OG and FG?

[tooblue02]

So it has been 1 week since I brewed and I have just taken a gravity reading, 1.022 at 70 degrees. The airlock no longer bubbles but I know that really doesn't mean anything. The OG was 1.077, so do I let it sit and test tomorrow to see if it is the same or should I go ahead and move to the secondary? The recipe FG is supposed to be 1.014 and the OG was supposed to be 1.068. So just looking at the error from the recipe to the what I have I figured I was close to where I should be at. I am contempt to wait till tomorrow or Monday though to move to the secondary fermentors. Just looking for a little seasoned advice. Thanks!

 

[Hammy71]

I would suggest you wait longer than Monday to transfer it. One week isn't very much, especially for a beer that started in the 1.068-1.077 range. The yeasties still have a lot of work to do before you transfer or bottle/keg. I'd let it sit for a couple more weeks at least. 1.022 will probably taste pretty sweet. So, hopefully it will come down some more for ya.

 

[duboman]

What yeast and what temp, you are at 72% attenuation which is pretty good depending on the strain used.

You can raise the temp and rouse the yeast and see if you can get it to drop lower

 

[Shakybones]

Do you have a good reason to secondary, such as dry hopping or other addition? If not, I recommend just leaving it in primary until ready to bottle or keg in another week or so.

 

[unionrdr]

I'd leave it in primary. Never rack beer anywhare without being at FG first. It needs to knock off a couple more points.

 

[tooblue02]

Well I do have some Fuggle hops to use in the secondary for dry hopping which is why I was wondering about going to secondary. It is a centennial IPA LME.

 

[jhart94949]

Agree, it needs to sit longer in primary. I also agree that if you are not dry hopping leave it in your primary until its time to bottle. This will help prevent it catching an infection and will let the yeast work longer.

 

[unionrdr]

I dry hop in primary as well. works just as well as secondary to me & less movin the beer around. Besides,every time you move it,you loose a little.

 

[McCoy]

+1 to dry hopping in the primary. It's been debated around, but for me it's just less work to dry hop in the primary and I've heard no compelling reason not to do it that way.

 

[tooblue02]

Can I drop in the hops then for the dry hopping any time? Or would you wait another week?

 

[unionrdr]

Wait till it hits FG & settles out clear or slightly misty before dry hopping. Or the hop oils will coat the settling yeast & go to the bottom.

 

[McCoy]

Can I drop in the hops then for the dry hopping any time? Or would you wait another week?

Dry hopping is typically done with relation to planned bottling date. Conventional wisdom is to dry hop for no more than 10 or so days in the primary. On my first dry hopped batch I did 10 days with an ounce of hops with little effect. On my second batch I did 7 days with 2 ounces with much better results. I would not recommend dry hopping if the yeast are still pushing gas out of the airlock because it may carry off the volatile aroma compounds, but since that's not the case here, I think you're safe.

 

[samuelcollins]

+1 to dry hopping in the primary. It's been debated around, but for me it's just less work to dry hop in the primary and I've heard no compelling reason not to do it that way.

What about autolysis?

 

[unionrdr]

What about autolysis?

Yeast autolysis,or creeping deathrockin:!) is a thing of the past on our level of brewing with the higher quality ingredients we have now. Commercial brewers are still concerned with it,since their silo-sized fermenters are puting tremendous pressure on the settling yeast & trub in the cone at the bottom.

 

[jhart94949]

Yeast autolysis,or creeping deathrockin:!) is a thing of the past on our level of brewing with the higher quality ingredients we have now. Commercial brewers are still concerned with it,since their silo-sized fermenters are puting tremendous pressure on the settling yeast & trub in the cone at the bottom.

Well said

 

[tooblue02]

So for my batch that remains in the Primary, would you leave it in the primary for another week and then bottle (2 weeks in primary) and add the dry hops today? Or would you leave it in the primary until this weekend, and then move to the secondary and dry hop in there after 4-5 days, and then bottle 2 weeks later? The instructions with the kit were not crystal clear so I am struggling to understand the secondary fermenting and timeline? Most IPA recipes I see tell you to go to a secondary 1-2 weeks after the primary. Thanks, sorry for all the questions and confusion!

