Potamus
Well-Known Member
I brewed a Scottish wee heavy on Nov. 16. Target OG was 1.120 and I measured SG as 1.109. It's an extract brew, so that might be due to mixing. I racked to secondary on Dec. 13 and went to bottle it today, seven weeks after brewing. I'm concerned because the target FG was 1.030, but I measured 1.040.
The beer has been stagnant for weeks, with no airlock activity and no bubbles or yeast movement in the beer itself. Ambient has been a constant 64 degrees. I know it's common to have attenuation issues with beers this big, and I'm wondering if a yeast substitution I made could explain it (recipe called for Wyeast 1728 Scottish ale yeast; I used US-05). By my calculations, I got only 63 or 66 percent attenuation, depending on which OG was accurate.
I went ahead and bottled it, thinking the yeast may have simply reached its limit (beer is between 9-10.5 percent ABV). Now I'm worried it may have actually been a stuck fermentation and that I should be concerned about bottle bombs.
Does it sound like this is going to give me exploding bottles or flat, sweet beer? The sample was pretty tasty, BTW.
Here's the recipe:
9 pounds golden light DME
6 pounds extra light DME
16 ounces 60-degree Lovibond crystal malt
4 ounces chocolate malt
4 ounces peat-smoked malt
2.5 ounces black malt
1 ounce Northern Brewer hops
2 sachets US-05
The beer has been stagnant for weeks, with no airlock activity and no bubbles or yeast movement in the beer itself. Ambient has been a constant 64 degrees. I know it's common to have attenuation issues with beers this big, and I'm wondering if a yeast substitution I made could explain it (recipe called for Wyeast 1728 Scottish ale yeast; I used US-05). By my calculations, I got only 63 or 66 percent attenuation, depending on which OG was accurate.
I went ahead and bottled it, thinking the yeast may have simply reached its limit (beer is between 9-10.5 percent ABV). Now I'm worried it may have actually been a stuck fermentation and that I should be concerned about bottle bombs.
Does it sound like this is going to give me exploding bottles or flat, sweet beer? The sample was pretty tasty, BTW.
Here's the recipe:
9 pounds golden light DME
6 pounds extra light DME
16 ounces 60-degree Lovibond crystal malt
4 ounces chocolate malt
4 ounces peat-smoked malt
2.5 ounces black malt
1 ounce Northern Brewer hops
2 sachets US-05