...About to abort.

[coalminecanary]

Hi everyone.

I'm new to the forum, really loved reading people's stories on here and have learnt a lot. Having said that....

I am quite prepared for a forum beating here (I deserve it). I've just embarked on my first 'All grain, Urn BIAB', and my second homebrew ever. I believe I may have created the bottle bombs, which every new comer fears the most.

I took a FG, but being in an overwhelmed state today trying to make sure I was doing everything correct, I overlooked reading it. Long story short, I primed it and bottled it, without taking note. Upon reading the FG, it read an alarming 1.025. I have little in the way of excuses, but a failure I can accept, a house of exploding beer I can't. Should I discard the lot and put it down to life experiences.


I open a bottle and took a hydrometer reading; it came in at 1.027 in the bottle. I'm expecting that is awfully too high.

I live in Tasmania and it has been quite cool here. I checked the fermenter 2 days prior to bottling and it read 1.025 also, so perhaps the fermentation had stalled. It had been in the fermenter for 2 weeks, as per the recipe called for.

I dropped the ball on this one; I think I got caught up in the overwhelming new processes that I didn't follow the basics.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. At this point, it will be going down the plughole tonight.

Thanks

 

[Not For Horses]

Just pour it back into the fermenter. It will be oxygenated to buggery but the yeast may take up some of that as they start to eat the remaining sugars.
Let it ferment out fully then re bottle.

 

[Pogierob]

Give them 2 weeks to carb and then put them in the fridge and drink.

Fast.


At 1.025 it will probably be sweet but see how you go.

Don't leave them out if the fridge as fermentation will most likely continue on to bombs.


The other scary option would be to crack the seal on each bottle until your gravity comes down, then cap.

Super risky.

 

[coalminecanary]

I think pouring back into the fermenter may be the less risky approach... I'm done with taking risks.

but thank you very much for the reply's

Would it be worth pitching some more yeast?

 

[wereprawn]

Wouldn't bother pitching more yeast. If there was going to be enough to carb up the brew then there is enough to finish the ferment. I would go with pouring the lot (trying to minimize splashing) back in the fermenter as suggested , sediment and all, and keep that temp up to around 18c. With any luck the yeast will use up the oxygen before it bonds with other compounds in your beer. I would not plan on storing it for a long time but you should be right if you drink it within 6-8 weeks.

 

[manticle]

What went through your mind bottling 2 days after hitting mid 20s?
I'be inclined to ditch it or try pouring into the fermenter and drink every last cardboard tasting drop as punishment.

Let beer ferment properly and condition with healthy yeast contact before packaging. Always.

 

[coalminecanary]

No alarms went off due to inexperience, I thought it was quite normal, which of course now seems absurd, I wouldn't have proceeded to bottling if I thought it needed more time.

I've placed it back in the fermenter, I'll see how it goes and try salvage some beer and any dignity.

Again thanks for the help.

 

[mje1980]

As far as noob mistakes go this is nothing mate, you've done the best thing you can by doing something about the problem. Bottle bombs are messy but seriously dangerous. I never trust any bottled beer completely, ever, no matter how careful and cautious I am.

 

[pedleyr]

Your willingness to admit that you buggered up is admirable mate! Don't let it discourage youy, we've all made silly mistakes. I still do.

 

[pk.sax]

One thing you could do is uncap them all, then put foil caps on them (just a piece of foil on top and crimp it down) and put the lot in a warmer place. Let ferment out - measure the gravity of a bottle a week out and so on. When done, re-prime and cap. Shouldn't oxidise and may save the batch.

 

[squirt in the turns]

coalminecanary, what was your recipe, including the yeast strain? You say it's your second batch, and first AG, so it's unlikely, but if you were ambitious and made (for example) a Russian Imperial Stout with an O.G. of 1.100, then an F.G. of 1.025 would be fine.

Also, what temperature did you mash at? A hotter mash results in a less fermentable wort, and a really hot mash could result in the F.G. you got, in which case nothing you can do will cause it to attenuate any further.