Slowest beer fermentation in history

[Desmnd]

Hi. I put on a St. Peters red ruby ail 24 hours ago. It is only just started to foam now. Other beers would be trying to push the lid off. I have given it a health check this morning and the temperature is 25C. I wrap it up in a duvet to keep it warm and the temperature through even and stable.

What I did was add 1kg white sugar (can you use brown on bitters even dark ones?). That was mixed in a bowl with 5g Maoltodextrin/ Pour molasses into fermented add sugar and 6 litres of boiling water to get the molasses and sugars to dissolve. I like my beer to be stronger than they should be and they never reach the value on the box.

First SG 1.044 = about 5.7 with extra priming sugar at the end. Surprised after treating it like a baby wrapped in a duvet it is so slow. I was hopping it might still be ready for christmas.

 

[Clint]

It's a bit warm!

 

[terrym]

Wot he said

 

[Desmnd]

Okay. My supplier sugested that the default setting on these fish tank / brewing heaters were on the low side and sugested I increse it a fraction to this value but it has worked before at this. If it dosn't improve tonight I will turn it down. I have also heard that the slower beer ferments the better the quality.

 

[An Ankoù]

It is a bit too warm especially considering that the fermentation process is exothermic and the heat generated is not going to be able to get out because of the duvet insulation. If the ambient temperature is 25, the beer is going to be around 28+.
Don't worry, now that it's taken off, it should ferment normally. Moreover, different yeasts ferment differently: some produce a load of foam while others just fizz away quietly.

I have also heard that the slower beer ferments the better the quality.
Only up to a point. An ale yeast will have its optimum fermentation range. Below that range it'll just go dormant, within the range it'll produce fewer esters at the lower end and more at the higher end. Above that you pay your money and take your chance, Lager yeasts tend to tick over nicely even at temperatures approaching zero.

 

[foxbat]

An OG of 1.044 is very unlikely to get you a 5.7% ABV with a kit yeast unless you bump it up with dextrose during fermentation.

 

[terrym]

Okay. My supplier sugested that the default setting on these fish tank / brewing heaters were on the low side and sugested I increse it a fraction to this value but it has worked before at this. If it dosn't improve tonight I will turn it down. I have also heard that the slower beer ferments the better the quality.

If you are dunking a fish tank heater into your beer to keep it warm, my view is it is not a good idea, since the hot heater surface tends to degrade the beer and yeast within it. Better use a fish tank heater in a water bath as in this link.
https://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/threads/how-to-set-up-a-water-bath-for-your-fv.66407/Either way if you are using a fish tank heater its best to set it up on water before you use it on beer service. I suggest you aim for somewhere in the range 19-21*C which should suit many ale type beers and yeasts.

PS
If you are brewing to 23 litres your 3kg LME kit plus 1 kg table sugar should produce an OG of 1.055 according to the BF calculator, and a potential ABV of about 6% excluding the contribution from the priming sugar. I frequently use this calculator and find, for kits, measured vs. calculated OG is rarely out by more than one point.
https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/calculator

 

[Desmnd]

The ambient room temperature is not 25C it is the beer that is 25C. The 1.044 SG is after the sugars have been mixed in. That is the 1kg of white sugar and the 500g of maltodextrin. It seems to be livening up now. Must have taken a while to kick in. The reason for the duvet was to keep the temperature consistent throughout all of the liquid and the heater would hardly come on. I have bought a heater before from the home brew shop and it is identical to the one I am using. The only difference is that the home brew shops charge a lot more for them and buying one on Amazon and eBay is cheaper. I have tested both and they are set to the same temperature. Tropical fish tanks are the same temperature. It seems to be doing fine now and I could have it done for christmas.

My only problem will be getting the King Keg to seal which was my original problem but as Drunkula pointed out when I tested the keg filled with water the gas would be absorbed into the water and I thought it was not sealing well. That has been a long headache for me. I didn't wasnt to risk making beer unless I was confident that the keg would seal. Now I am I van get brewing again. Thanks to Drunkula and everyone else here.

 

[Banbeer]

The ambient temperiture is not 25C it is the beer that is 25C

Still too warm

 

[An Ankoù]

The ambient temperiture is not 25C it is the beer that is 25C. The 1.044 is after the sugars have been mixed in that is the 1kg of white sugar anfd the 500g of maltodextrin. It seems to be livening up now. Must have taken a while to kick in.

Glad to hear it. I really would let it cool down a couple of degrees, though. As I said before, once it gets to rocking and rolling, things are going to warm up a bit more.
I reckon you're going to get about 5% abv with that SG and considering that the white sugar is fully fermentable. The maltodextrin, on the other hand is very slow to ferment (if at all) so you might end up with an FG around 1010, which'll bring the abv down to about 4.5%.

 

[Zephyr259]

The ambient room temperature is not 25C it is the beer that is 25C. The 1.044 SG is after the sugars have been mixed in. That is the 1kg of white sugar and the 500g of maltodextrin.

That kit estimates 4.3% abv, which would make me expect an OG around the 1.044 you measured. Adding 1kg of sugar and 500g of maltodextrin should have you in the 1.060 - 1.070 range so either something's gone weird/wrong or you didn't get all the malt and sugars dissolved. Shouldn't be an issue as they should dissolve during fermentation. That could explain the slow start, the wort is a lot stronger than it should be so the kit's yeast struggled to get going?

 

[Gerryjo]

Too warm and most likely to finish short and sweet, drop it down a few degrees as the internal in your fermenter will be higher than the water bath.