Brew finished high, what to do?

[Poochops]

Hi all I got my second kit brew on a week Sunday gone, bulldog double IPA it's been on 12 days in total so far, it had all but stopped bubbling by last Sunday so 7 days and was at 1.020. By Wednesday was 1.016 and not a bubble to be heard all night, I brought it to the living room a couple of degrees higher at 22, and gave it a good stir but this evening was still at 1.016.
Most people's experiences seem to be this kit finishing around 1.004-6 I think, so I was wondering what to do with it next? I've got some Wilkos Gervin yeast in the cupboard I could add to it, or should I rack it and add the hops and bottle it? Maybe something else?
Thanks
Si

 

[Dutto]

The first thing I would do is check that my hydrometer is accurate. In the UK, hydrometers are normally calibrated at 20 degrees and should read 1.000 when placed in pure water at that temperature.

If the hydrometer is reading high and an adjusted reading is less than 1.010 I suggest that you give it 24 hours, check it again and if it's still the same then I'd go ahead and bottle it.

If the reading really is at 1.020 and because the stirring hasn't produced a result I would go for the Gervin yeast option because 1.020 is a high SG for bottling, especially if the carbonation sugar stimulates the yeast to start fermenting in the bottle.

 

[Personal91]

Hi all I got my second kit brew on a week Sunday gone, bulldog double IPA it's been on 12 days in total so far, it had all but stopped bubbling by last Sunday so 7 days and was at 1.020. By Wednesday was 1.016 and not a bubble to be heard all night, I brought it to the living room a couple of degrees higher at 22, and gave it a good stir but this evening was still at 1.016.
Most people's experiences seem to be this kit finishing around 1.004-6 I think, so I was wondering what to do with it next? I've got some Wilkos Gervin yeast in the cupboard I could add to it, or should I rack it and add the hops and bottle it? Maybe something else?
Thanks
Si

did you add more sugar then it suggested ?

 

[Poochops]

Hi thanks for the replies, I checked the hydrometer in the trial jar and its bang on to be fair, albeit in tap water. I didn't add sugar or anything else to the brew either, I'm tempted to rack it into the bottling barrel and dry hop it tomorrow, bottle in a few days but I don't want to risk any bottles bursting either.
Any advice on priming sugar? I'll batch prime and was thinking 140grammes of table sugar, would it be advisable to reduce it given the high fg? It's 23litres. Thanks

 

[Dutto]

Way too much for me; especially with the doubt about whether or not it has fermented out.

The Calculator (at the top of this page) gives 105 grams of table sugar for what we would consider normal carbonation for a beer.

http://www.brewersfriend.com/beer-priming-calculator/

 

[Poochops]

That's interesting Dutto, what level of carbonation would you look for in an IPA? I was thinking 2.5 for no other reason than its a strong brew and I thought a bit more carbonation might lift it a little, make it a little less heavy. I'm completely new to this though so I might well be barking up the wrong tree!
I know exactly where you're coming from in regards to it not having fermented out though, so should I compensate for the sugar in the brew already? and do you think some of this would be used up in carbonation?
It's a proper buggers muddle! Too low to make re-pitching a necessity and a bit too high to bottle, the bulldog website expects an fg of 1.010 I just saw.

 

[Poochops]

This brew is showing my inexperience, I just transferred it to the bottling bucket and tested a sample again. Now two things are apparent, 1- it's dropped 4 points since Wednesday! 2- I got another two points cos I was reading my hydrometer wrong! So it's now sitting at 1.010 exactly. I thought I'd read the destructions with the hydrometer and it's read from the top of the miniscus not the bottom, well you live and learn!
So I've added the hop tea and I'll see what it does over the next few days

 

[Dutto]

.........

1- it's dropped 4 points since Wednesday!

2- I got another two points cos I was reading my hydrometer wrong! So it's now sitting at 1.010 exactly.

I thought I'd read the destructions with the hydrometer and it's read from the top of the miniscus not the bottom, well you live and learn!
So I've added the hop tea and I'll see what it does over the next few days

1. Great! The brew isn't stuck and it just needs some more time. (The meniscus wouldn't have climbed 4 points up the hydrometer.)

2. You are not alone with a hydrometer reading; which is why I photograph mine and then blow up the photograph on the computer and decide the SG.

You may also have read the instructions correctly but the instructions could have been wrong! (Check out the Wilco Instructions below. I am 99.99% sure that they are wrong!)

