Help. FG 1030 should I bottle

[Gazo76]

I've been brewing kits on/off for about 3years now and this is the first time I've encountered an FG problem.

Munton's Flagship Milk Stout kit with 1kg Richie's beer enhancer.
OG a massive 1072.
Pitched on 28th Sept with a constant temp around 20 degrees C. 16days later I was going to bottle, but the reading was 1030.
I decided to get addition yeast to give it another go, so added a sachet of Safale S-04 last week. Little to no action for a week and it is still reading 1030 today.

Can anyone offer any advice please to either get the gravity down or ensure bottling and additional sugar are done as safely as possible.

Thanks in advance.

 

[MrRook]

Was that an extract kit? Extract often stops at a higher F G. Milk stout might have some lactose which beer yeast doesn't ferment leaving a higher F G.

 

[Gazo76]

Was that an extract kit? Extract often stops at a higher F G. Milk stout might have some lactose which beer yeast doesn't ferment leaving a higher F G.

Yes, an extract kit.
Supposed to come down to 1014, so still some way off.

Someone has advised I should perhaps have done a yeast starter rather than throw the extra yeast in due to high alcohol content.

 

[Rwilts]

I would suggest with good temperature control and fresh yeast if it hasn't moved it's as finished as it will ever be at that stage. If your adding sugar to your bottles there is a slight chance it may kick off again and you will get highly carbonated bottles ( or worse case bombs). Other thoughts ?

 

[Gazo76]

I would suggest with good temperature control and fresh yeast if it hasn't moved it's as finished as it will ever be at that stage. If your adding sugar to your bottles there is a slight chance it may kick off again and you will get highly carbonated bottles ( or worse case bombs). Other thoughts ?

This is the fear. I feel it still needs some work and could just reduce the sugar I put in the bottles.
We live and learn though, so whatever happens, I'll treat it as another brewing lesson.

 

[Speccy]

Looks like you're not the first person on here to have the same issue: Muntons Flagship Milk Stout

Looking at the instructions for this kit, there's 500g of lactose in there, so, like MrRook says, that's probably pushing up the FG and won't ferment out. 1.014 is about normal for a kit with no lactose, so maybe there's a mistake in the instructions. Allow for a bit of hydrometer error and it may well be finished.

Reducing the amount of sugar in the bottles sounds like a sensible precaution, though. You don't really want a stout to be super-fizzy anyway.

 

[Gazo76]

Looks like you're not the first person on here to have the same issue: Muntons Flagship Milk Stout

Looking at the instructions for this kit, there's 500g of lactose in there, so, like MrRook says, that's probably pushing up the FG and won't ferment out. 1.014 is about normal for a kit with no lactose, so maybe there's a mistake in the instructions. Allow for a bit of hydrometer error and it may well be finished.

Reducing the amount of sugar in the bottles sounds like a sensible precaution, though. You don't really want a stout to be super-fizzy anyway.

Thanks for the pointer, never occurred to actually do a search on the kit name!!!

Well given the high start, I think you're right, I'm probably there or there abouts then.
I'll bottle up and see what it's like at Christmas for the first couple of bottles.

Cheers chaps, much appreciated.

 

[Sandimas]

Just so I'm reading it correctly - you took a 2-can kit (3kg liquid malt) and added an extra 1kg of enhancer?

If so, the instructions and the target FG are for the 2-can kit on it's own, not with the extra 1kg, so it won't get as low as that with the extra enhancer. 1072->1014 would require a huge 81% yeast efficiency, it is possible but isn't the norm: most yeasts are in the 70s percentage. Plus taking into account the lactose, I think your FG should be around 1025 so it's a little high but not far off. Maybe just use a bit of priming sugar in bottles, quarter of a teaspoon, and keep them cool after initial conditioing.

 

[Clarence]

Bottom line is, what does it taste like?
If it's too sweet then something needs to be done to reduce that. If it tastes as you expected then bottle it up. If you're worried, buy some cheap fizzy water in Tesco, throw away the water and use the bottles for your beer. They'll probably be clear so keep the in the dark or under a towel.

 

[Keruso]

I've been brewing kits on/off for about 3years now and this is the first time I've encountered an FG problem.

Munton's Flagship Milk Stout kit with 1kg Richie's beer enhancer.
OG a massive 1072.
Pitched on 28th Sept with a constant temp around 20 degrees C. 16days later I was going to bottle, but the reading was 1030.
I decided to get addition yeast to give it another go, so added a sachet of Safale S-04 last week. Little to no action for a week and it is still reading 1030 today.

Can anyone offer any advice please to either get the gravity down or ensure bottling and additional sugar are done as safely as possible.

Thanks in advance.

Hi, I'm not familiar with the kit you are using, but we do know that when a recipe or beer say's "milk stout", it means there is lactose included, which doesn't ferment, it adds body and sweetness and is very popular in strong stouts. That will explain what appears to be a high final gravity. If it's sat at 1.030 for a few days I would bottle and hope for the best, which is a strong but sweet stout, just like many of the commercial strong stouts, e.g pastry stout. Personally, I wouldn't add extra sugar at bottling time, but maybe add 1/4 teaspoon to a few bottles, so you can tell the difference.

 

[Kit-brewer]

I would first try to aerate the wort and leave a few day longer then take a fresh reading. If still 1030 then bottle as suggested above.
Good luck.

 

[Tanglefoot]

Yes, an extract kit.
Supposed to come down to 1014, so still some way off.

This should be a 4% kit but as Sandimas noted, you added extra fermentables so the OG was much higher than it should be.
That's why it's stopped short of the FG on the instructions, no amount of tinkering will get it down to 1.014.
For a high gravity beer you usually need 2 x sachets to start with, there are calculators online to work this out but a bit late now.

 

[Graz]

I've made this. The instructions are wrong. It will never get to 1.014 with 500g of lactose added.

I can't remember what it got to but if it's stable at 1.030 after 16 days then it sounds good to bottle. Great kit, was really pleased with how it turned out though I made it as is, no extra sugar or beer enhancer needed. Yours may well be rocket fuel with that addition