Fermentation Complete?

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eddy401

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Hi,

I set everything up to bottle my beer today, its a wheat beer - 1 tin of morgans golden sheaf wheat beer (think its 1.7kg) + 1 can of morgans master malt extract (wheat)(1.5kg, Kit yeast and nothing else. OG was 1036, i initially kept it at 18degrees C but fermentation didnt seem to start at this temperature so i raised it to 21-22degrees C at around day 3, fermentation then started and the airlock has been inactive for some time now. it is now day 13, (so at least 9-10 days to ferment once it had started) and the gravity reading is 1021. it appears complete in colour, bubbles, smell and from what i can tell taste (i havnt done a wheat beer before) but shouldnt it have fermented a bit further than 1021?

do you think it is complete and safe to bottle without blowing up my cupboard?

thanks :icon_cheers:
 
No I don't. I think it should drop lower than 1021 esp from 1036. Give it a gentle swirl and keep the heat around 20-21.

Also calibrate your hydrometer (should read close to 1000 in tap water between 15 and 20 degrees).
 
Agreed with Manticle on this one. There's something that isn't quite adding up.
I'm calculating (assuming 23L brew) that the OG should have been close to ~1043 and it should drop to ~1011.

Check the calibration of the hydrometer in water.
Make sure your getting accurate readings when taking them. I find the CO2 in the beer makes it hard to get a good reading straight away. I usually leave it in the sampling tube for 10 mins and re-check the reading to ensure it's accurate.

Give the brew a good swirl to help things along.
 
Hey im real new at this to but it sounds sus and fg should be lower than this every one of my brews has been lower than this, I would heed advice from the more experianced in here they have helped me heaps.... good luck let us know how it goes...
 
thanks guys, my hydrometer shows nearly 1000 in water at about 18degrees so its right, i think i had a lower OG because the goo wasnt all dissolved (i used liquid malt extract rather than dry malt extract for the first time, next time ill add more hot water first) so not the best of starts to the beer - maybe that contributed to the late start in fermentation :huh:
i gave it a good swirl and put it upstairs with a towel around it to try and get it a bit warmer hopefully that does the trick, ill post in a few days.

:icon_offtopic: i just bought my first order of different hops and yeasts to try and broaden my horizon so to speak, i just wanna bottle this wheat beer so i can get started on the next one!
 
After swirling it, warming it up further and still having no sucess i have added more yeast - just the pack that came with a tin of 'coles farmland lager'...i know i know this wont do any favours to my beer, but i figured if this is a lager yeast it will ferment at cooler temperatures to the ale yeast (?) andif i can keep it a bit warmer itll make some fruity flavours.....its a complete shot in the dark considering i have no idea what the yeast is, but at this stage i just wanna get it done and ready to drink!

so, a couple of days after i pitched this new yeast it finally seems to have started to move, at nearly 1019 now so worst comes to worst itll be alcohollic. drink a few from a better batch first and i might even think it tastes good! ;)

thanks for all the help :icon_cheers:
 
The yeast from the coles tin will be an ale yeast as very few kits come with one. I'd just be keeping it warm and letting it drop. The original yeast just might have not been up to the job. It will still be beer so it will be enjoyed :)
 
The yeast that came with the farmland lager is most likely an ale yeast. I wouldn't let it get too cold.

Edit - beaten
 
Hi,

I set everything up to bottle my beer today, its a wheat beer...

Twardo:

I'm in a similar boat to you: last Sunday the GF + I brewed something similar: a Morgan's Golden Sheaf with Morgan's Wheat Master Malt Extract. (Differences being I steeped 150G of wheat, used Hersbrucker hops + Safbrew WB-06 Wheat Beer yeast.) OG was 1042. Friday (6 Aug) I took a grav reading and it returned only about 1031. Now where I live it's been a little on the cooler side, so I figured I'd point a heater in the room to up the temp from about 14C to 21C. It's now day 8 and with the airlock's still bubbling I was a little worried. (Whilst we're still new to brewing, this is our first wheat beer and most ambitious yet - we've brewed a few other kinds of kits and they all were ready for bottling before day 6. But hearing that yours is on day 13 and still not ready, perhaps I shouldn't be too worried...?)
 
yeah i think patience is key, nothing wrong with leaving it there for longer and if its still going then i dont think its a problem. mine did go, and then stopped before it was done for some reason, the lager (well probably ale) yeast seems to have kick started it a bit but so far only a small change in gravity, this one was to date my most expensive and 'adventurous' one too (not exactly adventurous, but a start! :p ) so id really like it to work!

Twardo:

I'm in a similar boat to you: last Sunday the GF + I brewed something similar: a Morgan's Golden Sheaf with Morgan's Wheat Master Malt Extract. (Differences being I steeped 150G of wheat, used Hersbrucker hops + Safbrew WB-06 Wheat Beer yeast.) OG was 1042. Friday (6 Aug) I took a grav reading and it returned only about 1031. Now where I live it's been a little on the cooler side, so I figured I'd point a heater in the room to up the temp from about 14C to 21C. It's now day 8 and with the airlock's still bubbling I was a little worried. (Whilst we're still new to brewing, this is our first wheat beer and most ambitious yet - we've brewed a few other kinds of kits and they all were ready for bottling before day 6. But hearing that yours is on day 13 and still not ready, perhaps I shouldn't be too worried...?)
 

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