 month

[Daynada]

Brewed my first one gallon batch one month ago. DME based. Used 5 grams of Danstar Windsor yeast. Had good activity for 2-3 days. Transferred to the secondary at the 10 day mark and added Cognac soaked oak chips. Never checked gravity at any point. Just went to bottle and I thought I should double check the gravity. It is at 1.030. Help me out please. What should I do? Did I do anything wrong?

1 lb dark DME
1/2 lb plain Amber DME
8 oz of steeping speciality grains
And hops

 

[Mexibilly]

What temperature did you ferment at?
You could give it a swirl to get the yeast back in suspension, keep it the low 70s and see if it takes off

 

[FirstAidBrewing]

Next time I suggest leaving in the primary a bit longer. A quick plug into Beersmith puts your FG around 1.018 so you've got a ways to go. I like Mexibilliy's idea of adjusting the fermentation temperature but if you don't get any progress in a few days, I would pitch more yeast.

 

[Daynada]

Ok. Thanks much. The room was any where from 63-69 degrees. After I get the yeast to restart (or add more) should I wait another 3 weeks?

 

[BigFloyd]

Is that a refractometer or an hydrometer reading?

 

[Daynada]

Hydrometer.

 

[Calder]

You are done!

Lets look at the numbers:

- 1.5 lbs of DME in 1 gallon will get you about 1.069. Add about 9 points (pure guess here) for the specialty grains, and you are at 1.078 OG

- FG of 1.030 means you got about 60% attenuation. If you take the 9 points of unfermentable sugars from both the OG anf FG (1.069 to 1.021) you would have 70% attenuation.

- Windsor is a low attenuating yeast, often reported to be around 65%.

- An all-extract batch + 9 points of unfermentable sugars from specialty grains would tend to result in a lot of unfermentable sugars, and low attenuation.

I don't think this should have been unexpected - It is done.

 

[Daynada]

Thank you so much for doing the "math." Good to know.

With this yeast (and these numbers) should I still bottle condition with 0.9 ounces of sugar?

 

[Calder]

Thank you so much for doing the "math." Good to know.

With this yeast (and these numbers) should I still bottle condition with 0.9 ounces of sugar?

yes, prime as normal. The yeast will ferment 100% of the simple sugars used for priming.

1.030 would be too sweet for me. I know we are only talking about 10 bottles, so it is probably not worth he effort, but if it was mine and a full 5 gallon batch, I'b be trying to find ways to lower the FG.

 

[Daynada]

Great. Thanks again. I tasted it out of the hydrometer and thought it was decent. The Hennessy was noticeable. I'll bottle it tomorrow.