 

[McCoy]

Racking to a secondary is totally unnecessary in my opinion. My typical schedule would be after two weeks in the primary (maybe a bit less depending on how quick the yeast are) I'd put in the dry hops, and then bottle 5-7 days after that. You want to bottle immediately after you're done dry hopping so that you retain as much of the aromatics of the hops as you can. If you're fermentation is really done today, then by all means start dry hopping today. Take a gravity reading, taste it, see how the beer is coming along. Use your judgment as to whether it needs more time or not.

There isn't really a schedule or recipe that makes beer. Yeast make beer, and you have to develop a feel for working with your billions of tiny partners in brewing. That's why I recommend tasting and thinking about what you want to do, even if I can give you an idea of what I usually do.

 

[peterj]

I don't know that you're going to get it much lower than 1.022. Malt extract is notoriously high in umfermentables and with such a high OG I think that's probably about all you can expect. 72% attenuation is pretty good for an extract recipe.

So they gave you Fuggles to dry hop a centennial IPA? Seems a little weird, but ok.

If I were you I would leave it for 2 weeks, then dry hop for 1 week, then bottle. You can transfer to a secondary to dry hop if you like, but I usually just dry hop in the primary. Of course this is just an estimate of the timeline though. As McCoy said above, "There isn't really a schedule or recipe that makes beer. Yeast make beer...". So you should make sure you at least have a stable FG reading taken over 3 days before you bottle.

 

[unionrdr]

I only had one extract batch stop at the infamous 1.020. And it was a strong ale that was within range. Just not low as I figured it could go. I dropped it to 1.017. That wasn't bad for a 1.065 OG & Cooper['s yeast.

 

[m3n00b]

Extracts are tricky. I've had 1.060+ beers finish at 1.008 to 1.022. I don't get it. I'm sure the yeast has something to do with it. Wlp029 gets really low while 001,002,090 amd 051 tend to finish high for me.

 

[woozy]

Okay, I'm talking out of my ass here but...

Both o.g. and f.g were ~9 pts. higher than target for an extract. (I was an extract, right?) I'm going to hypothesize that this points come from unformentable sugars. Perhaps from the steeping grains? Chrystals?

In any event to test whether final gravity has been reached (I'm placing my bet that it probably has) see if the specific gravity remains the same for a few days. If it has final gravity has been reached and it's time to let it "condition and age" for another week or two.

Now whether you want to let it condition and age in the same primary vessel or whether you want to transfer it to a secondary vessel is entirely up to you. Like the vast majority here, I don't see any reason to transfer and wouldn't do it myself, and would advise anyone (who asked) not to. However I don't believe in telling anybody what to do and I believe if if someone asks a legitimate question one ought to answer it even if one disapproves of the premise. So if you want to transfer to a secondary, the proper time to do it will be once final gravity has been reached and stabilized.

 

[McCoy]

By the way, since both the OG and FG are more or less high by the same number of points, is the OP sure the hydrometer is calibrated correctly? I always have to remember that mine reports 2 points high.

 

[tooblue02]

I did not cal the hydrometer, although I guess that would not be hard to do. The gravity has remained steady for the past 3 days, planning on adding the dry hops this weekend then bottle the following. My last gravity test/taste test was fairly pleasing, tastes like beer! I am not sure I really like the liquid malt and may dry a dry malt next time. I think I will just use the secondary fermenter for a primary and get two batches going instead!

The Fuggle hops I spoke of were something I was thinking of doing on my own, did not come with the kit. Since then I have found some better info and links on hops and was planning on getting a few ounces of columbus for dry hopping this weekend, afterall isn't this what brewing is all about?

 

[peterj]

I did not cal the hydrometer, although I guess that would not be hard to do. The gravity has remained steady for the past 3 days, planning on adding the dry hops this weekend then bottle the following. My last gravity test/taste test was fairly pleasing, tastes like beer! I am not sure I really like the liquid malt and may dry a dry malt next time. I think I will just use the secondary fermenter for a primary and get two batches going instead!

The Fuggle hops I spoke of were something I was thinking of doing on my own, did not come with the kit. Since then I have found some better info and links on hops and was planning on getting a few ounces of columbus for dry hopping this weekend, afterall isn't this what brewing is all about?

+1 on the Columbus dry hopping. Fuggles wouldn't really fit in an American IPA.