Stuck

[Wester_Brewery]

I was feeling impatient and bought a Brown Ale kit from my LHBS 2 weeks ago. I didn't want to wait for mail order. It was a True Brew kit. They don't carry much in the way of beer kits, it's mainly a wine shop. The kit contained dry yeast.

I did a yeast starter and followed the directions. My OG was 1.044. After being away for work for two weeks, I returned and took a gravity reading of 1.020 and again two days later with the same results. The directions claim that the FG will be 1.010-1.012. I left my heat on while I was gone and it fermented at 68 degrees.

Is there anything that I can do to restart the fermentation in order to bring it down to the target range? Or should I just drive on and bottle it?

 

[theveganbrewer]

I had troubles with the 1st two kits I made from Tru Brew, both using that Munton's yeast. I ended at 1.020 both times. From what I've read it is common, though some people do make it to 1.010-1.012.

Both beers tasted weird, the yeast had a strange taste. You could gently swirl the fermenter, making sure not to bring oxygen into it. Give it another week, and test again. I wouldn't expect that it'd drop much lower than 1.018 if at all, but you can try. If it's the same in a week, just bottle it.

 

[dkennedy]

If it were me (and it was, last weekend...), I would take one more measurement just to be sure. If still at 1.020 (I bet it will be, by the sounds), bottle it up. One theory that I have seen is that Malt Extracts caramelize, which leaves more unfermentable sugars in your brew- that would make sense for my stuck batch as well.

Before you do that, though, search for "1.020" in the search box. Not being a wiseguy here- I was looking for a specific thread (couldn't find it, sorry), and noticed that it fetched around seven thousand results- moral: You (we) are not alone, seems to happen with extract recipes/kits!
Reiterating: I'm not trying to be a "Dude, use the search function" type, was just surprised at how many hits it came back with.

Thanks for serving!

 

[mvcorliss]

Keep in mind that there is nothing inherently wrong with extract kits. Many great beers have been brewed using them. The key to kits is freshness, especially of any liquid malt extract. It does funny things as it gets stale. Fresh ingredients, fresh yeast and pitching the proper amount, and good temp control will always = good beer.

OK ... almost always!

 

[Wester_Brewery]

If it were me (and it was, last weekend...), I would take one more measurement just to be sure. If still at 1.020 (I bet it will be, by the sounds), bottle it up. One theory that I have seen is that Malt Extracts caramelize, which leaves more unfermentable sugars in your brew- that would make sense for my stuck batch as well.

Before you do that, though, search for "1.020" in the search box. Not being a wiseguy here- I was looking for a specific thread (couldn't find it, sorry), and noticed that it fetched around seven thousand results- moral: You (we) are not alone, seems to happen with extract recipes/kits!
Reiterating: I'm not trying to be a "Dude, use the search function" type, was just surprised at how many hits it came back with.

Thanks for serving!

No worries, I don't think you're a smart a** Thanks for the advice... And don't mention it, I love what I do.

 

[Wester_Brewery]

Keep in mind that there is nothing inherently wrong with extract kits. Many great beers have been brewed using them. The key to kits is freshness, especially of any liquid malt extract. It does funny things as it gets stale. Fresh ingredients, fresh yeast and pitching the proper amount, and good temp control will always = good beer.

OK ... almost always!

Yeah, I have had good luck with extract kits. I think the problem here is freshness. I have no idea how long this was sitting on his shelf. From now on, its all mail order for me. I'll get all of my random stuff from him but the kits will come from FedEx.