Is it still fermenting?

[AgentPooky]

So my beer (Pumpkin Ale) has been in the primary fermenter for around 1.5 weeks now. It started off at 1.058 and is now at around 1.018. It still tastes a bit sweet.

I am worried that it is not going to ferment any more, because it has already been 1.5 weeks.

I have put it into a secondary and will wait another week but would like some reassurance that it will ferment. If not will I have to pitch another packet of yeast...?

I used Safale US-05

 

[twistr25]

Fermentation can start very fast and then taper off as it finishes. This is one of the dangers, IMO, of moving to secondary. It is very possible that it was not finished fermenting before you moved it. When you remove it off the yeast cake too early, it very well may have stalled. Secondary fermenting is a bit of a misnomer, and is mostly used for clearing and adding additional items, such as dry hop, fruits, etc. It should be at FG before you transfer it.

It might still finish, but it will take longer since there is less yeast available.

 

[AgentPooky]

Fermentation can start very fast and then taper off as it finishes. This is one of the dangers, IMO, of moving to secondary. It is very possible that it was not finished fermenting before you moved it. When you remove it off the yeast cake too early, it very well may have stalled. Secondary fermenting is a bit of a misnomer, and is mostly used for clearing and adding additional items, such as dry hop, fruits, etc. It should be at FG before you transfer it.

It might still finish, but it will take longer since there is less yeast available.

Oh deary me...

I put it in secondary because I was worried about all the pumpkin bits floating around.

 

[LovesIPA]

I wouldn't worry too much as there's nothing you can do about it now. I leave beer in primary for 3 weeks and only secondary if I'm adding fruit. I dry hop in the primary.

 

[AgentPooky]

I wouldn't worry too much as there's nothing you can do about it now. I leave beer in primary for 3 weeks and only secondary if I'm adding fruit. I dry hop in the primary.

So if it doesn't do anything more do I chuck it out or buy some more yeast?

 

[LovesIPA]

Step 1: wait and see. You may not need to do anything.

Re-pitching may or may not help. It won't hurt but it might not finish the beer any lower. Are you equipped to make starters? If you can pitch a smaller starter at high krausen it might be enough to kick-start another fermentation. You don't need a full starter because a lot of the sugars have already been consumed.

Is this an extract beer or all-grain?

 

[twistr25]

Definitely do not chuck it out, worst case, it may be a little on the sweet side. Carbonation might help tone it done, and conditioning may help mellow it. May as well let it ride.

 

[Thanks_Yeasties]

Agreed - you may have stalled it by racking to a secondary.

What was your FG suppose to be? To know if the fermentation is done you should take a hyrdo reading once, then over the next two consecutive days, if the reading remains the same then fermentation has stopped.

 

[AgentPooky]

Agreed - you may have stalled it by racking to a secondary.

What was your FG suppose to be? To know if the fermentation is done you should take a hyrdo reading once, then over the next two consecutive days, if the reading remains the same then fermentation has stopped.

According to BrewMate which I used to make the recipe, the FG should be 1.014

 

[LovesIPA]

You're only 4 points off?

Let it sit a week. I think you're worried over nothing.

 

[bobeer]

sa05 usually finishes pretty low so it'll probably drop some more if fermentation hasn't stalled. Was this an extract brew or all grain? If it was all grain what did temp did you mash at?
You're probably going to be fine. Def bottle it! 1.018 isn't bad for a pumpkin ale and it'll drop a tad more once it carbs up in the bottle. Good luck.

