Kegged before fermentation was done

[Dlou84]

Well...My first two all grain beers have been messed up by mistakes with the yeast. I have ordered a hydrometer. I didn't have it for this brew. I made a belgian wit and kegged it after ten days when the bubbles stopped. However, after sampling in the keg the beer smelled and tasted pretty bad. I researched the belgian wit wyeast and found out this yeast really needs more time and that you often need to swirl it a bit to get fermentation going again. I'm assuming I kegged way to soon. It was carbing for two days. I stopped the co2 and now it is just sitting in the kegerator. I'm hoping if I give it time it will come around. Should I leave it in the fridge or set it out in 72 degree basement? Or something else?


Here then beer!

 

[Hermit]

Set it out and let it mature. Time will tell.

 

[Hello]

It is not a matter of green beer really, it's a matter of unfinished beer. I suppose time at room temp can help but can a keg handle the pressure that will ultimately build up from the fermentation actually finishing?

Buy 2 hydrometers. It is a first for me to hear that someone kegs before they even bother with a basic tool like a hydrometer.

 

[Dlou84]

I lied...I do have a hydrometer I just didn't want to admit that I have so far failed to use it correctly...I was told to use the tube it came in to measure so I did with this beer only to find the tube wasn't big enough to take a reading...Apparently I need to buy a bigger test tube or something.


Here then beer!

 

[hunter_le five]

It is not a matter of green beer really, it's a matter of unfinished beer.

It may be finished, after 10 days and no apparent activity. But we can't know without a hydro reading. It very well may just be "green".

 

[Hello]

It may be finished, after 10 days and no apparent activity. But we can't know without a hydro reading. It very well may just be "green".

True. I assumed it wasn't finished because he said it wasn't finished.

 

[hunter_le five]

True. I assumed it wasn't finished because he said it wasn't finished.

And he's making that assumption as well, but as we all know, assumptions are dangerous. But so far I haven't seen anything convincing that suggests it isn't finished.

 

[Dlou84]

Okay. You all made me see eye to eye with my own stupidity and I was able to take a hydrometer reading. It was at 1.017 at about 42 degrees which means it is really 1.025 correct? Definitely wasn't done!


Here then beer!

 

[hunter_le five]

Keep in mind that C02 may be throwing off your readings as well.

Also, where are you getting 1.025? All the calculators I'm running show a temperature-corrected value of 1.016

Edit: also, what was your target FG?

 

[Dlou84]

Yep, stupid again. The table I was looking at said .0008, but the example used was .008... Threw me off. So yes the delta g is .0008 so that is subtracted to make 1.016? If the temperature was higher than 59 it would be added?


Here then beer!

 

[Dlou84]

Target fg is 1.008


Here then beer!

 

[Hermit]

Release the pressure on the keg every so often and just let it sit warm. Being a tad on the sweet side shouldn't make it taste all that bad so I expect you need to age it regardless.