Saison stalled?

[ElChemist]

Its been 8 days since I put the saison on, its an extract brew, and neither I nor the wife have seen or heard a gurgle for 3 days now, so I decided to check the gravity...

Its reading at 5% brix, which is 1.019. Thats far too high for this yeast. SG was 1.049 and since my son decided to play drums with daddies hydrometer I had to nip out and buy a refractometer. I'm pretty good with these things, have calibrated it correctly, set it up and checked the temperature etc and its working fine. I know the bucket seals very very well, never had an issue with leaking CO2 from this bucket ever.

My question is, theres a lot of hop material in the beer, as well as the "extract" from the orange peel I put in. I have a cheeky snifter in a shot glass (Well sanitised and starsan'd) and it tastes as dry as a bone, not at all sweet and generally it tastes fermented out.

Is it worth the risk to wait a couple of days, transfer to a bottling bucket and just go for it and assume the extras have affected the brix and gravity or is it worth heading to the LHBS and buying another hydrometer to check it with as I'm convinced its finished and would like to get it bottled and conditioning prior to our wedding anniversary BBQ party at the end of the month?

Any speedy answers would be appreciated so I can nip to Morley Home Brew this afternoon and grab one if needed.

Ta

Chem

 

[strange-steve]

I think hop debris and other solids can affect the reading with a refractometer but they don't with a hydrometer (not enough to be noticeable anyway).
I'd probably get a hydro to double check.
If it is stuck at 1.019 I definitely wouldn't bottle, as you said it's far too high for a saison. It can be common for saison yeast to take a little break for as much as 2 weeks before getting back to work again and finishing off.
What yeast did you use?
With a gravity of 1.019 I'd expect it to taste quite sweet so again it's possible it's an inaccurate reading.

 

[ElChemist]

Thanks for the reply O'Strange one. I used the MJ French Saison Yeast and it was fermenting happily at 28 degrees. Have just been and got a hydrometer to double check. Will post results when I get home.

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[dad_of_jon]

Thanks for the reply O'Strange one. I used the MJ French Saison Yeast and it was fermenting happily at 28 degrees. Have just been and got a hydrometer to double check. Will post results when I get home.

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I had 1.001 with that yeast it was still active on bottling after 3 weeks in fermenter :-o so put less priming sugar in the bucket and bottled anyway. turned out nice so +1 for hydrometer check.

 

[ElChemist]

I've plugged the heater back in and am gonna get it back up to 28 degrees and see where we go from there after a hydrometer reading.

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[ElChemist]

Okay, the refractometer reading was correctish it seems, hydrometer reads at 1.015. Far too high for bottling, but it seems moving the FV and taking a sample has roused the yeast.

Typical bloody french thing, goes on strike for days when conditions arent to its liking!! (this is a joke btw before any frenchists decide to throw Brie at me)

Anyways, its now gurgling away, must have had a rest for a few days and now decided it can work again. Typical...

 

[strange-steve]

Typical bloody french thing, goes on strike for days when conditions arent to its liking!! (this is a joke btw before any frenchists decide to throw Brie at me)

:lol:
A gentle stir with a sanitised spoon might give it a kick up the **** to speed it along.

 

[Hoddy]

As I'm sure everyone will say. Be aware of air locking the brew while its fermenting. Saisons have a habit of stalling if the co2 isn't able to easily vent.

A good stir/shake/move does wonders to rouse the little beggers.


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[ElChemist]

It's back at 28 degrees now and getting good gurgles every 3 or 4 minutes, which is a far cry from the 2 per second was getting on day 2...

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[houseofcole]

Guys... you know refractometers only work on wort??? ... During fermentation alcohol is produced which significantly impacts the accuracy of a refractometer.

Also what are you calibrating with? - you need distilled water at exactly 20oC. Tap water where I am has a SG of 1.005 on my Hydrometer. I use this result to calibrate my refractometer as it is the shcnge in SG that is really important, not the absolute result. So if I expect a true FG of 1.010, I would be measuring 1.015.

 

[rubby]

I did saison for extracting brew and it pays off for once. Thinking of trying this time with these precautions.

 

[strange-steve]

Guys... you know refractometers only work on wort??? ... During fermentation alcohol is produced which significantly impacts the accuracy of a refractometer.

Yeah but you can correct for that. As the op is an ElChemist I assumed he knew that, as well as how to calibrate properly.

 

[ElChemist]

I'm an analytical chemist fella, I only ever calibrate with lab grade pure water, I ahem liberated some for use at home.

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[Demig]

I'm an analytical chemist fella, I only ever calibrate with lab grade pure water, I ahem liberated some for use at home.

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18.2Mohm-cm I hope:) Amazingly useful stuff. Great for screen wash as well I've found!

 

[ElChemist]

18.2Mohm-cm I hope:) Amazingly useful stuff. Great for screen wash as well I've found!

Of course, only the best from Sigma...

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[ElChemist]

Okay so the burbling has stopped again after another 6 days of bubbling. Guess it's time to explore this saga again once I've finished putting roof rubber on this shed of mine...

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[ElChemist]

Okay, measured FG at 1.002 it's finally been bottled. Sitting at 22 degrees doing its secondary thing which I think is going to be a long process... tasted amazing though definitely an autumn beer for those cool nights sitting outside the man cave...

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[geigercntr]

The MJ saison is a crazy yeast. Took my recent saison down from 1.078 to 1.000. I got my sums wrong at design stage, but can't bring myself to chuck out a 10.2% beer :) After a month or so in the bottle it's slowly becoming drinkable rather than a hot alcohol burn

 

[IainM]

The MJ saison is a crazy yeast. Took my recent saison down from 1.078 to 1.000. I got my sums wrong at design stage, but can't bring myself to chuck out a 10.2% beer :) After a month or so in the bottle it's slowly becoming drinkable rather than a hot alcohol burn

I did a Belgian with T-58 back in April, 1.080 to 1.006. Tried one last night and it is better but still gives a strong hot alcohol burn. Was hoping it would be better by Christmas, but at this rate it might be Christmas 2017!

 

[serum]

I did a Belgian with T-58 back in April, 1.080 to 1.006. Tried one last night and it is better but still gives a strong hot alcohol burn. Was hoping it would be better by Christmas, but at this rate it might be Christmas 2017!

That could be fusels and if it is then you're pretty stuffed. Those won't go away.

Pitching too little yeast, not aerating enough and letting it get too hot could all cause that (although I've heard aeration isn't as much of an issue with dried yeast)