High Fg Or Yeast Stalled?

[mesuite77]

I recently returned to homebrewing and brewed my first extract + specialty grain brew. Used a cultured up Coopers Pale Ale yeast and all was going great. However the fermentation seems to have stopped at 1.014 which is a bit higher than I expected. It has been fermenting for 2 weeks at 20-22C. Fermentation temp is a bit higher than I would have liked but haven't yet set up my fermentation fridge. I expected the brew to finish around 1.010 based on the Kit & Extract spreadsheet available on this forum with a 75% attenuation. The recipe used is below.

Recipe:
2.0kg Light Dry Malt Extract
300g Caraamber
100g Carapils
500g Dextrose

36g Cascade 7.0% 60mins
6g Cascade 7.0% 10mins

OG: 1.045

The only thing that I can think may have caused this is the specialty grains steeping temperature. Being my first specialty grains attempt I did not control the steeping temperature overly well. I know there were periods where the temperature went both over and under the 60-70C recommended range. And I forgot to filter the hot break out of the boiled wort when I transferred to the fermentor. I can see quite a lot of break/trub in the bottom of the fermentor.

Does this FG seem high to anyone else? Could either of the problems noted above be the cause for a higher than expected FG or is there something else I should be looking for?

Any recommended ways to see if fermentation has actually finished and I should bottle? Have checked over 3 days and gravity has remained steady at 1.014.

Thanks heaps for any help

 

[Bubba]

I recently returned to homebrewing and brewed my first extract + specialty grain brew. Used a cultured up Coopers Pale Ale yeast and all was going great. However the fermentation seems to have stopped at 1.014 which is a bit higher than I expected. It has been fermenting for 2 weeks at 20-22C. Fermentation temp is a bit higher than I would have liked but haven't yet set up my fermentation fridge. I expected the brew to finish around 1.010 based on the Kit & Extract spreadsheet available on this forum with a 75% attenuation. The recipe used is below.

Recipe:
2.0kg Light Dry Malt Extract
300g Caraamber
100g Carapils
500g Dextrose

36g Cascade 7.0% 60mins
6g Cascade 7.0% 10mins

OG: 1.045

The only thing that I can think may have caused this is the specialty grains steeping temperature. Being my first specialty grains attempt I did not control the steeping temperature overly well. I know there were periods where the temperature went both over and under the 60-70C recommended range. And I forgot to filter the hot break out of the boiled wort when I transferred to the fermentor. I can see quite a lot of break/trub in the bottom of the fermentor.

Does this FG seem high to anyone else? Could either of the problems noted above be the cause for a higher than expected FG or is there something else I should be looking for?

Any recommended ways to see if fermentation has actually finished and I should bottle? Have checked over 3 days and gravity has remained steady at 1.014.

Thanks heaps for any help

Hi, does seem a bit high.
Based on your recipe I get SG around 1044 and FG 1010. There a few ways to see if it has actually stopped, swirling fermenter, taking a sample into a sterilised bottle and taking gravity readings after agitation etc, so search here and you will find heaps of stull.

1014 does seem a tad high.

 

[Bubba]

Oh yeah, also check your hydrometer calibration at 20 degrees to make sure it is reading 1000. If you have taken your readings at different temps it may also effect that so you will need to make adjustments if your hydrometer is out, or the temp is more or less than 20.

 

[pk.sax]

http://www.braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php?t...st_Ferment_Test
^ Details on Fast ferment test as mentioned above.

Your temperature is already up there, I guess if beer looks really clear from outside then give it a gentle swirl to knock some yeast back into suspension.

 

[Bubba]

Damn! keep thinking of other stuff...you mentioned a lot of trub...have you discarded the first pour from your tap before checking the specific gravity as it may contain a lot of yeast and hop? Toss the first pour, then test, check hydrometer and temp, make sure there are no bubbles holding the hydreometer in suspension (swirl it), and if all that fails there are ways to check if fermentation has stalled.

 

[mesuite77]

Thanks for all the ideas. Was mostly concerned that something I did with the steeping grains may have caused the high FG. I had discarded the first pour that had some floaties in it.

I did give the fermentor a swirl to get the yeast back in suspension and took a sample to do a ferment test with fresh yeast. The ferment test came back with 1.010 FG and just from the sirwl it has now pulled down to 1.010 FG and will be bottled tonight.

Big thanks for the info folks. Was mostly worried with this being my first brew back after a long time and being the first time I have done one that's not K&k I got stressed by it not doing what I expected.

Cheers! :beer:

 

[manticle]

1014 doesn't sound high to me at all for a mainly extract brew with added dextrins from the carapils. I certainly never got an extract brew down to 1010.

Steeping temperature won't affect your FG - there's bugger all fermentable sugar in those spec grains

Regardless though you should follow the steps for a fast ferment test which will give you a much better idea of expected FG than any of us.