FG Miles off - Coopers Abbey Blonde

[chromesphere]

Hey guys,
Brewing this: http://www.coopers.com.au/#/diy-beer/beer-recipes/ale/detail/abbey-blonde/

This is my third brew. Followed the recipe essentially to the letter. Had a boil over (lesson 1: don't use a 5 litre pot when it asks for 8 ) Lost some hops / wort in the process, but was only, maybe 500ml maximum. Apart from that followed the rest of the instructions. OG was 1.055
Says FG should be 1.010-1.014. I pitched at around 22 degrees. Fermentation went strong for about 2 days, seemed to start pretty quickly (within 12 hours) but stopped after ~ 2 days on 1.023. Its been another 3 days now, hasn't moved a peg from 1.023. I gave the brew a gentle swirl and put the temp up to 20, but made no difference.

Edit: a few more details. Fermented at 18 degrees. Taste so far is fine, pretty malty and a slight peppery note which to my relief is exactly how its supposed to taste. I don't taste anything sour.

Anyway suggestions / explainations / opinions welcome!

Cheers,
CS

 

[manticle]

http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/47445-ahb-articles-my-beer-is-1022-can-i-bottle-it/

 

[chromesphere]

Thanks Manticle. I realise that with DIY forums (im a member of DIY guitar pedal forums) similar questions get asked...all...the...time... Sorry if this was one of those questions. I will try a fast terment test. Cheers!

 

[manticle]

No need to apologise. It isn't always obvious if and where things rae stored (articles, etc) or what to search for.
Now that you know where the articles section is though, I highly recommend browsing through for good summaries on many other things. The section needs a clean but there is some great info within.

 

[chromesphere]

No worries Manticle, ill have a look through the articles cheers!

Also, think my brew must have heard me talking about it. I took a reading last night and im fairly certain its dropped by 1 or even 2 (1.021). So it might just not be finished I guess! Going to take on the advice I see so often with this one and leave it to settle for minimum 2 weeks before bottling, in the hope it will drop some more.

 

[manticle]

Bottling too early is always a bad idea. Yeast can stall so try the tricks mentioned in the article. You don't want exploding bottles.

 

[welly2]

Brewed the same beer and had similar fast fermentation at the start but it dropped to 1.013 and stayed there for a while. I seem to have done the same as you although my OG was a little lower at 1.051.

 

[chromesphere]

Just an update, tried the fast ferment test. Its been going for about 2 days now and ive been shaking the hell out of it. Tested it last night, gravity was 1.020!! I don't think its even dropped one point, maybe only half a point. I will leave it for another 2 days and see if it drops much more but looking like its finished...

Also, I had a second hydrometer from another coopers kit. Thought it would be worthwhile checking the accuracy of the hydrometer I was using. So checked them both versus tap water. The hydropmeter I've been using is 2 points higher then the new hydrometer. So...ASSUMING the new hydrometer is the accurate one...that's another 2 points off the reading. So we are looking, 1.018-1.019 now, although I haven't tested the brew for a few days so it could actually be slightly lower. I think I should get some distilled water and test them both because even the new hydrometer could be reading higher then is should!

So I think it is actually on track, although slightly on the high side. Im going to give it another full week to finish off anything it wants to finish.