Second Round Brewer....How's my gravity?

[cees2u]

I am in the process of my second brew. The first was a in the box American Wheat. This one is an extract kit from Austin Home Brew that is a Oktoberfest/Marzen brewed as an ale with the White Labs 029 Kolsch yeast.
I also sprung for the yeast fuel and alcohol boost offered with the kit.

My original gravity reading was 1.060 which is a little higher than the 1.054 called for by the original kit (which was expected with the added sugars of the alcohol boost).

I fermented in the primary (bucket) for a good 7 days, then racked to the secondary (5 Gal PET carboy). It has been in the secondary for 11 days now.
I checked gravity at 7 days and read 1.020 and again at 9 days and got the same.

The kit called for a final gravity of 1.015. I am looking for opinions...Is my fermentation stuck or complete? Or is the variation due to brewing a lager recipe with ale yeast and ale temperatures? Any help will be greatly appreciated.

 

[frazier]

You should have asked this before transferring the beer off the yeast. If you want the yeast to finish the job, don't fire them!

At this point, there's not a lot you can do. Because the most effective things you can do, in order to assure good attenuation, all happen before you pitch the yeast.

 

[thughes]

This^ I don't secondary but when I did I would never move off the yeast until they were done (eg: reached FG).

What temp did you ferment at? I like @ 65 for a week or so, raise to @ 70-72 for a couple days to finish up, and then lager at 45-50 for 3 weeks. (Yes, I know it's an ale yeast but a couple of weeks in the 45-50 range really cleans it up and makes it super crisp.)

 

[WoodlandBrew]

Likely just completed fermentation, especially if you used liquid malt extract. Give it a little swirl to rouse the yeast and move it to a place that is closer to 70 degrees. That might get you one or two points. I would expect that the Kolsch yeast would do a little better than that even with liquid malt extract. Does your hydrometer read 1.000 in plain room temperature water?

If it doesn't go down after the swirl and warmer temp, there are still some other things you can try.

How does it taste?

 

[cees2u]

You should have asked this before transferring the beer off the yeast. If you want the yeast to finish the job, don't fire them!

At this point, there's not a lot you can do. Because the most effective things you can do, in order to assure good attenuation, all happen before you pitch the yeast.

I realize this now. This is my first time using a secondary. I didn't check the gravity before transferring. I guess this will be a learning experience. I think I'll just bottle and see what happens.

 

[cees2u]

This^ I don't secondary but when I did I would never move off the yeast until they were done (eg: reached FG).

What temp did you ferment at? I like @ 65 for a week or so, raise to @ 70-72 for a couple days to finish up, and then lager at 45-50 for 3 weeks. (Yes, I know it's an ale yeast but a couple of weeks in the 45-50 range really cleans it up and makes it super crisp.)

Fermentation temps have varied slightly but it stayed between 65 and 72 for the entire primary fermentation.

I don't have any kind of laagering setup. I guess that will be my next venture.

 

[cees2u]

Likely just completed fermentation, especially if you used liquid malt extract. Give it a little swirl to rouse the yeast and move it to a place that is closer to 70 degrees. That might get you one or two points. I would expect that the Kolsch yeast would do a little better than that even with liquid malt extract. Does your hydrometer read 1.000 in plain room temperature water?

If it doesn't go down after the swirl and warmer temp, there are still some other things you can try.

How does it taste?

I'll try the swirl and see method tonight. I did check my hydrometer yesterday and it's right on.

I have tasted it both times I checked the gravity and it has tasted great. No off flavors that I could detect

I think I'll just have to agree with Frazier and say that I pulled it off the yeast too soon.

 

[WoodlandBrew]

There are plenty of yeast in there to finish the job. If it's still at the same gravity reading, then it is done. If you like the taste then prime and bottle.

 

[cees2u]

Well, I swirled it around a bit, put it in a sink of warm water and it did just a little more. This morning it was sitting at 1.018. I'll give it the rest of the day, and hopefully, I'll be bottling tomorrow! Thanks for everybody's advise.

 

[frazier]

Well, I swirled it around a bit, put it in a sink of warm water and it did just a little more. This morning it was sitting at 1.018. I'll give it the rest of the day, and hopefully, I'll be bottling tomorrow! Thanks for everybody's advise.

This is a sign that it's still working, albeit slowly. Give it a week before you bottle. Time is your friend.