Safe to bottle??!!?

[NativeSun]

I transferred my passion fruit ale to my secondary carboy almost a week ago and I've been seeing the same reading on the refractometer since racking it into the secondary. It's hovering around 5 or 1.020. Is this going to drop a little more if I keep it in for two weeks?

 

[kh54s10]

Have you run the numbers through a calculator for the presence of alcohol?

 

[NativeSun]

Have you run the numbers through a calculator for the presence of alcohol?

Never used one before which one do you prefer?

I did just try the first one I googled and I have a 5.38% ABV which seems to be about right for the amount of grains I used .

 

[kh54s10]

I use the one in Beersmith 2 but, here is one online: http://www.brewersfriend.com/refractometer-calculator/ Use section 2. I am guessing that your actual FG is closer to 1.008 (not knowing your OG).

 

[NativeSun]

I use the one in Beersmith 2 but, here is one online: http://www.brewersfriend.com/refractometer-calculator/ Use section 2. I am guessing that your actual FG is closer to 1.008 (not knowing your OG).

The recipe I used had a OG of 1.061 and a FG of 1.015, but it has been refusing to go under 5 on my refractometer since being in the secondary. The wort is in the right temp range.

 

[flars]

If you want to be sure it is safe to bottle, use a hydrometer. Three stable readings over a period of 4 to 5 days will alleviate your worries.

 

[BigFloyd]

If you want to be sure it is safe to bottle, use a hydrometer. Three stable readings over a period of 4 to 5 days will alleviate your worries.

this ^.

 

[NativeSun]

If you want to be sure it is safe to bottle, use a hydrometer. Three stable readings over a period of 4 to 5 days will alleviate your worries.

I've been checking the secondary daily with the refractometer and it hasn't changed for the past couple days. I just can't believe it's good to go so quickly..thought I did something wrong

 

[kh54s10]

Again, are you correcting your refractometer reading for the presence of alcohol. They do not read accurately after fermentation. If you are reading 5 brix, using the calculator I linked shows you have an FG of 1.018 which for me, if stable, is close enough. There is still error involved when using a refractometer with the presence of alcohol even correcting. If you want to be sure, you will need to use a hydrometer.

 

[FarmerTed]

I transferred my passion fruit ale to my secondary carboy almost a week ago and I've been seeing the same reading on the refractometer since racking it into the secondary. It's hovering around 5 or 1.020. Is this going to drop a little more if I keep it in for two weeks?

So, did you add fruit to the secondary? If so, I'd leave the beer a while just to pick up the flavor. Otherwise, it sounds like you're done, and it's time to bottle.

 

[NativeSun]

Anyone know how to lessen the tartness of fruit? I may have added a bit too much passion fruit and its over powering the beer a little bit more than I wanted. I heard pickling lime works but I can't find any near me. Any other ideas????

 

[dantodd]

I don't know how well Pickling lime really works but you should be able to get it anywhere they sell canning supplies. WalMart, Orchard Supply Hardware (OSH) or many ACE hardware stores.

 

[IslandLizard]

How long has it been on your fruit? A week is a bit short to extract all the potential flavors.

The tartness is an acquired taste, loved by some hated by others. I seriously doubt lime (Calcium Hydroxide, Ca(OH)2) will improve it, and most likely will make it totally undrinkable. Yeah, it may counteract the acids chemically, but the residual flavor may be way worse.

If you need to test ad hoc additions, I would add very, very small amounts of lime to a premeasured amount of beer, and taste the results. Then decide where you want to go with it.

As said before, you definitely need a hydrometer to accurately measure the remaining sugar. You're fermenting blind at the moment.

I wish you had an accurate FG reading before you added the fruit. That would have been your base. It's not uncommon for fruit additions to sour your beer. Depending on its source it may have added lacto bacillus and/or other bugs to your beer.

If you don't like tart beers, there maybe ways to back sweeten it, but I have no experience with that, particularly if you have bacteria in there. They're much harder to stop/kill than yeast, and they can eat through practically everything organic.

I actually like the sours.

 

[IslandLizard]

I don't know how well Pickling lime really works but you should be able to get it anywhere they sell canning supplies. WalMart, Orchard Supply Hardware (OSH) or many ACE hardware stores.

Pickling lime is calcium hydroxide, Ca(OH)2. Mrs. Wages is a common brand, about $3.00 or less for a pound bag. Walmart stocks it now, during canning season. It's about impossible to obtain after October, I've noticed.

I needed some to make Belgian candy syrup, and was lucky to finally score a bag at Wally's Mart.

See my notes above regarding use of this kind of lime in beer.

 

[NativeSun]

I went ahead and bottled it the way it was without messing with the the pH. First off I bought the wrong calcium product cause I misread the bottle!! Bought calcium carbonate instead of chloride!!! But after it was mixed with the priming sugar it did taste pretty good.

 

[IslandLizard]

I went ahead and bottled it the way it was without messing with the the pH. First off I bought the wrong calcium product cause I misread the bottle!! Bought calcium carbonate instead of chloride!!! But after it was mixed with the priming sugar it did taste pretty good.

OK, good call!
Messing around with chemicals will likely cause more harm than good until you fully understand their effects, both positive and negative ones.

For example, Calcium chloride would NOT have neutralized the perceived acidity in your beer. Neither would Calcium carbonate (unflavored Tums). But either would have made your beer undrinkable.