help, brew started bubbling again

[ian4379]

i stuck a brew in 2 weeks ago now, first time in 2 or 3 years from a bag of leftovers in the cupboard

tin of tooheys new
lager yeast
hallertau hops
brew booster 15

the yeast was expired by 2 years but i threw it in anyway thinking if it didnt work i'd just go buy another one.

the brew didnt bubble in the airlock but i could see bubbles and movement on the top of brew. it brewed for 5 days start gravity 1054 final gravity 1022, was steady for 3 days.

i thought i'd let it sit a week. its in a brew fridge outside, i'm in southern victoria and its been cold here, down to 1 overnight, i had a look in a couple of times after it had finished brewing and temp was under 10 degrees in the fridge.

the problem started today, it actually got over 15 degrees outside, i had a look in the fridge and it was bubbling again! temp had gotten up to 12 degrees.

my thoughts are that the yeast has kicked off again? i was going to bottle on sunday but i'm guessing i have to let the yeast run its course again if its kicked off?

any ideas?

 

[bum]

Sounds like a good thing to me, mate. I'd be pretty surprised if 1022 was actual FG for that recipe. Let her go as she is a take another reading in a few days.

[EDIT: wait, OG seems overly high too. Have you checked your hydrometer reads 1000 in water? The hydrometer should (hopefully) say on it what temp the water needs to be for this reading.]

[EDIT OF THE EDIT: glad you could decipher that one, Ian.]

 

[ian4379]

thanks, alright i'll keep the temp up a bit until it stops again.

i just took a hydrometer reading of my water and it read 1004, there was nothing written on it in regards to what temp the water needs to be to get a 1000 reading

oh i just learnt that your meant to spin the hydrometer to get an accurate reading. i wasnt doing this.

 

[bushman ben]

To get 1.000 it will need to be in 20 degrees Celsius plain water (tap will be close enough), you'll need a digital thermometer to check the temp of the water.

edit: (addion) - As an aside, its been pretty dang cold down here, Im based in South-East Melbourne and its very cold, I've had my beers in a fermentation chamber with the brew-pad on to keep them at 18. With your larger yeast, I'd be careful letting it get much higher than 15 it could start to produce some pretty awful flavours.

Also, You're going to want to bottle condition that for a LONG time, its going to have an epic homebrew twang due to the age of the tin of tooheys.

 

[ian4379]

thanks for the info.

the temp doesnt really go over 15, i wack a hot water bottle in there around midnight, a few times the frosts have already been on the cars!

i'm not over excited about the recipe, spur of the moment brew on a rainy day when i couldnt work, i live 30 minutes from town so it was what was in the cupboard, and i dont even like tooheys, must have been on special when i got it . i was planning on leaving it for 2 months before drinking, hopefully thats long enough.

i've invested in a fridgemate, looking forward to the next brews now!

 

[Bats]

When the temp gets too low, yeast will slow down doing their thing but doesn't mean they have finished. Keep the temp consistent and within a healthy range for the yeast. It should get down to around 1.010 when finished but with the age of the yeast.. who knows.

 

[ian4379]

i had the temp consistent, 11 to 15 when it appeared to have stopped brewing. as in i couldnt see any activity going on inside the fermenter. it held its gravity for 3 days and thats why i thought it was finished. you live and learn!

 

[mattdean4130]

Hmm. 1054 does seem really high for a standard kit type brew. Are you sure it's at 23 litres?
I think my last IPA was only just around that mark and it was a 20l batch with a kilo of dry malt and half a kilo of dextrose!

My hydrometer reads 0.992 tap water @20˚C, so i know to always add .08 to my readings.


Good practise, at least has been working for me, is write down the temperature of each gravity sample you take.
When it comes time to calculate ABV, there's some really simple and effective temperature correctors online that do the math for you - and then you use the corrected figures for your gravity reading.

Also i think 11-15˚ is probably a bit low for a standard ale yeast. I wouldn't like mine to get under 18˚C.

A quick and easy way to get your temp up that i've been doing is sit your fermenter on a milk crate that has been turned on its side. Boil a saucepan of water on the stove, and place it underneath the fermenter, then wrap the whole thing in a blanket to keet the warmth in...

If you're concerned, you can always pitch some "in date" yeast and leave it a bit longer.

 

[mattdean4130]

thanks, alright i'll keep the temp up a bit until it stops again.

i just took a hydrometer reading of my water and it read 1004, there was nothing written on it in regards to what temp the water needs to be to get a 1000 reading

oh i just learnt that your meant to spin the hydrometer to get an accurate reading. i wasnt doing this.

Somebody will correct me if i'm wrong - but i think the spin is just to dislodge any bubbles from holding the hydrometer up.
Tap water isn't carbed, so you wouldn't need to do this i don't think.

 

[QldKev]

Somebody will correct me if i'm wrong - but i think the spin is just to dislodge any bubbles from holding the hydrometer up.
Tap water isn't carbed, so you wouldn't need to do this i don't think.

Tap water is full of oxygen, which also forms bubbles on the hydrometer, so still give it a spin.

 

[fletcher]

give it a spin and tap the sides of the hydrometer against your tube to dislodge any sneaky bubbles that may be underneath the hydrometer.

 

[ian4379]

thanks for all the replies. its till bubbling away tonight!,albeit super slowly. thats 17 days all up, considering i thought it was over day 5, didnt give it any heat again till day 13 thats ok i guess.

i also dropped 30gm cascade hops into it a week or so ago, smells great. planning on bottling sunday so hopefully its all done by then.

 

[ian4379]

thought i'd add for records sake that it sat at fg 1012 for 3 days. i'm not attempting my first cold crash with it till sunday.