Is My Og Too Low?

[johnno]

Hi all,

I was making a beer last night, a Brewiser Australian ale (anyone tried this) with a kilo of dextrose. Anyways when it came time to add the water all my kids were running around and distracted me. When i checked I had topped up to 24.5 litres instead of 22.5. I was trying to propagate some coopers yeast from the bottle so by the time i added that i was at about 25.5 litres.
I took a hydro reading and it was at 1.034. Looks like I watered it down too much. I had some light dry malt lying around so i threw in another 250 grams and gave it a good stir. I took another reading and it was the same.
Took another reading this morning and its the same again.
Doesn't look like the yeast has taken off either. I will check again tonite and pitch some dry yeast if I have to.
Have I made my first light beer??
Will it go off?
Has this happened to anyone else before?

All comments welcome.

 

[Chatty]

You may have the problem that i think i've been getting at the moment. when i've finished adding all the ingredients to the brew i take my og reading and it sometimes comes out way below what i expected - i think the beer is stratified and the majority of the sugars are in a layer so that what you sample is really mostly water.

as for the brew - you will get a full strength beer but it will have next to no body because the bulk of your fermentables are dextrose. the beer will be pretty watery anyway. thats one of the first points made to me - avoid dextrose!

Chatty

 

[deebee]

Hmmm, probably be okay.

Should have boiled that dried extract. You get bugs in there. A good quick ferment might fix that.

Was the propagated yeast frothing when you pitched it or did you just tip in the bottom of a few stubbies? If the latter then you will be waiting a long time if it does take off. Might not be a bad idea to rehydrate a good dried yeast and chuck it in. Safale S04 is fast and vigorous - just what you need.

I have tried to grow yeast from coopers and, unlike most people, have had no success. Apparently it can be hit and miss.

 

[johnno]

Chatty,
Are you saying the beer will be watrery coz of the dextrose or because I added too much water. I have used coopers brewing sugar in the past and i didnt mind the taste of that. Made a real nice coopers real ale a couple of mths ago.
I've never used dextrose before so i was just curious about how a brew would come out tasting if i used that.

deebee,
Yes I should have boiled that malt but I was starting to panic. As for the yeast , I made a starter last Saturday and it was bubbling away quite nicely in a 2 litre lemonade bottle, but being the first time I have tried this I really dont know how it will turn out.

I'm just more concerned that the OG was too low and I will get a lighter strength beer.

Thanks

 

[Chatty]

It shouldn't be too bad, your final volume was 10 % above what it was meant to be so it shouldn't make much of a difference.

dextrose ferments out fully and adds little body to a beer, so it will be watery because it lacks the richness and body typical of a decent (read not the megaswill produced in Aus) beer. however, it will still be alcoholic and may be exactly what you are after! (i'm not trying to say that you like shite beer by the way, just that that is what most of us - me included - started on and thats what we are used to). Because it ferments out so completely you will get very little head retention.

I think the coopers/csr brewers sugar has corn syrup in it as well - that will improve head retention a bit i think. apparently dextrose brews are heaps sweeter than when using other sugars.

Chatty

 

[Trough Lolly]

Johnno,

Yes you have added a touch too much water, but I wouldn't get too worried about it - just put it down to experience. You will probably find that it will ferment out to a lower FG when it has finished it's run in primary fermentation. Without having my super wizzbang calculator handy, it will probably end up at around 1.008 or even lower. Er, that's assuming you get the yeast to get it's $hit in a pile and start fermenting! The Safale that deebee suggested is a good call to get it fired up.

If you want to get adventurous, you might consider racking the brew into a secondary fermenter for a few days, and add 500g of LME in a quick boil of 500ml water - maybe even do some dry hopping whilst you have the chance. It may improve the body of the brew - but avoid the temptation to chuck in a heap of malt or you'll be making a sweetened malty mess. :blink:

Alternatively, don't bother trying to steer back the SG of the brew, just bottle or keg it as a mid strength brew for summer

Cheers,

TL

 

[deebee]

Johnno,

Don't worry. Have a beer. Brew, taste, change practices as necessary. You're on a slippery slope from here on in...

First change should be to put on the Shrek DVD on brew day. When my kids are older I will teach them how to sterilise bottles. Until then, Shrek.

Second change might be don't use dextrose. Try a kit with 1.5kg of liquid malt extract with or without a handful of finishing hops. It's beautiful after just drinking kit and sugar brews.

Then make an all-extract brew without a kit, adding your own bittering hops at the beginning of the boil and some for flavour at the end. So much nicer than the bitterness from the kit.

Then try steeping some specialty grains, you'll never look back.

Then there's partial mashing. Your beer will love you for it and you'll love it back.

Then there's.. "Mummy what's happening to me?"

