Kit and Kilo Real Ale low in alcohol. Any ideas?

[He-brew]

Hey guys,

I put on a Coopers Real Ale last week and after getting my OG reading, and now my SG, it seems it's quite low in alcohol. See below for my process. It's only my second brew, a year after my first so maybe I'm a little rusty...

Coopers Real Ale
1kg flavour booster
Safale s-04 yeast
EK Goldings finishing hops

Steep EKG for 10mins
Mix with wort and added EK bag also
6L boiling water to Fermenter to mix
Top up to 23L with cold water

I checked the OG at around 27.5° = 1.0415 (with adjustment for temperature)
Then added yeast

Is the problem that my yeast was too active at that temperature?

Thank you in advance brew kings!

 

[Feldon]

What was your FG?

Also, try to keep the temp lower than the high 20s. Aim for 20C when you add the yeast. Fermentation produces its own heat so things will only get warmer.

eg. put beer bottles of water in the fridge (covered with aluminium foil or caps) the night before and use this chilled water to bring the wort down in temp. You can calculate how much chilled water you will need by using a calculater like this one: http://www.onlineconversion.com/mixing_water.htm . Note that 1 millilitre of water = 1 gram, so 1 litre of water = 1000 grams. You might be able to use less than 6 litres of boiling water to dissolve your ingredients so you can reduce the number of bottles of chilled water you will need to achieve 20c temp for pitching the yeast).

 

[He-brew]

Good tip Feldon!
I checked last night and the hydrometer sat at 1.19.
I'll check again tonight and see what it's doing. Is it possible is still fermenting?

We've had a heap of rain in Sydney so the temperature has been fairly low for a few days now. Probably around 19°C in my garage/brewery/man shed
I'll repost when I check later tonight

 

[Droopy Brew]

Yes mate at 1.019 you should expect it to drop at least another 5- 7 points, maybe more.
Your starting gravity looks about right for the amount of fermentables. Nothing wrong there, you just need more fermentation time. If the gravity doesnt move for a couple of days give it a swirl and try to liven up the wee beasties.

 

[He-brew]

Ok thanks Droopy Brew,
I just read an article about rousing the yeast and it suggested just that.
I'll keep the gods of AHB informed... I really need this to work or I'll be taking up crocheting

P.S. Here's the article in case it helps anyone.
http://beerandwinejournal.com/stuck-ferment-2/

 

[Droopy Brew]

I would resist sticking a spoon in the wort as the article suggested, it will increase your likelihood of infection by a fair bit. 1.019 after 7 days isnt terribly bad and a temp of 19C is about perfect.
If it hasn't dropped further then yes you probably have lazy yeast. I would pick up the fermenter and gently swirl to rouse the yeast. give it a day or 2 and if no change, pitch some more yeast. Grab a pack of US05 or Nottingham and that will chew through the rest easily.

 

[He-brew]

Ok Droopy Brew.
I'll do exactly that.
Let you know how it goes!

Thank you!

 

[He-brew]

I just checked my brew.
It's now sitting at about 1.018, so it's slowing going down! Unless it's just wishful thinking fooling my eyes.
It's currently at 20.5°C
I gave it a good swirl around anyway to try and rouse the yeast a little.
I'll check again tomorrow night and see what happens...

 

[michaeld16]

Many folks have this issue with so4 stopping to soon, if you started fermentation at a high temp and then dropped the temp it probably put it to sleep, a swirl and rise in temp should kick it off again, I think it may be a temperamental yeast.

 

[He-brew]

That's interesting. I'll keep that in mind for my next brew.
Would you have pitched a different yeast with the Real Ale kit?
Michaeld16, when you say a rise in temp, what sort of rise are we talking?

 

[He-brew]

Also, thanks for everyone's help. I promise to pay it forward when I'm an expert brewer

 

[jimmy_jangles]

i'd leave it another 2 or so days before i took another reading mate, give it time, i've had a few batches with that yeast take ages to get down to the final gravity, but i ferment at lower temps. Leaving it a bit longer gives the yeast a chance to go through and clean itself up too

cheers!

 

[He-brew]

Ok thanks. I'll try my best to ignore it for a couple of days...

 

[michaeld16]

That's interesting. I'll keep that in mind for my next brew.
Would you have pitched a different yeast with the Real Ale kit?
Michaeld16, when you say a rise in temp, what sort of rise are we talking?

I loved so4 for my English ales I think it is fine yeast to use despite what people say about it, I just think its a bit sensitive to the temp dropping. Just a degree or so rise is fine seeing you have it at 20.5c already that should be a good temp to leave it at after giving the fermenter a gentle swirl. Give it a few days and take another sample.

 

[Droopy Brew]

Nottingham would probably be my pick of a dry yeast for a real ale. It chews through the sugars pretty quickly, is robust and consistent. S04 can be a bit hit and miss IME.

 

[goatchop41]

He-Brew, if you can keep your fermenter at a decent temp consistently, a good habit to get into is to almost forget about it until about the 2 week mark. By that time, most beers should have finished fermenting, and the yeast will have had some extra time to clear up some byproducts of fermentation and/or off-flavours.
Plus, it means that you aren't checking it all of the time, so less stress (and less chance of infection, if you're opening the lid all of the time!).

It takes a few batches to get to the point where you can trust the yeast to just do their thing (you only really need to worry about the yeast with high OG beers/liquid yeasts), but you'll get there!

 

[He-brew]

Good to know. Thanks Droopy.

 

[wynnum1]

If you have a stainless stock pot mix the tin and the boiling water together in the pot and use a water bath to cool down and then pour into fermenter.

 

[burrster]

As has already been stated, SO4 is a hit and miss yeast, IMO. I personally have had a few stalled ferments at around 1.20, and that was in a temp controlled freezer(set at 18 initially then raised to 21 throughout the 2 week ferment). You'll have to wait it out with the swirl, or add another yeast like nottingham. I bottled one at 1.16 as it seemed stable, primed as per normal, and got over carbed beer, as the yeast finished fermenting the residual sugar as well as the priming sugar. I was lucky i had no bottle bombs.

You're most likely looking for a FG of close to 1.012, or lower. I would go with Nottingham or US05 on the next one as i find both of these consistent and reliable. Good Luck.

 

[indica86]

Safale s-04 yeast

Horrible stupid problematic waste of time yeast.