I just brewed a SMASH with Munich grain (with a yeast nutrient at 10 min) and placed it to ferment in the garage which is about 68-75 degrees during the day. The Fermometer shows it going down to 64 degrees at night. I used Safbrew S-33 dry yeast with a 600 ml starter, Beersmith calculated I would have more tan enough cells. The fermentation was extremely active within a few hours. The blowoff hose could barely handle the fermentation. The next morning I checked it and there was barely any activity whatsoever. When I came home from work there still wasnt any activity. So i changed the hose out for a airlock and figured the fermentation is almost done with its job. SG at the start of fermentation was 1.067, I just checked it with the thief and refractometer and the gravity was reading really cloudy at around 1.040. I am sure it is not done with fermenting, but if something is not going right I would like to fix it now and not later on. I just recently brewed a Chinook IPA extract kit and the final gravity was waaaaaay too low. Went from 1.063 SG to 1.033 FG. Around 1.5% lower than the projected ABV.
Stuck fermentation?
- Thread starter jonaken
- Start date
Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:
NewWestBrewer
Well-Known Member
Your garage temp is way too high during the day. Dont forget that the beer temp will be 5-8 degrees hotter than the air temp so if you are getting up to 75 then you could be hitting 80+ inside the bucket. That is way too hot and could definitely hurt the yeast adn effect falvour. Also the constant fluctuation in temps wont help either. Could you bring it inside and put it in a swamp cooler?
EDIT: Are you using a refractometer to calculate FG? Tey are totally inaccurate nce alcohol is present...try using a hydrometer instead and check your readings again.
You use your refractometer on brew day to check that your conversion and extraction went well and that your OG was on the mark. The refractometer works well for this because you only need a drop or 2 of hot wort and it cools off quickly letting you get a reading and get back to brewing. Once the brew day is over and you have pitched your yeast, put the refractometer away and start using a hydrometer because your refractometer reading will be skewed by the alcohol present and not be accurate.
Changes in temperature are not good practice because it can cause the yeast to go wild when it gets too warm which then lets them throw off flavors and "hot alcohol". When it then chills too much the yeast can go dormant and leave you with beer that never quite finishes.
One thing for sure, your beer isn't done yet. That takes time even with super temperature control and lots of yeast. Your beer is probably in the quiet phase, finishing off the last of the sugars and cleaning up the intermediate compounds it produced when your blow off was having trouble handling the krausen. Give that beer another 10 days to as much as 3 weeks and it will be done, unless the yeast have totally gone dormant.
Changes in temperature are not good practice because it can cause the yeast to go wild when it gets too warm which then lets them throw off flavors and "hot alcohol". When it then chills too much the yeast can go dormant and leave you with beer that never quite finishes.
One thing for sure, your beer isn't done yet. That takes time even with super temperature control and lots of yeast. Your beer is probably in the quiet phase, finishing off the last of the sugars and cleaning up the intermediate compounds it produced when your blow off was having trouble handling the krausen. Give that beer another 10 days to as much as 3 weeks and it will be done, unless the yeast have totally gone dormant.
Thanks for the good information about the refractometer. I just got it about 2 brews ago and i am still trying to figure the thing out.
As far as the brew goes, Ive been checking it during the day after I posted this and the fermometer had it down to 66-64 degrees the past few. It is sitting directly on the concrete in the garage and i think that is what is keeping the temp down.
After making a dozen or so 5 gal extract kits (which are really easy and forgiving) I have moved to the AG side of brewing. Im hoping to see a big difference in the quality of my brew. I have also to work out a few bad habits and find out more information so i can make great beer. This site has helped a bunch. Feel free to "blast" me if anyone sees anything i shouldnt be doing.
Thanks guys
As far as the brew goes, Ive been checking it during the day after I posted this and the fermometer had it down to 66-64 degrees the past few. It is sitting directly on the concrete in the garage and i think that is what is keeping the temp down.
After making a dozen or so 5 gal extract kits (which are really easy and forgiving) I have moved to the AG side of brewing. Im hoping to see a big difference in the quality of my brew. I have also to work out a few bad habits and find out more information so i can make great beer. This site has helped a bunch. Feel free to "blast" me if anyone sees anything i shouldnt be doing.
Thanks guys
BansheeRider
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Dec 11, 2012
- Messages
- 1,505
- Reaction score
- 101
As stated above the high temps aren't good unless you are using a belgian yeast or something. These are things that new brewers learn while brewing extract before moving to AG along with patience and good sanitation practices. Even belgian's in the 80's may be too high. Check your gravity again in 2 weeks. If it's still high and fermentation is "stuck", you need to look at your mashing techniques. Higher mash temps will result in more unfermentable sugars resulting in a higher gravity finished beer.
