Central heating packed in

[roosterjones]

Hi chaps,
I'm currently on my first brew, a coopers pale ale kit.
OG was 1040 on 18/01.
SG was 1015 on 25/01
It continued to drop, slowly to 1011, but my central heating packed up & it's been pretty cold in the kitchen, not a chance of keeping it above 16c.
Just checked the SG and its reading 1015, not sure if it's possible to go backwards, maybe I've just misread previously.
Any help with getting it going, or is it knackered?

 

[peteoc]

the only way for it to go backwards is for you to add more sugar. Now this could be the answer if your fermentables were clumped and now have dissolved...

Another reason why it's showing higher is bubbles, give your hydrometer a spin to make sure it's not caught by anything.

With regards to the temp, the yeast will just take longer to ferment at a lower temp but will get there in the end. If it's too cold they will simply go dormant, warm them up a little and they'll come back to producing.

 

[Fil]

check the calculators link above for a hydrometer temp correction table or tool, if not there check google or pull the sample and sit it in a warm room till its at 20c the temp your hydrometer is calibrated at


found it calculators.php#HYDROMETER_CORRECTION

 

[iceo]

the only way for it to go backwards is for you to add more sugar. Now this could be the answer if your fermentables were clumped and now have dissolved...

.

thats quite true, temp can make a difference if your hydro is preset to read at 20-21c then a few C eather way can make a it go up and down there is a calc at the top of the page that will correct your readings

 

[roosterjones]

Thanks for the quick replies, I've just got an aquarium heater in the post (which was for my next brew), so I might pop the fv in a bain marie at 20c to see if that helps.
I'm concerned about the length of time it's in the fv, does it matter how long it stays in the fv?

I checked the calculator & the result gave me the same reading?

 

[Fil]

it will be happy for a few weeks left alone especially at cooler temps the yeast will just go dormant and fall out a clearing the beer, after a month make it a priority
dont worry about it :)

 

[peteoc]

3 weeks+ in FV is not uncommon

 

[roosterjones]

cheers chaps, I've popped it in the bath at 20c, will see how that affects it. Will report back.

 

[roosterjones]

So the last 3 SG readings are at 1011.
Is it likely to drop any further? or should I just go ahead and bottle it?
I've read somewhere that SG readings above 1010 can create bottle bombs.

 

[Fil]

the stable reading for 3 days indicates little or no residual sugar left in the beer so bottle away