X-tract Pale Sg 1020 After A Week

[jamesc]

I recently brewed a X-TRACT Pale (mon 13th feb) and have taken gavity reading over the past 2 days there has been no movement from 1020
The yeast seemed active on the 1st day but nothing after that really, it grew a large greenish head, the samples are comming out cloudy and yellow with little lumps of yeast or something in it.
the temp the beer has been at is around 24 for the past week

Has something gone wrong here ?
Bad yeast ?

This was also the first time i tried using the tcb liquid sanitiser i washed all my grear carefully with hot water then let it drain, then with a misting spray bottle sprayed it all with the sanitiser soultion, bench top etc aswell. Then turned the fermenter upsidedown to drain.
Did i make a mistake here, has the sanitiser killed the yeast ?

Any ideas or help, im only new to this brewing game.

 

[Stuster]

Don't worry, james, it sounds like you haven't killed the yeast.

Since the gravity has come down, and there was krausen (the large greenish head), then the yeast must have had a bit of a feed at least.

Sounds like a stuck ferment though. They are really hard to get moving again sometimes. You can try rolling the fermenter gently on its base so that you swirl some of the yeast back into suspension. Maybe just try that first, give it a couple of days and see what happens.

Even if there is no further drop in gravity, it will still be drinkable. :chug:

BTW, what yeast did you use and what was the OG?

 

[Keith the Beer Guy]

I recently brewed a X-TRACT Pale (mon 13th feb) and have taken gavity reading over the past 2 days there has been no movement from 1020
The yeast seemed active on the 1st day but nothing after that really, it grew a large greenish head, the samples are comming out cloudy and yellow with little lumps of yeast or something in it.
the temp the beer has been at is around 24 for the past week

Has something gone wrong here ?
Bad yeast ?

This was also the first time i tried using the tcb liquid sanitiser i washed all my grear carefully with hot water then let it drain, then with a misting spray bottle sprayed it all with the sanitiser soultion, bench top etc aswell. Then turned the fermenter upsidedown to drain.
Did i make a mistake here, has the sanitiser killed the yeast ?

Any ideas or help, im only new to this brewing game.

[post="109984"][/post]​

Jamesc,

I'm not familiar with the brand of the kit you have used, but thought I'd just run through the basics as there are no replies yet and I happen to be here.

1020 sounds high for the FG of most kits.

Check your hydrometer - measure the gravity of tap water - it should be pretty close to 1.000.

If your hydrometer is reading correctly - has the temperature of the brew gone up and down. If the temperature drops 10 degree overnight that can cause the yeast to give up fermenting in the short term. (I know this temp drop isn't likely this time of year but ... you know - you gotta ask questions.)

The yeast should have been and probably still is active. Dont trust your airlock! Was the beer churning, was the foamy head still present for several (2-3-4 odd days). The airlock not bubbling is not the end of the world, it just means your air-lock is not bubbling.

The foam that forms on the top of a fermenting beer can be many colours - white, brown and sometimes greenish ( especially if your kit has a bucket load of hops ).

Beers sampled during fermentation are often cloudy and will also have yeast in them if you have opened the tap to run a sample out. This is quite normal.

Again, I dont know the brand of your sanitiser, but as long as you followed the instructions - including using it at the recommended concentrations - the sanitation should be fine. All the liquid sanitisers I've heard of are quite good.

More advice. Smell your beer. Taste your beer. Does it smell like beer? Malt and or hops. Does it have any off flavours when you taste it. If it doesn't have off-flavours - like burnt rubber, soapiness or sourness then more than likely things are OK. I have never had a beer that smelt good disappoint me.

Be patient.

Yet more advice. Take a sample - throw some in a small plastic coke bottle - to your local brew shop or someone else who you know makes good beer, ask them what they think.

Good luck!

Keith

 

[mika]

Join the club jamesc, there's another two posts already on the forum about stuck brews, seems to be the trendy lately, strangely at the same number 1020. Biggest drama is even all the brewheads at AHB can't come up with a reason. I've kegged mine, but it's not real flash to drink. I'm going to leave it for a week and see what happens, other wise I'll pour the lot
Try pitching another batch of yeast, it won't hurt it and might get it moving again. otherwise under prime, bottle it and see what happens, keep us informed.

 

[Screwtop]

Lot of this reported lately, wonder if it could be result of last barley harvest protien levels, maltsters, or reduction process by extract manufacturers. Or even the types of yeast and practices used by us brewers (propagation or single use, dried or liquid). Maybe a survey thread required. We could try to identify Extract Brand and Yeast Types/Brands.

For me Extract - Coopers, Yeasts - splits of Wyeast 1098 and Saf dried.

 

[wiggins]

There is an interesting article in John Palmers how to brew thar could explain the reason for a stuck fermentation.He goes on to explain that there is a chemical complex called FAN,which yeast use to metabolise food.Apparently a lot of kits and some extracts are adulterated with cane sugar which contains no FAN or anything else for that matter.All malt brews or grain brews usually contain enough of this stuff to fully complete fermentation,but the kits are sometimes deficient due to sugar substitution or the process of concentrating the malt .Could well be worth reading this book,i've found answers to a lot of questions from reading it.

 

[agro]

The FAN theory is interesting...

I had the same problem recently - wierd how many people have. In this case it was an APA all extract brew using a mix of DME and LME as a late addition, bitterred with Cascade and Amarillo (60 minute boil). I used Safale S-04 as the yeast starter I prepared didn't smell too good. I always keep an S-04 or two handy for just such a yeast emergency.

starting gravity of 1.054 so I was expecting to complete ferment at around 1.014.

to restart the ferment I tried:

1. Swirling the fermenter.
2. Increasing the temp to 22 (from 18).
3. Adding more yeast.

No go on restarting the ferment. Racked and dry hopped in secondary after 10 days in primary, bottled after 7 days in secondary with no movement in the SG.

Fortunately I had overhopped this one in the name of experimentation. Tastes great (samples) so I think it will turn out in spite of the elevated FG. The only worry will be if the ferment kicks off again as it may get explosive.

I have no idea why this one stalled when it started so well. I would be surprised if there was cane sugar in the LME, but anything is possible.

Got me.

Agro.

 

[wiggins]

If you do asearch for John Palmer on the top right of this page,you will find the link for the full book.Cheers.

 

[jamesc]

Ok thanks for the input guys, i gave the fermenter a lil swirl yesterday before work and checked it again tonight, the sg have dropped to 1018
Tonight i added some finnings and half a cup of sugar disolved in some boiling water and mixed it in, seems the yeast has fired up again so we'll see how we go.

when i purchased the kit i was told the kit didnt need sugar, maybee it did ....?
Its one of the 3kg paint tins from the country brewer

 

[Screwtop]

Shit! anyone want to answer?

 

[mika]

I ended up kegging mine, and it tastes like cr@p !!!
It's got till the end of the week, otherwise I'm giving up on it and starting again.

BTW My extract brew had sugar(dextrose) in it, mixed with Malt and maybe some corn syrup.