Stalled Fermentation- 2 Yeast Packs Later

[ahags]

Quick update: Refrac gravity check down to 1.025 and had previously got a 1.022 hydrometer reading a few days ago. I will test final gravity tomorrow but hate wasting 8oz on the hydrometer so waiting for it to finish. It likely is right at or under 1.02 which was the target when I brewed this kit. Mission success! It isn’t the most tasty beer but it isn’t bad either. For those who do this all the time, how much flavor profile will come from bottling/kegging the beer? Does it improve taste usually or is the current taste likely about what I’ll be getting? Below are my notes through the past 16 days

11/9 Brew Day Log

• OG 1.046 before boil
• Added hop spider into boil at 15 min left
• OG after chill and boil Brix 12.6%, OG 1.051
• Pitched yeast at 1:25pm

11/11 @ 2pm checked gravity. 1.03 (refrac)



11/14 @12:30pm checked gravity 1.035 (refrac)



11/14 6pm whirled the fermenter to try to reactivate the yeast



11/15 12pm repitched safale-04 yeast and sealed lid. Did not have much Krausen on the top so presumably fermentation had finished with what yeast there was



11/16-11/20 - Lots of tests, tried warming it with towel to get the yeast going and nothing was working. Finally ordered Alpha Amylase Enzyme on 11/19 and arrived 11/20



11/20 @ 4:15pm added 1 teaspoon of Amylase Enzymes powder and stirred



11/21 @ 8am checked SG and looked like it maybe had gone down to 1.035 but wasn’t clear. Bubble activity persisting all day (refrac)



11/22 @ 11am checked SG and it got down to 1.03!! Bubble activity still present!



11/22 @ 745pm checked hydrometer and got 1.022-1.024 reading (hard to see exact). Tasted beer and noticed small black spec or two. Tastes decent but a bit bitter on back end. Lots of particles floating too (hazy you could chew)



11/23 @ 12:15pm SG 1.028 (refrac)



11/24 @12pm 1.027 (refrac)



11/25 @ 7:30pm 1.025 (refrac) tasted again and a lot of the yeast and sediment is gone. Looks a lot cleaner and tastes a bit smoother than a couple days ago.

 

[redrocker652002]

I don't bottle much, but what I found was the flavors kinda get "better" if that makes sense, but to be honest I don't usually taste much of it when I am bottling anyway cause I am not a fan of warm flat beer. LOL. I think if you leave it in the bottles in a closet or someplace dark for a week or two, take one or two after that and put them in the fridge overnight and pop one open you will see where you are. Don't put the whole lot in the fridge just in case you need a bit more time to carb up. Also, open them near a sink as I have had a few foam up really fast and spill out of the neck of the bottle. Nothing bad, but just a word of caution unless you like cleaning beer off your floor or carpet LOL. Rock On!!!!!!

 

[redrocker652002]

Quick update: Refrac gravity check down to 1.025 and had previously got a 1.022 hydrometer reading a few days ago. I will test final gravity tomorrow but hate wasting 8oz on the hydrometer so waiting for it to finish. It likely is right at or under 1.02 which was the target when I brewed this kit. Mission success! It isn’t the most tasty beer but it isn’t bad either. For those who do this all the time, how much flavor profile will come from bottling/kegging the beer? Does it improve taste usually or is the current taste likely about what I’ll be getting? Below are my notes through the past 16 days

11/9 Brew Day Log

• OG 1.046 before boil
• Added hop spider into boil at 15 min left
• OG after chill and boil Brix 12.6%, OG 1.051
• Pitched yeast at 1:25pm

11/11 @ 2pm checked gravity. 1.03 (refrac)



11/14 @12:30pm checked gravity 1.035 (refrac)



11/14 6pm whirled the fermenter to try to reactivate the yeast



11/15 12pm repitched safale-04 yeast and sealed lid. Did not have much Krausen on the top so presumably fermentation had finished with what yeast there was



11/16-11/20 - Lots of tests, tried warming it with towel to get the yeast going and nothing was working. Finally ordered Alpha Amylase Enzyme on 11/19 and arrived 11/20



11/20 @ 4:15pm added 1 teaspoon of Amylase Enzymes powder and stirred



11/21 @ 8am checked SG and looked like it maybe had gone down to 1.035 but wasn’t clear. Bubble activity persisting all day (refrac)



11/22 @ 11am checked SG and it got down to 1.03!! Bubble activity still present!



11/22 @ 745pm checked hydrometer and got 1.022-1.024 reading (hard to see exact). Tasted beer and noticed small black spec or two. Tastes decent but a bit bitter on back end. Lots of particles floating too (hazy you could chew)



11/23 @ 12:15pm SG 1.028 (refrac)



11/24 @12pm 1.027 (refrac)



11/25 @ 7:30pm 1.025 (refrac) tasted again and a lot of the yeast and sediment is gone. Looks a lot cleaner and tastes a bit smoother than a couple days ago.

