Fermenting Seems To Be Taking A Bit Long

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Hi. I am a newbie and would really appreciate some advice. I have got a beer fermenting at the moment - it is up to Day 14.

The recipe was a Blackrock Pilsner Blonde, 150g malt extract, a brewblend and saflager s-23 (Only my second beer and trying to keep it simple).

The commencing SG was 1034. At Day 14 SG is 1018. Fermenter temp has been consistently around 11 to 12 degrees but with the cold weather at night (Melbourne) has dropped to 9 degrees.

I thought the SG should be a bit lower by now. Should I be concerned? Bubbling of the airlock is now out to 90 secs. At Day 6 the bubbling was occurring about every 11 secs.

When I take the hydrometer reading the taste and smell has been to my satisfaction.

Do I just need to be patient and wait longer for the SG readings to level out? If it takes 20 days will that be a problem?

If you could help, I would be very grateful.

Piff

 

[Scruffy]

What final gravity were you expecting?

There may be a few unfermentable sugars in the brewblend, so 1018 might not be far off... What's in the brewblend?

How much water did you start with?

 

[tdh]

1.034 sounds mighty low.
Wasit filled to 23 litres?
Maybe not well mixed and you have a false reading.
Maybe a quarter of the OG might be closer to the mark, my guess = 1.010-1.012

tdh

 

[Bribie G]

Being in SEQ and only having a dead fridge to ferment in (frozen PET bottles) It's only now that I've got to do a true lager, and I've been trying to keep it at about 11 degrees. However we've had a typical Bris cold snap with temperatures down to 8 at night and for a few days the brew has been below 10, like yours. It's now day 19 and still a bit of frothing on the top (I haven't done a hydro reading as I'm just letting it take its course) and I'm not too worried. I realise you are keen to get the stuff in the glass, of course, but a few more days won't hurt at all.

Also you might want to raise it to about 15 for a few days to do a thing called a 'diacetyl rest'. Shouldn't be strictly necessary with a kit brew but it's maybe a good habit to get into if you go into partial or all grain brewing later on. As well as cleaning up any diacetyl (butterscotch flavour sometimes but not always produced by the yeast) the slightly higher temperature will give the yeast a boost to fully attenuating the primary fermentation.

Are you planning to lager the beer for a while in cold conditioning?

 

[[email protected]]

1.034 sounds mighty low.
Wasit filled to 23 litres?
Maybe not well mixed and you have a false reading.
Maybe a quarter of the OG might be closer to the mark, my guess = 1.010-1.012

tdh

The recipe suggested 21 Litres. In an effort to get the temperature down I was using cold water from the fridge towrds the end and was probably closer to 21.5L.

 

[[email protected]]

What final gravity were you expecting?

There may be a few unfermentable sugars in the brewblend, so 1018 might not be far off... What's in the brewblend?

How much water did you start with?

I started with 21.5L. The only description I have of the brewblend is 1kg lager enhancer: A lightly malted blend of brewing sugars???

I was expecting a final gravity of 1010 or lower....

 

[loikar]

I started with 21.5L. The only description I have of the brewblend is 1kg lager enhancer: A lightly malted blend of brewing sugars???

I was expecting a final gravity of 1010 or lower....

Are you sure it was saflager and not safale?

1008 to 1010 would be what I would expect from this brew.
Couple of things, does it have Krausen (foam) on top?
Are your readings still dropping?

Leaving it in the fermenter for another week will not hurt it in any way, you could probably leave it another 2 weeks and still have no need to worry as long as the readings are dropping.
Give the fermenter a gentle swirl like you would do with a good wine in a glass, but try not to splash.
bring the temp up to 14-15deg and see if it kicks off again, or rack it to a secondary fermenter and warm it.
if it still tastes and smells good, your on the right path.

The best advice I can give you is something Buttersd70 taught me...Don't worry so much, it's not f*cking rocket science.

HTH

BeerFingers

 

[manticle]

If you have used a lager yeast it sounds like you've done it right. I don't see the problem with taking more time - lager fermetns are slower and longer than ales. Just check the hydrometer every so often - as long as it's not stuck you should be fine. Patience can often make better beer.

1034 does sound really low. Are you certain you're reading the hydrometer correctly?

 

[[email protected]]

If you have used a lager yeast it sounds like you've done it right. I don't see the problem with taking more time - lager fermetns are slower and longer than ales. Just check the hydrometer every so often - as long as it's not stuck you should be fine. Patience can often make better beer.

1034 does sound really low. Are you certain you're reading the hydrometer correctly?

Hey thanks. I am pretty sure it was 1034. I can't think why it would be so low. But I will exercise some patience and keep an eye on the hydrometer readings.

 

[[email protected]]

Are you sure it was saflager and not safale?

1008 to 1010 would be what I would expect from this brew.
Couple of things, does it have Krausen (foam) on top?
Are your readings still dropping?


BeerFingers

Thanks Beer fingers. Yep definitely saflager s-23. It foamed up a bit because there is a definite ring around the fermenter. The readings are still dropping so I will be patient. It still smells and tastes good. I will keep you posted.

 

[krusty_oz]

My last few brews have taken up to 3 weeks to finish so no need to worry. My fermenters seal up well so I don't even bother checking the SG until the airlock levels out (still do the odd taste test for QC purposes )

 

[loikar]

Thanks Beer fingers. Yep definitely saflager s-23. It foamed up a bit because there is a definite ring around the fermenter. The readings are still dropping so I will be patient. It still smells and tastes good. I will keep you posted.

Yep, it's all good then

Relax and have a Home Brew :icon_cheers: