Really Low FG reading

[JWS]

As all beginners post first, I am a beginning brewer. I brewed an Irish Red Ale two weeks ago.

To let you know the recipe I steeped the grains for 30 minutes at 155, brought to boil, added 8lbs of malt from the kit, brought back to boil, boiled hops for 60 minutes, second hops for 10 minutes and put into the fermentor. I used a mix-stir to get air into the mixture then pitched the Wyeast package. Everything looked good for the yeast package, swelled really well. I used a 6.5 gallon Ale Pale to ferment.

Today I pulled the cover off to get a hydrometer reading getting ready to bottle. There was a thick layer of Krausen (SP?) at the top. I DID NOT mix the wort just ladelled out a bit to take the reading. When I took the ready it measured out to 1.022. This seems very low for the brew I am making. I did have a fear beginning that I might not have sanitized well enough.

Could you guys let me know if this is normal? I have researched different post on pitching more yeast, going ahead and bottling and other things that could be done. Seems like there are many answers, but I couldn't find a post that matched a good deal of my circumstances.

Anybody got any pointers?

Thanks for the help

 

[buckeyebrewer]

Relax...everything is fine. It should actually be a little lower than that. I'm not sure what yeast you used but it should be lower than 1.022 as a final gravity. Put the lid back on it and let it sit another week.

 

[buckeyebrewer]

Sometimes if you don't get enough O2 into the wort the yeast can stall....I would wait another week and take another reading. If the reading is still high you could pitch some more yeast....whatever you do don't shake or swirl the wort. This will oxygenate the wort which is something you don't want. Patience is your friend.

 

[BillyBock]

I'm assuming this is an extract brew and that you used 8 pounds of liquid malt extract with some steeping grains. What was your OG? A FG of 1.022 is not bad. It might go lower yet, say around 1.015-1.018, but if it remains the same for three days straight, it should be ready to bottle.

 

[JWS]

Yes, used malt extract. Actually in the midst of trying to get eerything done right, I forgot to take an og reading. I made sure not to stir of mix the sort, I have read that it is really bad to do that. I actually thought the number was low. This is my novice asking, but does the beer actually increase in alcohol content after bottling?

Also will the krausen still be there after three days of the same reading of the hydrometer, should I worry about it being there while bottling?

 

[DocBrown]

Krausen means the yeast are still active. Don't mess with it until the Krausen drops out. If you got 1.022 with a thick krausen present, I'd guess you'll see something less than 1.018 before it finishes. When I was doing extract batches, I didn't have many finish much below 1.020. With AG, I have some go as low as 1.006 depending on mash temperature, fermentation temperature, yeast choice, and OG. As the others said, leave it alone for a while longer. I've found 1.020 to be kind of a gray area. If your gravity is much above that you may have a stuck fermentation (though OG and nonfermentables can affect this). I tended to be a bit cautious about bottling anything with a final gravity over 1.020.

 

[JWS]

Quick question. YOu mentioned you would be cautious about bottling anything over 1.020, is this where the exploding bottles happen from or is that just too much carbination and filled too high in the bottle?

 

[dcp27]

Quick question. YOu mentioned you would be cautious about bottling anything over 1.020, is this where the exploding bottles happen from or is that just too much carbination and filled too high in the bottle?

It's not so much that SG, its that usually if you're that high fermentation isn't complete, which leads to too much carbonation. Wait at least another week, and if you get stable gravity readings over the course of a few days, then theres no worries.

 

[BillyBock]

As long as your gravity reading remains constant for three days or so, should be able to bottle it. If your FG was above 1.025, I would let it sit for bit yet to get it down some more. Stuck fermentation is possible, but most of my extract/partial mash brews end up in the 1.010-1.020 range, depending on how "big" the beer is. (Higher gravity). You can try putting the fermentor in a warmer place to see if fermentation picks up again. BTW, what temps are you fermenting at?

I usually end up with a lot of krausen left hanging around when I use US-05 yeast. No experience with Wyeast, though.

 

[JWS]

I am using the cup of water with a thermometer in it method of testing temps. It's sitting pretty much right at 70. Last night was just the first reading on the hydrometer, I'll test again tonight to see what it was at.