That seems like a lot of beer for the hydrometer? I cannot say I have measured how much goes into mine, but 8 oz seems a bit much. But, with that said, If that is what it takes to make a good 5 gallon batch, I would be more than happy to waste 8 oz a few times. Just me though.

 

[ahags]

For someone just starting- would you recommend a keg or bottles? 50+ bottles sounds like a miserable cleanup but then kegging is less mobile to give a beer to a friend on the move. Is it feasible to do larger bottles like a growler type size? 32-64oz type bottles so there is far less or will that not carb well?

 

[worlddivides]

How much the flavor changes kind of depends on your taste buds and perception. My wife, for example, almost always tastes the beer before I keg it (and often tastes the wort before I ferment it) and she always says that the relatively flat room temperature beer tastes nothing at all like the beer when it's finished. I, on the other hand, think that it's actually a pretty good reference point for how the beer is going to turn out. The presence of carbonic acid does change the flavor noticeably, as does the much lower temperature and cold-conditioning it for a few weeks. One thing I personally feel is that the bitterness in the OG wort sample and the FG beer sample are always WAY less than what I taste in the final beer. With the OG wort sample, the large amount of residual sugar obviously has a big impact on reducing the bitterness, but I'm not sure if the lower bitterness in the FG sample has to do with the CO2, the conditioning, or what, but I'll taste a beer 2 weeks or so after fermenting it and it doesn't taste very bitter at all to me, but after it's carbonated up, it tastes right at the bitterness level I was shooting for.

 

[ahags]

How much the flavor changes kind of depends on your taste buds and perception. My wife, for example, almost always tastes the beer before I keg it (and often tastes the wort before I ferment it) and she always says that the relatively flat room temperature beer tastes nothing at all like the beer when it's finished. I, on the other hand, think that it's actually a pretty good reference point for how the beer is going to turn out. The presence of carbonic acid does change the flavor noticeably, as does the much lower temperature and cold-conditioning it for a few weeks. One thing I personally feel is that the bitterness in the OG wort sample and the FG beer sample are always WAY less than what I taste in the final beer. With the OG wort sample, the large amount of residual sugar obviously has a big impact on reducing the bitterness, but I'm not sure if the lower bitterness in the FG sample has to do with the CO2, the conditioning, or what, but I'll taste a beer 2 weeks or so after fermenting it and it doesn't taste very bitter at all to me, but after it's carbonated up, it tastes right at the bitterness level I was shooting for.

We are going out of town for Thanksgiving and I don’t think I’ll have time to bottle/keg it beforehand. By the time I am back, it will have been going on 4 weeks in the fermenter. Is that too much time? Will it be okay? Or should I go ahead and just transfer it this week?

 

[redrocker652002]

For someone just starting- would you recommend a keg or bottles? 50+ bottles sounds like a miserable cleanup but then kegging is less mobile to give a beer to a friend on the move. Is it feasible to do larger bottles like a growler type size? 32-64oz type bottles so there is far less or will that not carb well?

When I first started I kinda jumped off the deep end and kegged right away. Found a great deal on a used DIY kegerator that included tap, hoses and even the CO2 tank so I went for it. I used to do a rotation where I would have a keg of one style and bottles of the other. I had one batch of bottles go sideways on me and I stopped doing it for now.

I agree, bottles are easier to transport and to be honest I got about 40 or so bottles out of a batch and gave most of them away to friends once I knew it was decent. I have since made a used dorm fridge a fermentation chamber and have added some space by putting a collar on it so it will hold two kegs, so bottling is probably going to be less now.

As far as cleanup, as I empty a bottle I rinse it out with warm to hot tap water and let them air dry. The go back into boxes with a lid on them and sit in my shed until I am ready. The night before I let me wife know that I will need the dishwasher and load it up with about 40 or so bottles. I use the Sanitize setting on the dish washer and run the bottles thru. Some will say the dishwasher doesn't get the bottles clean all the way, but for two or three years I have bottled every other batch with no issues. I am not sure what happened to the last one I did, but I might go back to bottling every other again just so I can have some to transport and give to friends.

If you want to do bigger bottles, Amazon sells them at 20 oz and 22 oz I think, but they are a bit pricey. What I tried was reusing the bigger bottles of Rusian River beers, but the labels were a drag to get off so I just want with normal bottles. I found Bear Republic labels are the easiest to get off. Soak in hot water and some cleaner, I think I was using Oxyclean cause that is what my wife had around, and the labels would literally fall off the bottles.

Anyway, I am rambling way too much. Both have their advantages and disadvantages, just a matter of what works for you.

 

[redrocker652002]

We are going out of town for Thanksgiving and I don’t think I’ll have time to bottle/keg it beforehand. By the time I am back, it will have been going on 4 weeks in the fermenter. Is that too much time? Will it be okay? Or should I go ahead and just transfer it this week?

Not a pro in any way shape or form, but I have left beer in my bucket fermenter for upwards of 3 to 4 weeks with no ill affects that I could tell. But, I would defer to the pro's here as my taste buds are probably not the best.

