Who to believe, AHBS or Beersmith?

[bearymore]

I brewed Austin HB's Nipper IPA kit two Sunday's ago. It managed to survive blowing the lid off the plastic fermenter one night, and having taken a couple hydrometer readings, it actually seems to taste pretty good. Two days ago, I did a hydrometer reading (9 days in) and got a reading of 1.021. At that point the beer still had krausen on top. I looked at it yesterday (11 days) and the krausen was still there. Following the advice in one of the threads here, I gently tilted the fermenter back and forth. I checked today and found the krausen gone and the gravity at 1.019. I figure that the beer is not quite finished and will check again in 2 days.

My question is this. The recipe says that OG should have been 1.06 and FG should be 1.013. I entered the ingredients into Beersmith and got an estimated OG of 1.059 and FG of 1.016. My actual OG was 1.061. I was using Beersmith because I did a full boil rather than the partial boil specified in the recipe. How low should the gravity go for me to class the beer as finished? Also, was I right in worrying about the krausen and tipping the fermenter back and forth? Finally, I'm planning to rack to secondary. How long should a beer of this type stay there?

 

[Yooper]

Beersmith isn't really accurate- it gives you an average FG. Your actual FG will depend on your ingredients and the yeast you used. Some yeast attenuate at 67%, some at 75%, so you'll get different FGs depending on the strain. Also, some recipes contain more unfermentables, which would also give you a higher FG, that's why you need the recipe to guestimate FG.

 

[bearymore]

I entered all the ingredients into Beersmith to get the estimate I got. AHBS suggests 3 yeasts to use for this beer and it seems to be the yeast that causes most of the difference. I used White Labs Burton Ale with an attenuation of 72% according to Beersmith's yeast table. The highest attenuating yeast of the 3 was Munton's Ale with an attenuation of 75% giving an estimated FG of 1.014. So assuming that AHBS used a slightly different avg. attenuation figure for Munton's than Beersmith, 1.013 would be within the ballpark. Given that I used the Burton, 1.016 is more in line with what I should expect if my assumptions are right. Given that, should I be worried if my FG turns out to be the current 1.019?

 

[brewt00l]

How low should the gravity go for me to class the beer as finished?

Given typical fermentation conditions, a few days in a row of identical hydro readings will tell you when fermentation has completed and it's ready to rack if you choose.

Also, was I right in worrying about the krausen and tipping the fermenter back and forth?

as long as you didn't knock the gunk off the sides of the fermenter back into the beer and you gave it a careful swirl, no worries.

Finally, I'm planning to rack to secondary. How long should a beer of this type stay there?

Depends on what you are looking to have happen in the secondary...are you dry hopping? Do you want to bulk condition, clear, ect? The 1-2-3 rule that is often cited is a decent general guideline.

Given that, should I be worried if my FG turns out to be the current 1.019?

Attenuation %s are based on a number of assumptions/conditions that may or may not apply to your situation...fermentable content, yeast health, fermentation conditions, ect. all effect the apparent attenuation. Sounds like you are in the zone, time to let the hydro tell you when you're ready to rack.

 

[bearymore]

Thanks. This is really helpful.