Can't Get Final Gravity Down

[brettule]

My dilema is that I'm now on my 5th brew now and I've always had issues getting the final gravity reading to be nice and low. I've always bottled at what is probably considered a little too high (1018 to 1012) . No bottle bombs yet though! Here are the details of my latest brew, can someone tell me what I'm doing wrong please?

Asahi style kit from Brewcraft: Saflager S23 yeast, Can of Beermakers Lager, #12 brecraft super brew booster, 500g Japanese Blonde Malt, 15g Saaz & 15g Hallertau hops.

Day 1 Pitch temp 26 deg with a start gravity of 1046 in 21 litres. Fridgemate temp is locked in at 10 deg and the fermentor is placed inside.

Day 7 airlock is bubbling away.

Day 12 gravity reading is 1020 when sample has reached room temp.

Day 18 gravity reading is 1017 when sample has reached room temp.

Day 19 rack to secondary

Day 20 (Day 1 on secondary) airlock starts to bubble again

Day 27 (Day 7 on secondary) gravity still reads 1017!

Day 28 (Day 8 on secondary) raise temp to 13 deg and give fermentor a swirl

Day 30 (Day 10 on secondary) airlock looks like it may be bubbling very slowly

Day 32 (Day 12 on secondary) gravity reading is still 1017 in a clean sample at room temp!


I thought I was being quite festidious about this all. When I was told that 10 degrees is a little too low for the s23 I raised the temp to 13 degrees, this doesn't seem to have impacted the gravity at all. I wondered if my hydrometer is out of whack, sitting in tap water in the sample vessle the gravity reads 1000, that's correct isn't it? I tasted a sample of the brew and it's actually quite good! Please, can someone help me get the gravity down?

 

[kabooby]

It shouldn't take that long to ferment a lager. Try aerating your wort before you pitch and try adding some more yeast, either add another packet or make a yeast starter. Plenty of info here on yeast starters if you do a search.

This should help

My lagers are normally 95% finnished in 7-10 days @ 10C. I then leave it a few more days to clean up before I crash chill to drop the yeast out

Kabooby

 

[brettule]

I guess I should try pitch another packet of the same yeast then?

 

[drsmurto]

Why do you want to get your gravity down?

From what you describe your brew has finished. Dont be too concerned about the final gravity, the combo of the brew booster (contains non fermentables) and the extra malt you added 1.017 isnt unrealistic.

You said you like it so whats the issue?

You have the same reading over several days so feel free to bottle it

 

[brettule]

Why do you want to get your gravity down?

From what you describe your brew has finished. Dont be too concerned about the final gravity, the combo of the brew booster (contains non fermentables) and the extra malt you added 1.017 isnt unrealistic.

You said you like it so whats the issue?

You have the same reading over several days so feel free to bottle it

Really? Its as simple as that? Thanks! I've been told so many time that the gravity needs to be low - 1006 or there abouts - to be complete and ensure you don't make any bottle bombs.

 

[Screwtop]

Really? Its as simple as that? Thanks! I've been told so many time that the gravity needs to be low - 1006 or there abouts - to be complete and ensure you don't make any bottle bombs.

Wort may contain a high percentage of un-fermentables. But sending the temp south like that the yeast is going to hibernate, fermentation temps need to be stable to get the best out of your yeast. Next time get the temp down to 11 - 12 degrees overnight then pitch.

 

[drsmurto]

I've had beers finish as high as 1.020 and as low as 1.007. It depends on the ingredients and on the yeast strain. (and a few other variables in AG brewing)

If you consistently get the same gravity readings ie. minimum of 3 identical readings for 3 days, then you are able to bottle it without fear of bottle bombs*

A bubbling airlock, particularly more than 4 weeks after fermentation has started is likely to just be CO2 that was dissolved in the beer coming out of solution. Its reasonably common. Whilst i do use an airlock, i dont take its activity to be anything other than a familiar bloop bloop noise. Your hydrometer is a more reliable way to assess how the fermentation is going.

Cheers
DrSmurto

* a stuck ferment is the exception to the rule but is rare for K&K but has happened to me on occasion with AG beers. Racking is the easiest way to rouse the yeast and restart fermentation.

 

[brettule]

Thanks Doc, I was starting to feel really crappy about this beer brewing stuff. I've really been putting good effort (not to mention money) into this and was getting disolusioned with the results. Thanks for the pep talk

 

[buttersd70]

the combo of the brew booster (contains non fermentables) and the extra malt you added 1.017 isnt unrealistic.

And given that the contents of the "#12 brew booster" are entirely unknown, who knows how much unfermentable is in there? Theres just no way to judge how low it should go when there is such a massive variable. But lets just say, hypothetically, it was coopers BE1 that was used instead of the brew booster, it would be (around) 1016 @ 70% apparent attenuation....so as Smurto said, 1017 certainly isn't unrealistic. If its done, its done.

Edit: Airlocks are evil.

 

[kabooby]

I was assuming that your beer was not finnished and still had some residual sweetness.
I was not suggesting to pitch another packet of yeast at the end of fermentation, but to pitch 2 at the start. As Screwtop said, pitch at 10-12C.

A possible cause of yeast not finnishing there job is insufficent dissolved oxygen in the beer. If you pour your water into the fermenter on top of your disolved ingredients than this should create enough oxygen.

 

[brettule]

One last thing. I'm going to bulk prime the 18 litres (my first time), and I used a priming calculator based on the volume and a desired volume of CO2 being about 2.5 (I think this is about right for Asahi style?). My bottles will store in an outside shed so I figure they will average 20 degrees for the next few months. Based on all this I calculated that the amount of dextrose to use for a bulk prime is 119g, does this sound about right to you all?

 

[Trough Lolly]

Really? Its as simple as that? Thanks! I've been told so many time that the gravity needs to be low - 1006 or there abouts - to be complete and ensure you don't make any bottle bombs.

...yep, it's not rocket science unless you want to make it that way! If my strong stouts end up below 1.016 I wonder what went wrong!!

Cheers,
TL

 

[buttersd70]

One last thing. I'm going to bulk prime the 18 litres (my first time), and I used a priming calculator based on the volume and a desired volume of CO2 being about 2.5 (I think this is about right for Asahi style?). My bottles will store in an outside shed so I figure they will average 20 degrees for the next few months. Based on all this I calculated that the amount of dextrose to use for a bulk prime is 119g, does this sound about right to you all?

I don't know if 2.5vol is right for the style, I'm not familiar with it, but assuming it is, I make it 103g, using http://www.geocities.com/lesjudith/Alcohol...Calculator.html

I used 18L, dex, 2.5vol and 13C as the variables.
With these calculators, the temp it asks for is the max it reached during fermentation, not the temp the bottles will be at (because the temp is used to calculate residual co2 prior to bottling - i presume from the numbers that you used the 20C the bottles will be at, cos that gives 119 if you do.). I usually discard the first day temp if pitching warmer than what I will ferment (as I presume you did as well).

 

[brettule]

With these calculators, the temp it asks for is the max it reached during fermentation, not the temp the bottles will be at

Ahhh thanks! Yes I used that calculator and didn't know if it was based on fermentation temp or predicted bottle storage temp. Thanks for that.

2.5 CO2 was based on an average value from the reccomendations on that site. I figured there was about as much carbonation in an Asahi as there is in a Pilsner. 2.5 just seemed about average.