Fg 1024

[mick8882003]

My FG has been sitting on 1024 for the last few days. I am curious as to why this would be. My wort had a OG of 1050. Now I am assuming that the OG is made up of sugars - that is correct isnt it? (this is my first all grain) So why does it look like I have terrible attenuation?
It went mental for the first day and has stood still now for a few days, was put down sun night.

So tell me is this a yeast or a wort (mashing) problem, to be honest I'm confused, I thought I had excellent efficency.

 

[buttersd70]

What temp did you mash at, what temp did you pitch at and ferment at, what yeast did you use, was it new or repitched, was a starter used, and if so what size, what grains did you use? what type of thermometer did you use to measure mash temperature? Is it accurate? Has it been checked against another thermometer at all?

Efficiency an attenuation have no correlation. Efficiency is how well you extracted sugars from the grain in the mash, attenuation is how well the yeast consumes those sugars.

 

[gap]

Questions

What was the composition of your grain bill?
Mashed at what temperature and for how long?
What yeast was used?
Fermentation temperature?
Number of days of fermentation?

Regards

Graeme

 

[Ducatiboy stu]

Sometimes a gentle stir or rackimg into another vessel ( cube or fermenter ) can rause the yeast and kick it along...

Or just wait, sometimes the yeast will take a break then get back into it. As long as your santitation was good, you can keep it in the ferm for a good 2 weeks

 

[mick8882003]

What temp did you mash at, what temp did you pitch at and ferment at, what yeast did you use, was it new or repitched, was a starter used, and if so what size, what grains did you use?

Efficiency an attenuation have no correlation. Efficiency is how well you extracted sugars from the grain in the mash, attenuation is how well the yeast consumes those sugars.

I mashed in at 66 (well its started out at 74 but i dropped it within ten minutes, mucked up my calc's)
I pitched at 28, fresh Wyeast 1332 Northwest yeast.
No starter.

Grain bill:
Ale malt 3kg
crystal 10L .19
Munich .57
and .75 of DME

Edit: The thing that surprises me is its only been three days in the fermenter!

 

[buttersd70]

The higher initial temp may be a factor to some degree, but I don't think it would be enough to make it as high as it is. But it probably won't go as low as initially planned, either...

I would say to rack it, this usually kicks things off again. Make sure the fermentation isn't too cool....if you have some leeway with your temps, maybe raise it a degree or 2. Check the sg again 2 days later to confirm that it is dropping again. If it's not, give it a swirl daily to keep the yeast roused into suspension. If, after 3 or 4 days of this, it's still not dropping.....it would have to be considered to be pretty well done.

 

[mick8882003]

Just to clarify, so its a fermentation problem, not a mashing problem?

 

[Crusty]

Hi MickC,
I am no expert but I am leaning towards a fermentation problem. An initial OG of 1.050 seems spot on ( depending on what you are making ) & I assume you're target FG would be somewhere between 1.011 & 1.018, again depending on what you're making.
I personally wouldn't do anything until a full week in Primary, rack it to secondary & leave it for another week.
Re-check you're gravity reading before you rack to secondary & check again after the week in secondary.
Make sure when checking you're gravity that the temp of the wort is as close to 20 degc otherwise you need to adjust for temp difference. I believe the hydrometers are calibrated for 20 degc samples.
1.050 to 1.024 is only going to be 3.4%.
How many litres are in the fermenter?
Cheers,
Brian

 

[Insight]

Hi Mick, a quick check: are you using a refractometer? If so, are you adjusting the reading post-fermentation to account for the alcohol?

ie. A reading of 6.2 in unfermented wort is 1.024. A reading of 6.2 in fermenting wort with an OG of 1.050 equates to 1.009.

 

[mick8882003]

about 20L in the fermenter, that's if I can believe the markings, wait, yes that seems about right (marked my keg amount which is right around 19L)

I'm using a hydrometer, haven't coughed up for a refractometer just quite yet.

 

[3G]

The 10mins at 74 would have contributed to low attenuation.

 

[devo]

+1 Gregg J

I'd rack it to another fermenter to try wake things up a little.

 

[razE]

Im soon to do my first ag so my question goes out to the pr0's, would not having properly aerated the wort possibly cause this problem?

 

[mick8882003]

Im soon to do my first ag so my question goes out to the pr0's, would not having properly aerated the wort possibly cause this problem?

There was a little lag with the ferment starting, but it went great guns after that.
I'm still trying to work out the finer points of this myself.

 

[Ross]

Hi Mick,

It's only been fermenting a few days....relax, let it finish...If you are concerned, lift the temp up to 24c for a few days to help it finish. She should drop a few more points, but with the high initial start temp & a low attenuating yeast (67 - 71%), i reckon you'll be finishing on the high side.

cheers Ross