 

[mac_1103]

By the time I am back, it will have been going on 4 weeks in the fermenter. Is that too much time? Will it be okay? Or should I go ahead and just transfer it this week?

No it is not too much time. It won't just be OK, it will be better.

 

[worlddivides]

We are going out of town for Thanksgiving and I don’t think I’ll have time to bottle/keg it beforehand. By the time I am back, it will have been going on 4 weeks in the fermenter. Is that too much time? Will it be okay? Or should I go ahead and just transfer it this week?

It'll be fine. Although hoppy beers are best drunk young, an extra week or so isn't going to make a noticeable difference. Hell, most IPAs have expiration dates that are months off from when they were brewed, sometimes as much as a year from when they were brewed. The flavor will change over that time period, but usually the expiration date is where they see the flavor as beginning to worsen (even if the flavor a month before the expiration date is less "fresh" than a week after packaging, for example). Hazy IPAs are more sensitive, but again, one week isn't a big deal at all. With more malty beers, more time in the fermenter before packaging can be pretty helpful.

 

[EarthwormJim]

We are going out of town for Thanksgiving and I don’t think I’ll have time to bottle/keg it beforehand.

That is actually a good thing. Between yesterday and the day before, the gravity dropped 2 points. That means it is not done fermenting yet. It is definitely not ready to be bottled. I wouldn't even take another reading before you leave. Take a reading when you get back, wait at least 3 days and take another. If it gravity hasn't changed at that point I would say it is safe to bottle.

With kegging, a stable gravity can be less important since you don't have to worry about bottle bombs. I would still prefer to let it finish fermenting and settling in the fermentor rather than rushing into a keg.

 

[ahags]

Quick update: Got back from vacation and work trip and just got to bottling it today. Ran about 10oz out into a bowl before plugging in a .5inch tube and bottling wand directly to the fermenter spigot. Worked like a charm.

OG: 1.051
FG: 1.01!!! (A Christmas miracle)
ABV: 5.38%

Put some carb drops cut in half (recommendation on larger ones from a local brew store who sells and brewed his own) into bottles and then filled 46 before I started hitting some yeast.

Probably lost a few bottles from initial 5 gallons from various testing throughout the month and samples.

Bottles will sit two weeks and then we will see how things taste! Thanks for all the help.

 

[mashdar]

I see you marked the tip-bottles! Good idea!

 

[ahags]

I see you marked the tip-bottles! Good idea!

Thanks! More instinctual than anything haha. As I was filling it with the final bits I was worried they may taste way different so marked them to be sure.

 

[ahags]

I tried one of the beers today after 8 days carbonating. Got to say, I was pleasantly surprised. Many articles I read said if your beer doesn’t taste good by day 4-5 or so, it probably won’t taste good when finished. Given the hell this thing has gone through, I’m pretty excited about the turnout. There were several times I thought it didn’t taste very good and the end result taste far different than those trial taste tests earlier in the fermentation pre-bottling.

Initial thoughts: ABV barely shows through which is nice. 5.38% but you don’t taste like you’re drinking a medium/high ABV beer at all. Very crushable taste, and goes down smooth. Light tasting for how hazy the color appears. It does not have as much bite as most Hazy IPA’s you try from the store. Some of that “bite” likely related to all the additives I had to use to get it restarted (yeast + enzymes). Other aspect could be it is only half carbed and will have a bit more flavor once hits the two week carb mark.

All in all- very happy and will by all means be drinking these and not tossing them. Already have friends asking me to send them some so may have to start my second brew soon! Spotted cow replica recipe out there? Anyone? Bueller?

 

[ahags]

4 weeks ago on left- Today on right. Amazing how much this thing cleaned up. Could have chewed the beer on the left

 

[redrocker652002]

Glad to hear it all worked out. In my experience, and believe me I am not a pro or even a novice, time heals most issues. My patience level with my beers has become much better. If I leave it in the fermenter a few weeks extra, oh well. If I don't hit the numbers I was expecting bummer, but it is still beer. LOL. . Keep at it, you will find that you become much more patient and will crank out better beer

 

[ahags]

Glad to hear it all worked out. In my experience, and believe me I am not a pro or even a novice, time heals most issues. My patience level with my beers has become much better. If I leave it in the fermenter a few weeks extra, oh well. If I don't hit the numbers I was expecting bummer, but it is still beer. LOL. . Keep at it, you will find that you become much more patient and will crank out better beer

100%- I am not a patient person so this first experience was a good one. It was clear that the vacation and being gone for over a week was probably the best thing for the beer in hindsight, as several pointed out. Next time around, I will have that previous experience to learn from. I also think the key to avoiding the impatience is to start brewing again while there are 48 bottles to drink! Haha. That way by the time you finish them, you’ve got 48 more waiting for ya!

 

[mac_1103]

Many articles I read said if your beer doesn’t taste good by day 4-5 or so, it probably won’t taste good when finished.

I don't know where you read that, and I've never tasted a beer at 4-5 days, but my beers always taste much better when they're finished - i.e., fully carbed.