Weihenstephan Wheat 3068 going slow

[Shade]

I'm brewing a small batch of a German wheat beer. I went no sparge since I could mash the full volume and didn't consider the efficiency drop so ended up with an OG around 1040, compared to the 1048 I was aiming for, doh. Other than that, getting the wort into the fermenter went fine (although when tidying up, I broke my hydrometer, gah).

I got the 3068 yeast that morning which was pretty fresh, packaged last month. A couple of hours after pitching, it was already bubbling away. By day two, it had stopped.

With no hydrometer and Christmas break upon me, I ordered a refractometer, which was at home when I returned. I calibrated it this afternoon then took a reading. It was reading 1023 - still quite a few points to go. I have it in a temperature controlled fridge and left it at 20C/68F before going.

I roused the yeast and am pretty sure I heard a few bubbles when passing by on a couple of occasions.

So - seems like it's fermenting slow, but this yeast was supposed to be the beast, and it certainly started super fast. I'm also a rookie with the refractometer - the calibration was super easy and clear, but the reading with the beer sample wasn't nearly as distinct, so makes me wonder if I did it wrong.

Any useful advice would be appreciated.

 

[RM-MN]

First off is some reading, just a short article but important for you to know as you go forward with your brewing.

http://www.brewgeeks.com/the-life-cycle-of-yeast.html

Next is your hydrometer/refractometer usage. The refractometer is a wonderful instrument when used at the right time. However, if you want to know the final gravity, the reading must be converted as the alcohol in the beer will skew the reading. The best for the final gravity reading is the hydrometer.

There are calculators that do the converting for you when using the refractometer for final gravity but unless you need to see exactly where your beer ended up, just take multiple (2 or 3) readings and if the reading hasn't changed the beer is done.

 

[Silver_Is_Money]

Refractometers are reliable only for OG readings. FG readings are thrown askew by the presence of alcohol. The way around this is to utilize software that attempts to correct for the presence of alcohol. I've linked to two of them below.

The best available refractometer calculator for a number of years:
http://seanterrill.com/2012/01/06/refractometer-calculator/

The new champion for accuracy:
http://diversity-pivo.blogspot.com/2017/01/pocitame-nova-korekce-refraktometru.html

 

[Shade]

Thanks fellas. The yeast lifecycle stuff I am ok on but appreciate the background info. The refractometer correction stuff I didn’t realise. My polish isn’t so great so I used the first calculator which suggests I’m at the target FG now, which is encouraging.

I’ll check it again this morning.

Cheers!

Edit: ok, with google translate, my polish is much better. Easy enough to put that formula into Excel.