Is my gravity ok?

[Schmaffy]

This is my first batch, an Irish Stout extract kit from Brewer's Best. My OG was a touch higher than recommended (1.055, their suggested top limit was 1.050). After six days I tested and the SG was 1.022. After six more days I tested again (last night), and the SG had only gone down to 1.020. The FG according to the kit should be 1.011 to 1.014.

Do you guys think fermentation is done? Am I going to get as low as the range the kit says, or will the SG not go that low because I started out high? And is this a problem? I'm planning on bottling this coming Sunday, which would be a total of 18 days in the fermenter.

The tastings have been pretty good - the one at six days was cloudy and pretty bitter, but the one last night was much clearer and "cleaner" tasting - and something that actually tasted like beer. Flat beer, but beer.

So, what do you think?

 

[Jayhem]

What temperature did you ferment at? I would swirl up the fermenter, bring it up to 70F and leave it another week to be safe. Should go lower than that, especially an Irish stout which is supposed to finish dry.

 

[Schmaffy]

What temperature did you ferment at? I would swirl up the fermenter, bring it up to 70F and leave it another week to be safe. Should go lower than that, especially an Irish stout which is supposed to finish dry.

It's fermenting at about 64-66. It won't go much higher than that - there's just not a place in our house that gets warmer.

When you say swirl up the fermenter, should I just rock the bucket around, or should I actually stir it up?

 

[NTXBrauer]

I also believe you can drop a few points by raising the temp a bit (if you are currently on the cool side) and leaving in the FV another full week. Cheers!

 

[NTXBrauer]

It's fermenting at about 64-66. It won't go much higher than that - there's just not a place in our house that gets warmer.

When you say swirl up the fermenter, should I just rock the bucket around, or should I actually stir it up?

I would be hesitant to swirl or stir too much. You don't want to add any unwanted oxygen to the beer.

You can wrap the FV with a blanket or add a space heater to raise the ambient temp a bit. This alone should increase yeast activity.

 

[Jayhem]

It's fermenting at about 64-66. It won't go much higher than that - there's just not a place in our house that gets warmer.

When you say swirl up the fermenter, should I just rock the bucket around, or should I actually stir it up?

No, DO NOT open the bucket and stir, that could oxidize the beer. I just pick the bucket up by the handle and lightly rock it side to side, just try not to splash the beer around too much. The only beer I ever made the didn't go below 1.018 was a Milk Stout and that was only 2 points from target FG so I still say yours has a way to go. It is better to wait longer then bottle a beer that isn't quite done and have bottle bombs.

 

[Schmaffy]

I would be hesitant to swirl or stir too much. You don't want to add any unwanted oxygen to the beer.

You can wrap the FV with a blanket or add a space heater to raise the ambient temp a bit. This alone should increase yeast activity.

Great, thanks! I'll give that a try.