Kilju Gravity Issue

Homebrew Talk

Help Support Homebrew Talk:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Aimee Farrar

Member
Joined
Sep 29, 2024
Messages
7
Reaction score
2
Location
Aberdeen Washington
Kilju brew issue?
The beginning gravity was 1.160, I used a packet of Lalvin 71B yeast and yeast nutrient and set it out for 3 weeks, with around 70-72°F consistently and it only changed .050 gravity
Does anyone know what went wrong and how I can fix this? I think it's a little gassy but I don't think it would mess with the gravity reading that much
 

Attachments

  • 20241117_111801.jpg
    20241117_111801.jpg
    712.6 KB
Kilju brew issue?
The beginning gravity was 1.160, I used a packet of Lalvin 71B yeast and yeast nutrient and set it out for 3 weeks, with around 70-72°F consistently and it only changed .050 gravity
Does anyone know what went wrong and how I can fix this? I think it's a little gassy but I don't think it would mess with the gravity reading that much
You might want to explain what you are brewing. I looked up Kilju and it appears to be just fermented sugar water. Forgive if I'm wrong. I saw your post and wanted to at least try to help. There is a section on HBT that might help more than I can. I brew beer only but with your beginning gravity you should see more activity than what you have.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/quality-kilju-recipe-sugar-wine.729038/

1731880477590.png
 
You might want to explain what you are brewing. I looked up Kilju and it appears to be just fermented sugar water. Forgive if I'm wrong. I saw your post and wanted to at least try to help. There is a section on HBT that might help more than I can. I brew beer only but with your beginning gravity you should see more activity than what you have.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/threads/quality-kilju-recipe-sugar-wine.729038/

View attachment 862604
Yes it's basically just fermented sugar water
 
Yes it's basically just fermented sugar water
You mentioned it's a little gassy so it's either really slow to take off or the yeast died before completing it's job. Try gentle shaking the fermenter. That might wake up the yeast.

The yeast your using should be fine, you might want to try adding some more if you don't see anymore activity.
 
You mentioned it's a little gassy so it's either really slow to take off or the yeast died before completing it's job. Try gentle shaking the fermenter. That might wake up the yeast.

The yeast your using should be fine, you might want to try adding some more if you don't see anymore activity.
Alright I'll give it a whirl
 
So, Lalvin 71b is only tolerant up to 14%. With a SG of 1.160 you are already at 14.44% at 1.050. You may want to consider pitching something like WLP099. If you are expecting to get down to 1.000 your looking at 21%. Which is really high. Most of these yeasts are not trained on pure sugar alone, your going to have off flavors, it's also likely going to slow down over time. You are basically making a sugar wash.

Here are some tips:
https://blog.homebrewing.org/fermenting-sugar-water/
 
So, Lalvin 71b is only tolerant up to 14%. With a SG of 1.160 you are already at 14.44% at 1.050. You may want to consider pitching something like WLP099. If you are expecting to get down to 1.000 your looking at 21%. Which is really high. Most of these yeasts are not trained on pure sugar alone, your going to have off flavors, it's also likely going to slow down over time. You are basically making a sugar wash.

Here are some tips:
https://blog.homebrewing.org/fermenting-sugar-water/
The gravity only changed by 1.050, so right now it's at 1.110. I added a half packet of yeast to see what it would do and it kicked off for a little bit, but then slowed way down
 

Latest posts

Back
Top