 

[johnno]

Thanks for all the advice everyone.
I suppose being new to this I just wanted to try dextrose to be able to compare the flavour later on. I will go on to use all malt in my brews but something inside me kept saying "try dextrose, try dextrose". :blink:
I do have a coopers dark ale that I bottled bout 10 days ago now that I used a Brewiser ultra brew pack with. That is at least 50% malt(cant remember what else was in it as I dont have my notes). Its coming along ok even though I thought I had somehow stuffed it up. (see my post on Sweet Beer).

Trough Lolly,
I might get adventurous. I wasnt even aware that it was even a possibility that you could add LME when you rack to the secondary. I havent racked to a secondary yet just bulk primed so I might just give it a go.

And yes deebee, that is a very good point about the shrek movie. It does keep em quiet.

Cheers to all

 

[Jeff]

Johnno,
Yep to all that you have been told , the Coopers yeast starter from the bottle will take a little longer to take off.
Even if your starter is going off I find it still takes 12 hours for the fermenter to be in full swing , not like package yeasts.
As far as your brew goes I bet I'll be fine , some are just better than others , when your ready I must recomend steeping some grains , easy to try a little first.
Cheers Batz
h34r: h34r: :chug:

 

[johnno]

Well,
I racked this to secondary last Saturday with a hydro reading of 1018. Checked last night and it was at 1014. This seems to be going much slower than all my previous k+k brews. Still tastes ok though. Not off or anything.
Maybe its got to do with the coopers yeast I so lovingly propagated B) .
Collected about 400 ml of yeast from the primary fermentation as well. Looks like there is a lot of yeast dropping to the bottom in the secondary ferment. Strange how the stuff just grows.
Anyone know if you can safley reuse this yeast in future brews.

Thanks

 

[PostModern]

Yes, you can safely reuse yeast harvested from primary. I hope you used a sterile scoop to transfer it into a sterilised container kept sealed and refrigerated? Bugs can live alongside yeast and as soon as you pitch they start eating the wort.

A friend sent me these links that might help:

Yeah yeast washing, is just for removing trub and hops between pitching

http://www.wyeastlab.com/hbrew/hbyewash.htm

Acid washing is not reccommended by white labs (but works):

http://www.whitelabs.com/acid_wash.html

 

[JWB]

Hey Johnno.

I think you will find that the Coopers yeast will be fine....what temp are you brewing at??.. In the past I have brewed at 24 deg C.. Comming from Adeliade the yeast strain Coopers use is formulated to work at higher temps,
The yeast I have propergated from a bottle of Coopers stout would, I believe ferment sump oil out if you tried it...
Dont worry about it being slow.......Slow is better sometimes...and not only in brewing either...

Cheers
:chug: JWB

 

[Trough Lolly]

Well,
I racked this to secondary last Saturday with a hydro reading of 1018. Checked last night and it was at 1014. This seems to be going much slower than all my previous k+k brews. Still tastes ok though. Not off or anything. <snip>

Johnno,

Your brew is fine - if your are lowering the SG, then things are ok. Sure, you might want to see the SG drop down sooner for an ale, but heck, these things take time, and I bet JWB is spot on, and you have the wort fermenting at about 18 or 19C??? :huh:

Usually, that yeast tends to enjoy life at 22C and sometimes even higher so it will be a bit slower at a lower temp. Regardless, as long as you have a reduction in gravity over a few days, it's in order.

You're doing fine - if you moved the wort into secondary last Saturday, give it at least a week and then check her again - say next Saturday.

If you get to the final gravity by then, or no change in the FG over 2-3 days, bulk prime and bottle it - job done.

Did you get game and toss in some boiled malt or steeped crystal into the secondary? Did you dry hop the secondary? If you did either, you may get some activation during what should typically be the attenuation phase. Hops tend to bring the secondary to life...

Cheers,

TL

 

[johnno]

PostModern,
With the yeast I collected I just poured it into a sterilised bottle via a sterilised funnel. Is this ok do u reckon?
Otherwise I would spew if i pitched to another brew and it contaminated it.

JWB,
Im brewing at betwen 18-22. Im using a belt but its out in the shed so its pretty cold at night still.

TroughLolly,
I didn't use any more malt but I did get some Brewiser Pride of ringwood hops and chucked em in after letting em sit in boiled water for 10 mins or so. Is this what you mean by dry hopping. I'm still trying to get my head around all the different procedures.

Thanks all

 

[johnno]

Well I finally tried a bottle of this last night and I have to admit it tastes pretty good to me.
Might be a bit sweet coz of the dextrose but it definately has that slight fruity sort of taste you get with Coopers Ale.
Anyways I'm quite happy with it. Next time I propagate the yeast from a Coopers I will use all malt and see how that goes.

Cheers

 

[Trough Lolly]

TroughLolly,
I didn't use any more malt but I did get some Brewiser Pride of ringwood hops and chucked em in after letting em sit in boiled water for 10 mins or so. Is this what you mean by dry hopping. I'm still trying to get my head around all the different procedures.

G'day Johnno,

For a good read on dry hopping, click here...

Cheers,

TL