EDIT: The 0.01% syndrome strikes again! Apparently some hydrometers (including the Wilco one) are read at the top of the meniscus as indicated in the instructions.

Your brew will only get better over the next few days ... :thumb: :thumb:

... so lean back knowing that you are on track. :thumb: :thumb:

 

[Dutto]

That's interesting Dutto, what level of carbonation would you look for in an IPA? I was thinking 2.5 for no other reason than its a strong brew and I thought a bit more carbonation might lift it a little, make it a little less heavy. I'm completely new to this though so I might well be barking up the wrong tree!
I know exactly where you're coming from in regards to it not having fermented out though, so should I compensate for the sugar in the brew already? and do you think some of this would be used up in carbonation?
It's a proper buggers muddle! Too low to make re-pitching a necessity and a bit too high to bottle, the bulldog website expects an fg of 1.010 I just saw.

Now that you are on track for a completed fermentation there is no need to "compensate" for anything.

The carbonation is very much a personal thing. Personally I don't like gassy (or cold) beers so I very much carbonate to the lower end of the scale.

I think carbonating to the 2.5 level will be a decent median point for your first brew and after this one you can make up your own mind as to what you like. :thumb: :thumb:

 

[BeerCat]

1. Great! The brew isn't stuck and it just needs some more time. (The meniscus wouldn't have climbed 4 points up the hydrometer.)

2. You are not alone with a hydrometer reading; which is why I photograph mine and then blow up the photograph on the computer and decide the SG.

You may also have read the instructions correctly but the instructions could have been wrong! (Check out the Wilco Instructions below. I am 99.99% sure that they are wrong!)

Your brew will only get better over the next few days ... :thumb: :thumb:

... so lean back knowing that you are on track. :thumb: :thumb:

Lol, i thought the instructions are wrong as well or do i drink too much beer. :)

 

[dad_of_jon]

Lol, i thought the instructions are wrong as well or do i drink too much beer. :)

I think generally reading the hydro at the top of the meniscus or not would only give you .002 e.g 1.048 instead of 1.046 so when reading og and fg if you remember to read both at the top or not will generally be fine. if your wort/beer is a few degrees more than 20 that will also give a few points difference tops.

I bottled at 1.019 for an 8% beer so it does depend on the recipe, but where i've needed to bottle and fermentation is still continuing I just use less priming sugar :)

 

[terrym]

You may also have read the instructions correctly but the instructions could have been wrong! (Check out the Wilco Instructions below. I am 99.99% sure that they are wrong!)

A while back we had a lengthy debate about reading hydrometers in this thread.
http://www.thehomebrewforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=60895
The conclusion reached was that there are two types of hydrometers which are read differently. Wilko's hydrometer is apparently made by Muntons who, for reasons best known to themselves, instruct that their hydrometers are read differently from the Stevensons type which follows the normal convention.
Best to test your hydrometer in water and if necessary correct for it against the manufacturers instructions.

 

[Dutto]

........... Wilko's hydrometer is apparently made by Muntons who, for reasons best known to themselves, instruct that their hydrometers are read differently from the Stevensons type which follows the normal convention.......

I was always taught that the reason the meniscus is ignored when reading a hydrometer was that different liquids have a different depth of meniscus and some others even have a convex meniscus ...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meniscus

So, it is very much a "for reasons best known to themselves" situation ... :lol:

... and my 0.01% of uncertainty has materialised yet again!

Testing mine is a certainty the hard bit will be to discard a lifetime of reading an SG at the level of the liquid and not the meniscus! :thumb: :thumb:

 

[Poochops]

I know it's totally counterintuitive to read the top of the meniscus after all it's the body of the liquid supporting the hydrometer were testing, I have my doubts too. As far as my current brew is concerned though, it's fermenting again so it's now heading in the right direction and I'll just wait till it stops before I bottle it:thumb:

 

[Poochops]

This happened - it went to 1.010 so I put it into the bottling bucket on Saturday and added the dry hops, made a tea and then threw the lot in tea bags and all. The lid on the this bucket doesn't have an airlock and by Sunday it was clearly fermenting again with the bulge in the lid which I periodically loosened to gas it off, so by Wednesday it had stopped again and I wanted to bottle it so as not to lose too much of the hop aroma. The FG was either side of 1.000 depending on where you read the hydrometer! I must say I was very surprised it's gone so low, I checked checked and checked again and it was definitely down to 1. Unusual? Or just me not having seen many brews yet?
Cheers
Si