 

[AgentPooky]

Extract, here's my recipe:

(note that I only got OG of 1.058 and the total amount in secondary now is 17litres)

Pumpkin Ale
Christmas/Winter Specialty Spiced Beer

Recipe Specs
----------------
Batch Size (L): 21.0
Total Grain (kg): 3.900
Total Hops (g): 50.00
Original Gravity (OG): 1.068 (°P): 16.6
Final Gravity (FG): 1.014 (°P): 3.6
Alcohol by Volume (ABV): 7.04 %
Colour (SRM): 13.3 (EBC): 26.2
Bitterness (IBU): 22.7 (Average)
Brewhouse Efficiency (%): 70
Boil Time (Minutes): 60

Grain Bill
----------------
3.000 kg Dry Malt Extract - Amber (76.92%)
0.600 kg Brown Sugar, Light (15.38%)
0.300 kg Caramunich II (7.69%)

Hop Bill
----------------
25.0 g Hallertau Mittlefrueh Pellet (6.3% Alpha) @ 60 Minutes (Boil) (1.2 g/L)
25.0 g Hallertau Mittlefrueh Pellet (6.3% Alpha) @ 5 Minutes (Boil) (1.2 g/L)

Misc Bill
----------------
840.0 g Butternut @ 60 Minutes (Boil)
5.0 g Irish Moss @ 15 Minutes (Boil)
10.0 g Gelatin @ 0 Days (Primary)

Single step Infusion at 66°C for 60 Minutes.
Fermented at 21°C with Safale US-05

Notes
----------------
5 Min from end of boil, add 1tbsp of pumpkin pie spice (cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cloves, coriander)

Recipe Generated with BrewMate

 

[KepowOb]

Wait another week or so and take another gravity reading. If it's still the same, bottle it up! If it's dropped at all, take another reading two days later. Once you two readings the same, it's good to bottle. 1.018 should make a fine beer, even if it didn't get down as low as it was supposed to. As has already been mentioned, it might be a bit sweeter than intended, but not very much. Once you carb it up, it'll probably be less sweet than it is now thanks to the carbonic acid.

 

[AgentPooky]

My secondary is bubbling slowly so I guess that's a good sign! My primary is a brewcraft screw on fermenter and it didn't bubble at all so there must have been escape elsewhere.

 

[Bsquared]

A couple things to think about here when taking a final gravity reading.
a. You will never really know exactly what you final gravity will be for a beer will be by using a calculator, the best way to determine this is with a Fast Fermentation Test.
b. make sure your beer is completely degassed before taking your reading, the CO2 coming out of solution will hold up the hydrometer adding a few points.
Also airlock activity at the end of fermentation is mostly CO2 coming out of solution, not yeast activity.

 

[AgentPooky]

The SG is stable at 1.015; going to give it till Monday then bottle. There are no bubbles in the solution anymore.

Will it be safe to bottle if I add Priming sugar? I'm worried about bottle bombs and also whether there is enough yeast for priming.

 

[Bsquared]

The SG is stable at 1.015; going to give it till Monday then bottle. There are no bubbles in the solution anymore.

Will it be safe to bottle if I add Priming sugar? I'm worried about bottle bombs and also whether there is enough yeast for priming.

You most likely will not have bottle bombs. That is more a result of having a wild yeast get into your beer that can utilize the dextrans that the brewers yeast leave behind.

Also, a typical unfiltered beer will have between 100,000 to 1,000,000 per ml of yeast cells in solution, and will still look clear. This is plenty of yeast to bottle condition your beer with.

 

[Laszlo]

One of my pale ale stopped at 1.020 range some time ago. Tasted kind of sweet. I boiled some corn sugar and added to the secondary. This step restarted the fermentation and took care of the sweetness. Not a scientific approach but worked for me.

 

[AgentPooky]

Yeah it's not doing anything, going to bottle. I'm using Brown Sugar (cane) to prime. Do I just mix it with some boiled water and then add to the bucket before bottling?

 

[twistr25]

More or less, but make sure you use a calculator to get the right amount. Cool it down as far as you can as well. If you can get it into the 80s that should be fine. I usually spray some aluminum foil with starsan and drape it over a measuring cup after I stir in the sugar and stick it in the freezer.

 

[AgentPooky]

For 18l I'm using 100gm Brown Sugar.

 

[twistr25]

Yeah, I think that'll be ok.