What's the reason for a high FG?

[BeerFun]

Weak yeast? The water?

I ferment mine close to a washing machine. Can the vibrations cause it?

 

[user 22118]

Oh my god, you are fermenting next to a washing machine! That just isn't going to work out. J/K

It could be a whole range of things. Not the vibrations of the washing machine. You might have mashed higher than you thought (though that wouldn't make too big a difference), maybe you didn't oxidate enough in the beginning, maybe it is too cold (seeing you are in Norway, I am sure that it is getting cooler now ) where you are fermenting. I know I was having problems with fermenting because my temp was less than 68*f/19c.

What is your FG and what was the OG?

 

[BeerFun]

Oh my god, you are fermenting next to a washing machine! That just isn't going to work out. J/K

It could be a whole range of things. Not the vibrations of the washing machine. You might have mashed higher than you thought (though that wouldn't make too big a difference), maybe you didn't oxidate enough in the beginning, maybe it is too cold (seeing you are in Norway, I am sure that it is getting cooler now ) where you are fermenting. I know I was having problems with fermenting because my temp was less than 68*f/19c.

What is your FG and what was the OG?

LOL, yes it's getting cold, but it's warm in my tiny bathroom. Around 73F. I used my brewing spoon thoughroughly before pitching the yeast. It started on 1.049, and it stopped at 1.025. I tried to carefully make the yeast come to life again by stirring with my spoon. I tried agitating it by lifting it up and carefully move it from side to side. I even added more yeast, but it didn't help. It's on my veranda now for clearing. It's 50F there, not colder cause it's raining. I wish it could be colder so it would clear faster, but I have to wait for a clear sky before it gets below 32F.

 

[Revvy]

we really need much more information....Like the recipe you are talking about....What kind of yeast you use, your process, etc.

There;s really no such thing as "weak yeast," it's usually the way we handle the yeast and our process that is the problem. If you want to, read my take on the idea of "weak yeast." If it can be revived after being encased in amber for 45 million years, then modern yeast has very little issues.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/am-i-cursed-dead-white-labs-again-135785/#post1553441

 

[BeerFun]

we really need much more information....Like the recipe you are talking about....What kind of yeast you use, your process, etc.

There;s really no such thing as "weak yeast," it's usually the way we handle the yeast and our process that is the problem. If you want to, read my take on the idea of "weak yeast." If it can be revived after being encased in amber for 45 million years, then modern yeast has very little issues.

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/am-i-cursed-dead-white-labs-again-135785/#post1553441

It's a Coopers Wheat kit + the dry yeast that was on the top of the container. I used extract malt and powder malt. I pitched the yeast dry. I have never had an FG much lower than 1.020 with beer. When I make wine I have had 1.010 I think.

Even with WYeast I don't get below 1.020.

I warmed water in a big pot and let the Cooper's and the extract malt sit there for a while. I poured them into my plastic brewing container that holds 30 litres. I cooked the dry malt until it disolved and added it. I then added 18 litres of cold water from the tap. I stirred thoughroughly before pitching the yeast. The airlock began popping after a few hours.

 

[Denny]

Probably the largest variable in FG besides yeast health and viability is the fermentability of your wort. Often, extracts aren't as fermentable as you can make and all grain wort be.

 

[david_42]

When you added yeast, which yeast did you use?

 

[BeerFun]

Probably the largest variable in FG besides yeast health and viability is the fermentability of your wort. Often, extracts aren't as fermentable as you can make and all grain wort be.

I see. Thanks, next time I will make beer the real way then.

 

[BeerFun]

When you added yeast, which yeast did you use?

The one that was included in the kit. Coopers weat yeast I suspect.

 

[david_42]

I was asking what yeast you used when you re-pitched, unless I misunderstood your second post. I don't know what other yeasts you might be able to obtain, but a yeast like Safale 04 or Munton's Gold might do a better job than more Coopers.

 

[BeerFun]

I was asking what yeast you used when you re-pitched, unless I misunderstood your second post. I don't know what other yeasts you might be able to obtain, but a yeast like Safale 04 or Munton's Gold might do a better job than more Coopers.

It was a leftover from an earlier kit where I used WYeast instead. I can buy Safeale 04 here yes. Thanks for the tip!

From the instruction for Safeale:

"Alternatively, pitch dry yeast directly in the fermentation vessel providing the temperature of the wort is above 20C. Progressively sprinkle the dry yeast into the wort ensuring the yeast covers all the surface of wort available in order to avoid clumps. Leave for 30 minutes and then mix the wort e.g. using aeration."

Aeration 30 minutes after pitching the yeast? I have never done that with the Coopers yeast. Do you do that when you pitch dry yeast? I'm going to re-hydrate for sure the next time.

 

[jgbrown]

Ever check the calibration of your hydrometer? My wines get below 1.000. If everything is off by about 10 points that would make sense.

 

[Denny]

I see. Thanks, next time I will make beer the real way then.

I certainly didn't mean to imply that AG is the "real way" to make beer! Often, simply subbing some sugar for some of the extract will give you the FG you want to have. That's what I did when I was designing an extract version of my Waldo Lake Amber for Northern Brewer. It made the FG identical to the Ag version and the taste wasn't affected at all by adding the sugar.

 

[BeerFun]

Ever check the calibration of your hydrometer? My wines get below 1.000. If everything is off by about 10 points that would make sense.

Yes I have. In plain water it reads 1.000. Could the hydrometer be off when the gravity is higher?

 

[BeerFun]

I certainly didn't mean to imply that AG is the "real way" to make beer! Often, simply subbing some sugar for some of the extract will give you the FG you want to have. That's what I did when I was designing an extract version of my Waldo Lake Amber for Northern Brewer. It made the FG identical to the Ag version and the taste wasn't affected at all by adding the sugar.

So malt extract/spray malt is harder to convert into alcohol than plain sugar?

 

[Denny]

So malt extract/spray malt is harder to convert into alcohol than plain sugar?

No, but you have no control over how it was made, what went into it, or what temp the grains were mashed at. If it's anything other than light extract, there may be crystal or other malts in it. All of these add up to the fact that extract, either liquid or dry, generally is less fermentable than an AG wort. The way to counteract that is to sub part of the extract for something highly fermentable, like sugar.

 

[mikeysab]

did you cool your hydro sample? I believe hydrometers are calibrated for 60 degrees, and coopers is definitely 60. You said your fermenting spot was 73 degrees, and fermentation causes heat, so your sample could have been 80 degrees. Revvy or one of the more experienced brewers would have to say if 20 degrees would throw off a sample by that many points, but your FG should have been between 1.010 and 1.014, if I remember the coopers kits correctly.

 

[jgbrown]

did you cool your hydro sample? I believe hydrometers are calibrated for 60 degrees, and coopers is definitely 60. You said your fermenting spot was 73 degrees, and fermentation causes heat, so your sample could have been 80 degrees. Revvy or one of the more experienced brewers would have to say if 20 degrees would throw off a sample by that many points, but your FG should have been between 1.010 and 1.014, if I remember the coopers kits correctly.

At 80F, Beersmith says there's a difference of 2 gravity points.