Have I Finished Fermenting

[kuba]

Hi, iv currently got a James squire amber ale in the fermenter (Muntons Premium blonde, 1.5kg black rock liquid amber ale, US-56, cluster hops and 220g dextrose (21L)).

Just a couple questions it seems to have stopped at 1020, is this still too high? the instructions say it should be 1010-1012 and dextrose will make it finish with a higher reading.
Its been brewing at 16-20C and i stirred it the other day.
The kit was also 1yr and 4moths old if that affects it (new yeast and hops tho)

Any thoughts

Cheers

 

[MarkMc]

Hi, iv currently got a James squire amber ale in the fermenter (Muntons Premium blonde, 1.5kg black rock liquid amber ale, US-56, cluster hops and 220g dextrose (21L)).

Just a couple questions it seems to have stopped at 1020, is this still too high? the instructions say it should be 1010-1012 and dextrose will make it finish with a higher reading.
Its been brewing at 16-20C and i stirred the shit out of it the other day.
The kit was also 1yr and 4moths old if that affects it (new yeast and hops tho)

Any thoughts

Cheers

Hi

One of my first kits 'stalled' I swirled the fermentor 3 times a day for a few days, and found it had dropped further. Not sure about 'stirring the shit out of it' but try a regular swirl.

I though Dex was pretty good at fermenting out so shouldn't make it much higher but someone else will confirm.

 

[Dazza_devil]

The dex will make the alcohol % higher but should actually make your FG reading lower.
I personally wouldn't stir the shit out of it unless I was trying to aerate my brew.
The age of the kit may diminish the fermentability but I would say your FG should still be lower.
Your temperatures need to be more constant for reliable results, perhaps look into setting up a temperature controlled enclosure. Sixteen degrees may be a little low for that yeast.

How long has it been fermenting?
Bottling at this stage could prove to be an explosive experience.

 

[kuba]

stirring the shit out of it may be a bit of an exaggeration, but i stirred it quite well and scraped the bottom to kick up the sediment.

Ive had it fermenting since the 4th but when i pitched it, i put it in my fermenting fridge, BUT turned it on and FORGOT to turn it off so the next morning it was nice and too cold (im using the fridge as an insulator and using frozen PET bottles, just figured id cool the fridge a little 1st).
Took me several days to warm it up to 16 where it was maintained for about 7 days (gave it a stir once it warmed up which dropped the gravity), then the past 5days Ive had it at 20C to try and finish the bloody thing (stirred twice in the 5 days resulting in 10 points dropping) but has maintained 1020 the past two days.

id feel safe to bottle at 1015, but if it doesnt change after several days i might bottle it and wrap them in glad.

 

[Dazza_devil]

Have you tasted it?
How much activity did you notice while it was at 16 degrees C?
I have a heat pad sitting in the bottom of my fermentation fridge and it's all wired up to a Tempmate which I would strongly recommend.
With that amount of lag time I'd be worried about infection.
Perhaps PET bottles might be a safer bet for bottling at this stage.
What are your carbonation methods?

 

[kuba]

Firstly ive only ever previously done just kits + white sugar and this is the 1st time with hops, malt or even dextrose.
Yeah tasted it, tastes bloody great could drink it as is.

Strange thing is im used to seeing the airlock bubbling, whereas with this batch ive never seen it do a bloody thing.

Infection im not too worried about as its hardly had much exposure to air and looks normal with the ugly looking stuff across the top of it (my 1st homebrew i did when i was 16 i left the lid off for 3hours with the aircon blowing on it to cool it down and it didn't get infected so id be annoyed if this got infected).

Im gonna bulk prime which will also be my 1sttime and im gonna crash chill (1st time too) it first for 2 days.


Slighty off topic now
For crash chilling i just flick the fridge on and let it run for 2-3 days then then dissovle some dex in water and add it gently to the fermenter, give a light swirl leave it for 20mins and then bottle. Is that right?

 

[Dazza_devil]

If you cooled your wort in the fridge it would of sucked air in through the airlock.
If it tastes nice it's not infected.
Airlock bubbling isn't a good indicator of fermentation. Perhaps your lid wasn't sealed thoroughly. Did you get much krausen and what was your theory behind fermenting it @ 16 degrees?

Crash chilling works a treat for getting clearer beer.

I bulk prime and wouldn't have it any other way. If your brew has finished high then I would recommend priming at a lower rate and waiting maybe 4 weeks for carbonation, sampling along the way to monitor carbonation levels.

Edited to saty that I started out with Muntons kits and found that they have a habit of finishing high. I bottled a stout @ 1.023 and was told to wrap them up and treat like timebombs. I tried a stubby of it last week that was 10 months old, it was perfectly carbonated but I bulk primed with 56g dextrose for 16 litres.

 

[Dazza_devil]

Slighty off topic now
For crash chilling i just flick the fridge on and let it run for 2-3 days then then dissovle some dex in water and add it gently to the fermenter, give a light swirl leave it for 20mins and then bottle. Is that right?

There are many threads on bulk priming and differing methods. Your method is different to mine but should work OK I reckon, although racking may leave a clearer beer.

 

[kuba]

cheers hopefully the brew will drop some opints in the next couple days

 

[kuba]

"Did you get much krausen and what was your theory behind fermenting it @ 16 degrees? "

I do have a substantial layer of krausen, and the theory for 16C was because it says for 15-22C and im using frozen pet bottles and figured if i aim for 16 its gonna usually end up higher.

Im thinking ill just crash chill it in a day or two and bottle it using slightly less priming sugar, and put the bottles somewhere were they cant make a mess.

I have some Nottingham yeast in the fridge, is there any wrong doing in taking some of that (say 1g?) mixing it with some amount of dextrose in water and adding that to the fermenter?? Or is it not a good idea to mix yeasts?

 

[Dazza_devil]

"Did you get much krausen and what was your theory behind fermenting it @ 16 degrees? "

I do have a substantial layer of krausen, and the theory for 16C was because it says for 15-22C and im using frozen pet bottles and figured if i aim for 16 its gonna usually end up higher.

Im thinking ill just crash chill it in a day or two and bottle it using slightly less priming sugar, and put the bottles somewhere were they cant make a mess.

I have some Nottingham yeast in the fridge, is there any wrong doing in taking some of that (say 1g?) mixing it with some amount of dextrose in water and adding that to the fermenter?? Or is it not a good idea to mix yeasts?

My sources recommend 17 - 24 degrees for US05 which is the same as US56 but regardless that temp is on the lower side of things and will cause a slower fermentation. If you are using the thermometer stuck to the side of your fermenter then it could be reading +or- 1 or 2 degrees difference to your actual wort temp which could put your yeast to sleep. For your purposes I would aim about 18-19 degrees.
I don't see any reason for adding another yeast but I know people do it. Personally I think your yeast is probably healthy, it just didn't get off to a good start and probably was down in cell count intially. Rousing it and raising the temp should of got it going, it's hard to say.

From what I've read if you do start a yeast it's better to do it with LDME and 1g wouldn't be a lot to start it with, you would have to step it up. Once yeast in the packet is exposed to air it should be pitched.

Be careful bottling high FG beers, they can explode in your face.