Is my extract brew done?

[rheffera]

G'day. I just got into extract brewing and im done brewing for the year (5 brews so thatll keep me going so far), however i have a small issue with a stout i made from my leftover ingredients..im not too sure if its done. I think it is but i need a second opinion. Here are the ingredients:

280g EACH of the following:
Chocolate Malt
Black Patent
Roasted barley
Baird medium Crystal

1.7 KG LDME - Light
400g dark brown sugar
400g dextrose
40g northdown @ 60
20g northdown @ 20
20g northdown @ 1

23litre batch
Expected ABV = 5.5 (In bottle)

Wyeast 1084.

It has been brewing for only 3 days and appears to be done! (no more airlock activity)
THe issue is my hydrometer readings are semi-unreliable as i got accidentley got some grain fragments into the wort while making this, and my O.G was reading as 1.070!!! Should be 1.048-ish with those ingredients. I just measured the gravity and got a reading of 1.028 (and a small layer of grain remains) at the bottom of the test jar.

This has dropped 40 gravity points, so im guessing that it is done given he fermentables above. The hydrometer sample smells bloody awesome and i have it in the fridge to get cold and drink.

I'm thinking this is done. Second opinion anyone? I have a spare pack of finings...would this help to clean up some of the grain flakes that got into the brew?

On the other hand its only been three days...very fast 40 point drop...

 

[Scottye]

Mate a small layer of grain that has settled to the bottom of your sample tube won't affect your SG reading. It will only be an issue while it is in suspension. I don't use finings but I find that two weeks in the FV sees most of the foreign bodies settling into the trub.

 

[rheffera]

Good to know how grain bits affect hydro readings. Apologies for the noobness. I would say given my readings both times grain was in suspension still.

EDIT: Hydrometer sample tastes like future drunkeness :chug:

 

[MastersBrewery]

be patient, let it sit a week or two, then check it, give the yeast time to do a bit of cleaning up before doing any thing else. If it has dropped to terminal gravity, sitting the extra time won't harm it bit. You don't want to end up with bottle bombs or a beer that has off flavours that could simply be avoided by waiting a bit .
my2c

 

[rheffera]

be patient, let it sit a week or two, then check it, give the yeast time to do a bit of cleaning up before doing any thing else. If it has dropped to terminal gravity, sitting the extra time won't harm it bit. You don't want to end up with bottle bombs or a beer that has off flavours that could simply be avoided by waiting a bit .
my2c

I wasn't actively planning to bottle it, was just curious if it was actually done that fast. But yup ill wait a couple weeks and check it again. Meanwhile ill bottle another stout that has been sitting in primary for two weeks & that i know has hit terminal.

 

[rheffera]

Well a week later and its sitting on 1.020. It should be 10 points lower than this. Im going to pitch some more yeast as rousing failed.

 

[Droopy Brew]

The best ingredient you can put into a stout is time.
It is possible your yeasties were turbo charged and did the job in a few days but another week on the yeast cake will make it a much better beer and a further week cold crashing will improve it further.

I have the impatience problem too which I am slowly overcoming but I find if I give the fermenter 2 weeks with a couple of days cc my beers are much better than when I rip them out as soon as I hit FG. Empty kegs in the fridge are the root cause.

 

[pcmfisher]

Grain or anything for that matter that is in suspension will not affect SG readings, unless the particles are big enough to physically stop the hydrometer floating properly.
Its only sugars etc that are dissolved in solution that do.

 

[rheffera]

The best ingredient you can put into a stout is time.
It is possible your yeasties were turbo charged and did the job in a few days but another week on the yeast cake will make it a much better beer and a further week cold crashing will improve it further.

I have the impatience problem too which I am slowly overcoming but I find if I give the fermenter 2 weeks with a couple of days cc my beers are much better than when I rip them out as soon as I hit FG. Empty kegs in the fridge are the root cause.

Agreed. I am getting it into the habit of leaving it for two weeks. FYI this stout is now 12 days in primary..its not merely 5 days old . there hasnt been any airlock activity since the first 3 days after pitching & the gravity has remained the same. However my predicted terminal according to Ians spreadsheet AND beersmith is 1.009 which makes me think it has stalled. Do you think i should pitch more yeast?

In other news i have a honey ale that is over two weeks old in primary and is ready for bottling tommorow.

Grain or anything for that matter that is in suspension will not affect SG readings, unless the particles are big enough to physically stop the hydrometer floating properly.
Its only sugars etc that are dissolved in solution that do.ract brewer

Good to know. Thanks from a relatively new extract brewer