Should I expect an FG this high?

[Kurt Cograin]

I'm brewing a 1 gal batch of Irish Red, Raubeoir in Brewing Classic Styles. The original recipe listed an OG of 1.054 and an FG of 1.014. when I scaled the recipe I made a math error and actually used something like a quarter pound of extra DME when I brewed it. (By math error I mean I just can't do math at all). The OG I got before throwing it into my fermenter was kind of wildly high, 1.091, so maybe that's not great. It's been chugging along in the Fermenter for about 2 weeks I took a reading yesterday and we're down to 1.040-ish.

Is 1.040 what I should expect? Since my extra DME should mostly ferment out (Other threads have said DME should be something like 75% fermentable) I should expect a higher FG?

Do high FG beers taste/feel like crap? Everything seems really high, I took all my hydrometer readings at just about 70°s so I don't think I'm wildly off there.

I've left it in the Fermenter but now I'm kinda freewheeling with it, like when should I bottle it?

Thanks!

 

[hotbeer]

I'm sure most everyone will want to know what yeast and the amount you pitched.

High gravity beers are something you really need to be aware of the attenuation and alcohol tolerance of the yeast. As well you really don't want to under pitch a high gravity beer IMO.

I'll just speculate it won't be the beer you were expecting if you actually know what that beer should taste, look and smell like. Might likely be good if you'll be happy with what it becomes. I'd think a little on the sweet side though lacking other info. (yes higher FG)

 

[davidabcd]

If that were a five gallon batch, it'd be 1.25# extra DME. That's not going to account for the OG being that high. You'd get around 1.070-ish for OG.
You wouldn't expect the FG to be 1.040 either with what you mentioned. It should be much lower. Did you add steeping grains or other less-fermentable items?
It could but probably shouldn't take two weeks. I've actually never had a beer take two weeks to ferment.
A beer that gets stuck will be too sweet.
Something doesn't account for why your numbers are where they're at.
Don't bottle before you have two FG readings the same two days apart.

 

[Kurt Cograin]

I'm sure most everyone will want to know what yeast and the amount you pitched.

High gravity beers are something you really need to be aware of the attenuation and alcohol tolerance of the yeast. As well you really don't want to under pitch a high gravity beer IMO.

I'll just speculate it won't be the beer you were expecting if you actually know what that beer should taste, look and smell like. Might likely be good if you'll be happy with what it becomes. I'd think a little on the sweet side though lacking other info. (yes higher FG)

Hotbeer, thank you. I used about a third of a pack of dry ale yeast I wish I had my notes in front of me right now because I can't remember exactly what it was, I think it was american ale yeast. Fermented activity has actually looked really good, lots of bubbles and such in the airlock and big thick krausen.

If that were a five gallon batch, it'd be 1.25# extra DME. That's not going to account for the OG being that high. You'd get around 1.070-ish for OG.
You wouldn't expect the FG to be 1.040 either with what you mentioned. It should be much lower. Did you add steeping grains or other less-fermentable items?
It could but probably shouldn't take two weeks. I've actually never had a beer take two weeks to ferment.
A beer that gets stuck will be too sweet.
Something doesn't account for why your numbers are where they're at.
Don't bottle before you have two FG readings the same two days apart.

There were some steeping grains in the recipe, I just kinda hand my homebrew shop guy the recipe and he comes back with a stocking full of ground grain. I think it was everything in the recipe.

Any advise for unsticking? I noticed my Fermentation fridge temp was low-ish like 65-67°F so I raised it to 71°F the other day. I have a controller so it stays fairly constant during the Fermentation. Do I need to pitch another round of yeast?

I'm not really looking to make a BJCP award winning Irish Red here (Don't Tell John Palmer I butchered his recipe), any tips to get it to a drinkable form?

 

[grampamark]

There are enough “kindas”, “sortas”, and “abouts” in the OP’s request that any solemn pronouncement about how to proceed should be taken with about a grain, or six, of salt.

