Have I made a mess?

The Homebrew Forum

Help Support The Homebrew Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Clwydianrange

Active Member
Joined
Mar 22, 2021
Messages
20
Reaction score
3
Hello everyone. I did my first brew last week and as a novice not too sure if I’ve made a mess. The brew was an all grain clone of Leffe. Everything seemed to go well and I put it in the fermenter 8 days ago, og was 1070 against target of 1065. It has been bubbling away but not as vigorously as I thought it would. I’ve been using the spare bedroom and with the weather its been nice during the day but dropping at night time. Yesterday the bubbles stopped altogether so this morning I’ve had a look at it. It is not as clear as it was originally and when measured the gravity is 1015 against target of 1010. It also had a strange smell, not too strong but I think it could be yeast. I’ve racked it into a different fv by opening the tap and unknowingly took a lot of the sediment as well. I’ve now got a heater pad under it and am sat here with fingers crossed. Have I done summat wrong ot is this normal

keith.
 
Looking at the figures you were 5 points over target and it's now at 1015, i would leave it another week then do another check, the strange smell is it slightly like a bad eggy smell if so thats normal, is the brew a Leffe blonde,
 
You don't seem to have done anything wrong to me - in fact it seems just right - well done

If your OG was 5 points above target and the brew has stopped 5 points above target - there is a good chance that fermentation is complete and your hydrometer is not calibrated properly (or maybe it's the operator)

It is typical that fermentation is most vigorous in the early stages and then slows down

The sediment will do no harm

It all seems bang on to me but just leave it a couple of days and if the SG remains where it is - the fermentation has finished.
 
Looking at the figures you were 5 points over target and it's now at 1015, i would leave it another week then do another check, the strange smell is it slightly like a bad eggy smell if so thats normal, is the brew a Leffe blonde,
Yes it is a Leffe blonde and the smell is as you say. I’ll leave it and let you know how it turns out.

keith
 
You don't seem to have done anything wrong to me - in fact it seems just right - well done

If your OG was 5 points above target and the brew has stopped 5 points above target - there is a good chance that fermentation is complete and your hydrometer is not calibrated properly (or maybe it's the operator)

It is typical that fermentation is most vigorous in the early stages and then slows down

The sediment will do no harm

It all seems bang on to me but just leave it a couple of days and if the SG remains where it is - the fermentation has finished.
Thanks for the reassurance OB I’ll keep an eye on it for a few more days

keith.
 
When you transferred to the second fv via the tap, did you attach tubing to the tap reaching to the bottom of the new fv or did you 'let it drop' into the fv?

After fermentation has started, you want to minimise any introduction of oxygen into your brew so you need to avoid any splashing.

If you let the brew drop into the second fv from a height, you will have potentially oxidized it. It may taste off once conditioned and won't last as long so you will have to drink it quickly.

Any sediment transferred will drop out after a couple of days so you don't need to worry about that. The yeast is probably cleaning up any off tastes from fermentation so the smell will eventually disappear.
 
When you transferred to the second fv via the tap, did you attach tubing to the tap reaching to the bottom of the new fv or did you 'let it drop' into the fv?

After fermentation has started, you want to minimise any introduction of oxygen into your brew so you need to avoid any splashing.

If you let the brew drop into the second fv from a height, you will have potentially oxidized it. It may taste off once conditioned and won't last as long so you will have to drink it quickly.

Any sediment transferred will drop out after a couple of days so you don't need to worry about that. The yeast is probably cleaning up any off tastes from fermentation so the smell will eventually disappear.
Thanks for the reply Pavro. I just opened the tap and let it drop so that’s one lesson learnt. Should I have used a siphon tube, would that have helped.

keith
 
Yes. A siphon tube that attaches to the tap and reaches the bottom of the second fv would reduce any unnecessary splashing.

It's the same thing if you ever have a stuck fermentation and stir it to mix the yeast back into the wort. You need to stir carefully without splashing to avoid introducing oxygen into the mix.
 
Back
Top