Wheat Beer Fermentation...

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

red1150

New Member
Joined
Apr 10, 2010
Messages
3
Reaction score
0
Location
Ottawa
I just made my second batch and am having a little trouble with the fermentation. Before I put the yeast into the beer I took a hydrometre reading and I got 1045 or 5.8% potential alcohol. I pitched the yeast as it said on the package and it was rather active for 3-4 days. Today, day 10, I did another hydrometre reading and the SG hasn't changed at all. How is this possible?
 
That doesn't sound right. First, you can ignore the alcohol scale on the hydrometer. But given you had an initial reading of 1.045 that sounds pretty close for a starting gravity of a typical wheat, so if it was fermenting it should be quite a bit lower if the fermentation has progressed or finished.

The one thing to consider is temperature correction. Are you factoring in the temp of the sample and adjusting your reading if necessary? Also, how are you taking your sample? Maybe there's an issue with where you're drawing the sample and giving you an inaccurate reading.
 
Thanks. I think the temperature could definitely be part of the problem. I have not been as precise with tracking the temps as I should be. When I took the initial reading I waited an hour and a half for the wort to cool down in the carboy before taking the reading. On the hydrometre it said the ideal temp was 24c, so I wanted to give it some time to cool down in room temperature. But, I wasn't precise and honestly have no idea at what temperature I put the yeast in, and I am sure you are right, that has something to do with it.
Is there often a large variation between the readings from the top of the carboy to the bottom? Is that what you meant about the issue with drawing a sample?
 
There can be a difference from top to bottom, especially when taking the first reading. If you're adding in plain water to bring you up to your batch size and don't mix the wort enough there can be a big difference from top to bottom and it isn't uncommon to see readings off by 10 points or more. This usually isn't as much of an issue after fermentation is complete since the yeast churn the beer up good.

That being said, if your beer is at or near room temp right now and you're still getting a reading in the 1.040 range, that is not right and would indicate the beer is simply not done fermenting yet, or there was a problem that prevented the fermentation from being complete.

Even though you may not have accurately been able to get a starting gravity reading, most beers, wheat included, should get down to the 1.010-1.015 range for a final gravity. You may want to take another reading in a day or two and see if it has changed.
 
Back
Top