That said, bumping up the temp can’t hurt. Gently shaking the fermenter to rouse the yeast a bit wouldn’t hurt, either. Assuming the gravity readings are reasonably accurate, the apparent attenuation is kinda, sorta, 56%-ish. Even in a higher gravity wort, most common ale yeasts, assuming an adequate pitch, should get down to 65-ish, or so. That would be an FG around .030.

If there is no further drop in FG in a couple of days then it wouldn’t hurt to call in a second shift. There are plenty of fermentable sugars remaining. Pitch another third of a pack, or so. And, check the calibration temp of the hydrometer. It’s printed at the bottom of the paper scale inside the glass tube. Most are 60°F, some are 68. Accuracy kinda sorta matters.

 

[jdauria]

Is this an extract batch? If Extract, did you take gravity reading before or after adding top up water? My assumption is you either took a reading before adding top off water, or you did not shake up the fermenter to get the wort and water to blend. Other option, you boiled off a lot more water than you were suppose to, thus making wort stronger. So how much LME or DME did you use in total?

The recipe in the book calls for 8.1 lbs of LME for 5 gallon batch, if you switched to DME, it does not swap pound for pound... 8.1 LME would convert to 6.6 DME for 5 gallons...scaling that down to 1 gallon batch would be 1.32 lbs of DME, so even with extra 0.25 lbs, it would only up your gravity 8-9 points, not 40+ points. So unless you used a lot more DME than around 1.6 lbs, it has to be either water not blended properly or you boiled a lot longer.

 

[davidabcd]

Any advise for unsticking? I noticed my Fermentation fridge temp was low-ish like 65-67°F so I raised it to 71°F the other day. I have a controller so it stays fairly constant during the Fermentation. Do I need to pitch another round of yeast?

Without knowing the whole story, you can pitch some more. Like I said though, if your only error was 1/4# of extract, we've got some mysterious numbers.
I would try that.
Good luck.

 

[rburrelli]

The obvious question that has not been asked yet…is your reading of SG from a hydrometer or refractometer?

 

[hotbeer]

Any advise for unsticking? I noticed my Fermentation fridge temp was low-ish like 65-67°F so I raised it to 71°F the other day. I have a controller so it stays fairly constant during the Fermentation. Do I need to pitch another round of yeast?

Why do you think it's stalled? Or did I miss where you said it's been at the same SG for 2 days or even better 3 days?

Certainly you can pitch more yeast if you want. But someone else will have to give you any pro's or con's for doing that.

 

[Kurt Cograin]

Thanks for all the replies it's definitely helped.

I pitched approximately 2 grams of Safeale US05 yeast about 2 weeks ago. When I took the initial 1.040 FG reading the beer was at 70°F so it really should have been +0.001. I don't know the temp I took the OG at but there's no way it was outside of 60-70°F or +/-0.001 adjustment for my hydrometer.

I think my problem was I substituted the LME the recipe called for with DME pound for pound, and I actually used a tad extra DME to boot. If I used 2lbs of DME I think that corresponds to 2.5-ish lbs of LME whick is skewing the OG high.

At this point how do I know when it's done, wait for the FG to be consistent for two days in a row? Just let if fly for another week? Should I be looking for the original recipes 1.014 FG?

Thanks all!

 

[Kickass]

An answer to post #8 would be helpful.

Also, post your full recipe, please. Your OG sounds way high. Extract is incredibly easy to estimate OG.

I’m curious if some stratification happened when you took a sample. Depending on boil length and racking into FV, sugars have a potential to stratify.

 

[madscientist451]

what I should expect?

You can expect it to be a beer. Relax, drink whatever beer you have and perhaps spend some time thinking about how you can improve your process.

 

[bracconiere]

The obvious question that has not been asked yet…is your reading of SG from a hydrometer or refractometer?

actually it was stated hydro at 70f....

i'd be curious if someone with more experience with DME, could chime in on nutrient stall? i'm thinking being it's just a gallon, for life lesson purpose, boil some brown rice, add the water to it, see if it takes off....