Stout Fg

[iankaplan]

I brewed a batch of stout to 19 litres as follows:

-Bacchus & Barley Premium Stout
-1.0kg Coopers Brew Enhancer 2
-0.5kg dark malt
-Kit yeast

The airlock stopped bubbling after 5 days, and after 8 days I'm getting constant FG readings of 1022. Is this too high for bottling?

 

[Shed101]

I brewed a batch of stout to 19 litres as follows:

-Bacchus & Barley Premium Stout
-1.0kg Coopers Brew Enhancer 2
-0.5kg dark malt
-Kit yeast

The airlock stopped bubbling after 5 days, and after 8 days I'm getting constant FG readings of 1022. Is this too high for bottling?

I don't know the Stout or what the OG was, but It COULD be ok to bottle now, HOWEVER it does sound too high. It would be best to:

1. Be certain there's no gunk in your hydrometer sample - best to take a small bit, chuck it (or drink it) then take a full sample to measure.

2. Be patient. 8 days is not long. It will be fine in the fermenter for up to 3 weeks by most people's reckoning on here.

3. check your hydrometer is definitely reading correct (easiest thing is to check it's at 1.000 in water)

4. take a sample and put it in a sanitised bottle, cover it and shake the hell out of it whenever you remember, keep it between 20-25 C and check the gravity and see if it drops over the next few days. If it does, this is your control

5. tell us what temperature you brewed at and if this has changed. If the temperature has dropped the yeast may have had a little rest and a gentle swirl and slight warming may rouse it.

Either way it's generally worth leaving an ale for at least 14 days in the fermenter before bottling :icon_cheers:

 

[iankaplan]

Thanks for the advice. Points 1,2,3 all seem to be in order on this side. I fully agree; 8 days isn't long. I will try the control-bottle, and see what happens.

I didn't take an OG reading. The brew was in a reasonably constant 20-25 range. It's currently 21.

 

[iankaplan]

I have swirled gently and added a little bit of heat. 4 days later the hydrometer reads about 1030. Should / could it have gone up this much?

Any sage advice appreciated.

 

[Lecterfan]

I have swirled gently and added a little bit of heat. 4 days later the hydrometer reads about 1030. Should / could it have gone up this much?

Any sage advice appreciated.

This isn't sage (or parsley, thyme etc) but really the "fast ferment" test (step 4 of Shed's advice) is the best way I've found of seeing whether there's any life in the old girl yet....what was the result of that?

From what I understand about anaerobic/aerobic yeast activity etc it sounds to me like there just wasn't enough oxygen in the wort for the little suckers to breed up, so the existing number of yeast may well have done as much as they possibly can. I've never used the B+B stout but I've had plenty of kit stouts in the past finish at around 1.016 - 1.018, 1.022 might just need another week or two to clean itself up. 1.030 seems odd...but often samples from the tap may be a bit higher than what you are getting in the rest of the beer as they are more likely to be "denser" due to the amount of material that is in the bottom few inches of the fermenter. :blink:

 

[iankaplan]

Thanks.

BTW, the "fast ferment test" has shown constant readings of 1022 every day. I'm thinking I may have swirled the wort in the fermenter a bit more than "gently", thus need to wait another week or so to get an accurate picture of what's happening.