Is this a normal final gravity for extract?

[brandon91]

I brewed a milk stout extract kit 14 days ago. Starting gravity was 1.055 right now it is at 1.024 and hasn't moved in over a week. It has a pound of lactose in it so it's really sitting around 1.016? I read that extracts tend to end up with high final gravity. So is this normal, safe to bottle?

 

[HowardMBeers]

Looks fine, I think. Was there steeping grains? What type of extract can make a difference especially if it has unfermentable sugars like briess dark DME where there is a lot of munich and crystal. http://www.northernbrewer.com/shop/briess-dme-dark.html

 

[HowardMBeers]

http://www.bjcp.org/2008styles/style13.php#1b

Sweet stouts can finish really high even with the lactose additions. You've got a lot of lactose in there.

 

[QuercusMax]

It's a little high, but depending on what extract you used it doesn't seem dangerously high. The rule of thumb is if the gravity stays the same for 3 days in a row fermentation is probably done, and 2 weeks seems like a reasonable amount of time. 1.016 for a "real" FG isn't an abnormal final gravity for an extract batch. What yeast did you use? If it's a low-attenuating English yeast, that wouldn't be too surprising at all.

The BJCP guidelines for Sweet stout give these ranges:
OG: 1.044 – 1.060
FG: 1.012 – 1.024

So you're high-middle on OG and high on FG, but within range for both, so it's not insane.

I'd say go ahead and bottle.

 

[JLem]

Darker beers tend to finish higher . Extract beers tend to finish higher. Lactose will make a beer finish higher.

I think 1.024 sounds about right for what you've brewed.

 

[brandon91]

The steeping grains were 1lb of black patent and 12oz crystal 75L. Extract was 7lb light and 1lb dark. Yeast used was safale US-04.


Thanks for letting me know i'm good to go ahead and bottle.

 

[brew_ny]

safale US-04

will finish a bit higher also

all the best

S_M

 

[Calder]

That's a lot of speciality grain.

the 1 lb black + .75 Crystal will probably contribute .005 of unfermentable sugars.

Add that to the unfermentable sugars in 1 lb lactose, and you started off with .012 of unfermentable wort.

If you take this out of the equation to see what the yeast did with the sugars it could work on, you went from 1.043 to 1.012, or a little over 70% attenuation. Seems about right for that yeast.

 

[brandon91]

That's a lot of speciality grain.

the 1 lb black + .75 Crystal will probably contribute .005 of unfermentable sugars.

Add that to the unfermentable sugars in 1 lb lactose, and you started off with .012 of unfermentable wort.

If you take this out of the equation to see what the yeast did with the sugars it could work on, you went from 1.043 to 1.012, or a little over 70% attenuation. Seems about right for hat yeast.

Thanks for the clarification, that makes a lot of sense. Just got done bottling actually. My first homebrew completely done, fingers crossed.

 

[HowardMBeers]

Nice! It'll be delicious. Welcome to the obsessio--I mean, hobby.