Youngs American IPA

Have had that happen to me. I just left it and it was fine. Maybe get the temp down tho

 

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Thanks for that, I'll leave it then and keep my fingers crossed.

 

First its unlikely to be 'ruined'. I suggest you clean up the mess, put your FV on a tray to catch any further mess, crack the lid so it is slightly open in one area and put a clean cloth over the opened section until the krausen has receded, cleaning up any krausen that oozes out as necessary. The alternative is to fit a 'blow off tube' (look that up on here) although I have known the tube to get blocked so thats not always a perfect solution. Then when everything has settled down replace the airlock. In the meantime you should allow your beer to slowly get back down to the correct fermenting temperature.

 

This stuff ferments really vigorously so I'm not surprised you have a bit of an overflow. If my memory serves me right I think the instructions say 20 - 25 C so at 26 you are only 1 degree over. I made a batch earlier this year and unluckily co-incided with a bit of a heatwave. Mine got to 28 C because of this but I just kept going with it. Turned out fine. If I were you I'd clean up, change the water in your airlock and carry on. Good luck.

 

You should be fine I reckon just do as you said give it a clean and put it back on, hopefully there's no off flavours with it fermenting at the higher temperature but I think you'll get away with 26°

 

I had similar problem, i split into another f/v for a couple of days, then back into one for 7 more days! I was really lucky not to get an infectiin, but beer csme out really nice, you could try this if it's still lively, otherwise clean of lid & put fresh sterile water into bubbler! With luck the amount of co2 produced will have kept any nasties out! Good luck, cheers

 

Hi, I’m new to this forum or more accurately signed up a while back and forgot I did because I’ve been out of the game for a while. Apologies if it’s annoying when someone hijacks a thread, so put me straight if need be. Anyhow, I need some guidance for my Young’s American IPA. I do know patience is a virtue with this kit but.....
24 days fermenting at 20 deg. I don’t use an airlock but leave the lid cracked open a tad. I brewed short to 21l and used 750g of the brewing sugar supplied. OG was 1.058 on 26th October before the supplied yeast was added (hydrometer has been tested). So, here’s the thing; it read 1.012 on 14th November and the same today but it can’t have finished at 1.012, can it? I’m holding back on letting the hops loose, so I’m pondering how much longer before I do. That’s the thing, should I be more patient than patient, perhaps take another reading at the end of the week? Btw, I use a tap so I don’t disturb the lid. Many thanks, if you don’t mind giving an opinion on this major crisis in my life - the wife’s fed up with it, so I don’t bore her anymore.

 

First I would check your hydrometer in clean water at its calibration temperature to ensure it is reading correctly. It should return 1.000. But if your beer has finished fermenting at 1.012 thats probably it, even though it is higher than expected, so I would put the hops in. Fiddling about trying to get it go lower with extra yeast etc is unlikely to work. However there is a small chance you might encourage it to restart after you have added the hops but if that happens you will just have to leave it with the hops in until it finishes , so dont bottle it until its finished.
Finally I thought these kits came with one large bag containing less than 750g of sugar to add at the beginning, the other smaller bag being priming sugar. If you have added all of the sugar (both bags) to make your 750g you will have add table sugar for priming, about 130g should be about right.

 

Thanks terrym. Hydrometer has been check and is good. The kit comes with a large bag of sugar plus the small bag for priming. I added 750g of the large bag only. I’ll take your advice and add the hops this evening and take a reading at the weekend. Cheers

 

Personally just bottled mine last week on Friday and left in fv for 3 weeks gravity wasn’t at target and only got down to 1010
So no surprise yours is at 1012 as same sg heard the abv varies quite drastically with this kit

Here’s my notes
Young’s American ipa
25/10 sg 1054
31/10 1016
4/11/ 1010
5/11 1014
15/11 fg 1010- 1008

 

Thanks to you both. Young’s replied to the email I sent yesterday and they suggested giving the brew a stir, checking again on Saturday and adding hops if still he same reading.
I think I might do a bit of both, for better or worse; that is give it a stir this evening and add the hops in the morning and not bother with another reading. Leave the hops in for 4 days, check the reading and bottle. Something like that anyhow. I’ll let you know how it turns out.

 

Cheers for the advise, did that, got it bubbling away again at a constant 20. However, it has stopped bubbling after only a week from start. From what I have read on this forum, it should be taking about 3 weeks to finish not a week. The last brew I did (Evil Dog) took over 3 weeks before it stopped bubbling. I think I might take a hydrometer reading tonight.

 

Mine fermented out in about 6 days! I left it for the 2 weeks, forgot to test og but it was 1.010 bottled some, kegged the remainder, had one of the bottles after another 3 weeks(2 2nd ferment, 1 cooling) It tasted pretty good if a little new! At a rough guess it's about 6%, I'm just glad it's not infected!!

 

Took a hydrometer reading after 12 days, it was 1004. So I added the hops and it immediately started bubbling again.

I give the hops a couple of days and planned to bottle it. However, I took another hydrometer reading and it’s gone up to 1007 and still bubbling away, so I didn’t bottle it as it wasn’t the same reading as the other day. Is this normal for the FG to go up after adding the hops? Should I wait a few more days to get two readings the same before bottling? The good news is that the sample tasted great!

 

@Bizzo
I am not sure why your SG readings are all over the place. Certainly an SG of 1.004 is unusual for most beers, although for this kit 1.007 is in the zone. You could check your hydrometer for accuracy, by immersing in clean water at the calibration temperature (usually 20*C). Also check the paper insert inside isnt loose.
Next adding hops will not affect the SG but it could encourage CO2 to come out of solution and this is probably what you have seen. There is a slim chance by adding hops the fermentation has restarted but at 1.007ish that is unlikely. If the hydrometer has a lot of bubbles clinging to it can affect the reading which, looking at your first photo, may have happened. The way you get rid of bubbles is to spin the hydrometer then take the reading.
So my advice to you, is to go ahead and bottle at your convenience, but only when you are satisfied that the SG is stable and the fermentation has finished. A few days longer in the FV won't do any harm provided you don't leave the hops in for longer than about 5/6 days, but if it goes a little longer it is not a catastrophe.

 

You can have bubbles build up on the hydrometer bulb which will cause it to float higher and give you a higher gravity reading. If this happens you can give it a quick spin and dislodge the bubbles then note your reading.

All the Best,
D. White