 

[dcp27]

I'd cool that down a bit. aside from belgians & wheats, 70F ambient is too hot (to start at least, its fine to end that hot), especially when you consider that active fermentation will raise the internal temp 5-10F.

 

[JWS]

Do you have any ideas how to cool it down? I have it in the coldest part of the basement in a storage closet that doesn't get used. The only thing I can think to add (besides a dedicated fridge that I don't have) is a box fan in the closet with it get the the air movement to maybe cool it down.

 

[dcp27]

If you can find a big plastic container to fit your fermenter in (even if it most of the fermenter sticks out of it it'll work to some extent) you could fill it part way with water which will dissipate any produced heat faster than air. if its still too high, you can add frozen water bottles to it. do a search for 'swamp cooler'. you always want to go by internal temperature, not ambient.

70F won't necessarily ruin a beer, but it'll produce more esters (probably some banana) than the style should have and it can lead to fusel alcohols (harsh, solvent-like) being formed. the higher the temp, the less neutral the yeast behave

 

[JWS]

Got a quick question on this. The whole time I have only had this in a 6.5 gallon bucket fermentor, thinking about syphoning it into a secondary carboy fermentor, but was worried since all that krausen (I imagine it is krausen, just a thick head on top) is sitting on top. Should I let it settle in the bucket or transfere over to the secondary???

 

[brewit2it]

I might have missed it but did you say how long it has been in the primary? Also how did you come up with the idea that 1.022 was too low? Did the recipe come with a target OG and FG? You mentioned possibly adding more yeast, etc which is what some do if they think the FG is too high so I am thinking you might have your terms reveresed concerning gravities. Also if it has been in the primary a long time and still has a lot of krausen or stuff floating on the top it might be worth taking a pic and posting it here. It's almost certainly fine though. One last thing, you didn't mention whether or not the airlock was still bubbling which can also help determine if your beer is still actively fermenting. It's not a good measure of when it is completely done but if it is still bubbling and you still see krausen you can be sure it isn't finished.

 

[JWS]

THis site has helped so much. Hadn't paid attention to the airlock, like I said its been in a closet in the basement. Sat next to it today and realized still getting about one bubble/minute or so. So I figure its still ferment especially with the Krausen on top.

Next question - Was going to do another batch, a Kolsch this weekend, so I was wondering if I should take the Red Ale and syphon it into the carboy, or if I should just brew the Kolsch and throw it into the carboy. I only have a 5 gallon carboy so I like to throw the just started fermenting beer into the 6.5 bucket and secondary in the small carboy.

Thoughts???

 

[JWS]

Sorry forgot to mention in the last that the Red Ale has been in the bucket for two weeks now. I just checked the temp and it's about 65 right now, but we are having colder weather than normal right now.

 

[dcp27]

if the gravity is still the same come brewday, go ahead and rack it.

 

[JWS]

One thing to add on, that I didn't think of earlier is this is a kit from a LHBS. Included in the kit was Geletin Finings. I used the recipe from the kit which told me to add the finings at 8 days.

From what I have read I am afraid that this might have killed the yeast, or at least made the wort clear massively. I did notive while taking the hydrometer readings that the beer was a lot clearer than normal Irish Reds.

I took a hydro reading tonight and it turned out the same 1.022. Should I be worried that the finings were added to quickly?

 

[jar1087]

Others can chime in here if they disagree, but I would say that you should rack to the (sanitized) carboy and be sure to suck up some yeast along with the beer to get them back in suspension. That way they may become more active and help to ferment the beer a little bit further.

Also, just for reference a pound of liquid extract yields around 38 gravity points per gallon (that is one pound of extract in one gallon of solution would have an OG reading of 1.038). Based on what you said and assuming a five gallon batch, that means that your original gravity should have been somewhere around 1.061. Depending on your yeast strain, I would guess that the beer would end up at around 1.015, so based on that you might have a bit further to go (however, sometimes extracts are less fermentable than grain based worts, so 1.022 could be where the beer is done). In any case, getting the yeast back into suspension when racking should allow the beer to ferment further if it is going to at all.

 

[BillyBock]

+1