Yeah, 3 oz of extract isn’t going to work… has to be a typo. 3 pounds in a 2.5 gallon batch would yield closer to the OP’s starting gravity of 1.040.
Edit: was typing at the same time as reply above.
No activity in airlock, but there is Krausen
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Edit: was typing at the same time as reply above.
Good catch: 1.042 OG then 1.040.
Regardless… a krausen and enough CO2 production to make your bathroom smell like a brewery would would yield a bigger difference than 2 points…. Hell, it’s hard for me to even see the difference of 2 points on a hydrometer.
That should put your OG closer to 1.060 than 1.040 for 2 1/2 gallons.
Have you tasted your hydrometer samples? Are they sweet and bitter like the wort you started with, or do they taste like warm, flat beer?
If I mis-read my hydrometer, that would be good news and I can bottle it, but I'm pretty sure it was OG 1.040. I'm going to shake the bucket a little in case everything is packed at the bottom and take another reading tonight. If it's the same I'll try enzymes...
A final gravity of 1.040 is nowhere done if your measurements are accurate… there are some major discrepancies somewhere.
I plugged your recipe into Brewer's Friend. OG is 1.061 and expected FG is 1.015. So if it's really stuck at 1.040 then something still isn't right. Not sure what enzymes you're planning to try and what they're going to do for you at this point. If you really used that much DME and LME then you have plenty of fermentable sugar in there that hasn't been fermented. Converting some of the unfermentables to simple sugars won't fix that.
@Gee Tee , did you add “top off” water to get your final volume in your fermenter? There might have been some stratification in the wort, if that was the case. A known amount of extract into a given amount of water should yield the results given by @mac_1103 . It’s likely a partial fermentation that stalled at 40 would have produced a krausen and brewery smells. Sounds like there’s definitely something weird going on with the beer and or measuring techniques.
Hmmmm... fair point. Is it a good idea to just bottle it and let the yeast to it's thing there or will everything explode?
Yes, I did top off with a bit of water, maybe a 1/2 a gallon or less. I've swirled the bucket up a little to try and disturb the sediment and will take another gravity reading this evening. If the gravity reading is the same, Is it a good idea to just bottle it and let the yeast to it's thing there or will everything explode?
Do not bottle at 1.040 or 1.042. If it did keep fermenting, you would have dangerous problem.
I am confused by your original post that said it was fermenting and there was krausen, but then you later claimed no change in gravity. If there was fermentation and krausen, the gravity should have changed.
Did you actually take an OG reading with the same hydrometer and have you tested the hydrometer in water? (It should read 1.000 in plain water).
I definitely di and I used the same hydrometer. Wouldn't there be krausen left over even if the yeast stalled? If the gravity stays the same for a couple more readings I'll probably go ahead and bottle it. Does it make sense?
We’re all confused.
No. To safely bottle your beer, it needs to be at or near the estimated final gravity, for three days, not 25 points high.
If the gravity didn't change then the yeast never did anything, which would be an entirely different type of problem (probably dead yeast). But as many other pointed out, if you could smell the fermentation and there was krausen (bubble/foam on top of the fermenting beer for at a least a day or so), then the yeast did ferment and the gravity would change (meaning there is something wrong with how you are measuring gravity).
This cannot be repeated enough - DO NOT BOTTLE A STALLED BEER. Except maybe if you have good PET bottles. Those are supposedly rated for up to 10 volumes of CO2.
Does the bucket have a spigot or do you have to open the lid to pull a hydrometer sample?
Does the bucket have a spigot or do you have to open the lid to pull a hydrometer sample?
So much this!! ^^^
I don't want to read an "I bottled too soon and ended up going to the ER to remove the glass shards from my face" thread.
Measure the current SG. Measure it again in a couple days. Is it the same? Great, but it's not necessarily done. Is it stalled? Do the math. Calculate apparent attenuation based on OG and current SG. Has it reached at least the low end of the yeast mfr's stated AA range? If not, you will either need to give it more time (and maybe bump the temp a little), or re-pitch some fresh yeast and give it more time.
I don't want to read an "I bottled too soon and ended up going to the ER to remove the glass shards from my face" thread.
Measure the current SG. Measure it again in a couple days. Is it the same? Great, but it's not necessarily done. Is it stalled? Do the math. Calculate apparent attenuation based on OG and current SG. Has it reached at least the low end of the yeast mfr's stated AA range? If not, you will either need to give it more time (and maybe bump the temp a little), or re-pitch some fresh yeast and give it more time.
It's a spigot and lid bucket. I pitched some more yeast and am going to test the gravity again..
What yeast did you repitch?
There should have been plenty of yeast in your Omega CL-50 pack for a 2.5 gallon batch. Unless it was old or (nearly) dead (from shipping in hot weather).
When you take your next gravity reading, can you post a picture of that?
Show the hydrometer in the testing jar, with the SG scale facing us.
Is that a "sugar" hydrometer?
Great idea, Island Lizard. It's more than likely I'm reading the gravity wrong as the Omega CL-50 was fine. I'm newish to this so I'm still learning, it's possible that the second addition of CL-50 over the weekend did the job, and if it's human error I shall jump for joy and bottle it up.
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That beer is dead done!!!
That reads 1.008
Now, the next question is, what were you looking at when you thought it was reading 1.042 for the OG?
Exactly!
That was my inkling...
The large divisions are at 10 points: 1.000, 1.010, 1.020, etc.
The small (sub)divisions are at 2 points each: 1.002, 1.004, 1.006, 1.008
Phew...!
Yeah, I'm curious too!
I can recommend reading John Palmer's, How to Brew, 4th Ed. !!!
… and he’s gone…
