Hey guys- I'm looking for some newbie advice for future batch. I made made a New Belgium Fat Tire Clone following the recipe to a "T". This is my second batch I've made but first of this recipe. Everything was going great. At yeast pitching wort temp was down to 69 degrees and the OSG was 1.061. Today when bottling after 13 days fermenting the FSG was only 1.042 giving a final ABV of 2.5%. Obviously it has not dropped as much as I would expect. having said that, I bottled anyhow as today is only day i could do it for awhile. I'm curious as to some possible reasons for the FSG to not be down around 1.011 where it should have been. The ONLY reason I can see for that and it's likely a major factor was the ambient room temp during fermentation. I live in North Florida and it's getting warmer and we don't use AC for as long as possible since we use it for so much of the year. Ambient room temp was high 70's low 80's. Do you think this stalled/killed the yeast hence the high FSG? Recipe called for fermentation at around 68 degrees but that is not physically possible. Fermentation started off excellent as it was bubbling like mad and peetered off after about 4 days which I took as being the norm. I know it doesn't stay like that the entire 2 weeks and gradually slows down though not stopping entirely. If the ambient temp is in fact the culprit as I suspect then lesson learned and I can enjoy a nice 5 gallon batch of near-beer! It tastes fine to me. We'll see how it bottles out. Hoping for no exploding bottles.
Help: Low ABV beer
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mysteryshrimp
Well-Known Member
If it tastes fine, it's likely not actually at 1.042. That is very sweet for a beer. There might be something wrong with your hydrometer.
Yeast does stall, but the most likely culprit would be low temps, not high. Unless you were using some saison yeasts, the beer will taste fruity, but not likely stall the fermentation.
Yeast does stall, but the most likely culprit would be low temps, not high. Unless you were using some saison yeasts, the beer will taste fruity, but not likely stall the fermentation.
tooldudetool
Well-Known Member
1.042 is a very high finishing gravity, and as mysteryshrimp mentioned, at that gravity it would be very sweet. Assuming your hydrometer is accurate I would be quite concerned about bottle bombs, as the priming sugar may awaken the yeast again and they may start chewing through the remaining malt sugars. I would recommend conditioning the bottles is a Rubbermaid tub with an old blanket or something over them just in case. Did you oxygenate the wort before pitching your yeast? What strain of yeast did you use, and did you make a starter? Something definitely went wrong, and the high temps you described aren't it. If anything higher temps usually lead to lower finishing gravities because the yeast are more active (and they will throw more esters and fusel alcohols, not good for flavor). Hate to break it to you, but you will not be able to make quality ales with an ambient temp of 80 degrees (except maybe some saisons). Search on the forums for swamp cooler type fermentation chillers, they are a cheap solution, and your beer will thank you for it! 
hunter_le five
Sheriff Underscore
My guess is you got an inaccurate reading. Those temps will increase fermentation, not stall it. However you will get off-flavors from fermenting that warm as mentioned.
Are you sure the hydrometer wasn't touching the bottom of whatever vessel you were taking the reading in? Was it touching the sides? Was it being buoyed by foam or gas bubbles? Have you calibrated your hydrometer in room-temp RO water to verify it even reads correctly?
If it didn't taste overly-sweet, then I'm guessing it probably fermented out fine.
Are you sure the hydrometer wasn't touching the bottom of whatever vessel you were taking the reading in? Was it touching the sides? Was it being buoyed by foam or gas bubbles? Have you calibrated your hydrometer in room-temp RO water to verify it even reads correctly?
If it didn't taste overly-sweet, then I'm guessing it probably fermented out fine.
I agree with hunter_la5. Sounds like you had a hydrometer reading mix up. Did you adjust for temp? Most hydrometers are calibrated for 68 degrees. Temps below or above need don't give you a true reading. Look online for temp adjust calculators.
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flars
Well-Known Member
Are you using a hydrometer or refractometer for SG readings. Refractometers do not work well in the presence of alcohol. Refractometer readings can be corrected to give a reading close to that of a hydrometer.
I'm with some of the others. If it tastes fine, it might be a hydrometer issue.
If not though, your in the same boat as me. (I posted my issues to the all grain forum). I only hit 1.040 and it's not a hydrometer issue. It tastes too sweet. Was trying to make a 9% beer, and only got to 7%.
Let us know how yours turns out after bottling.
If not though, your in the same boat as me. (I posted my issues to the all grain forum). I only hit 1.040 and it's not a hydrometer issue. It tastes too sweet. Was trying to make a 9% beer, and only got to 7%.
Let us know how yours turns out after bottling.
Thanks for the input you guys. I did use a hydrometer and this one is calibrated to 60 degrees. I did use a hydrometer calculator to adjust for temp differences. The starting OG was in the right ballpark of 1.060. Recipe said 1.050. I did oxygenate thoroughly before pitching yeast at 69 degrees. I basically poured my wort into the bucket allowing for a lot of bubbling and circulation. I then poured my chilled water from about 3 feet above to allow for more oxygen. I did the same thing on my first batch and it worked fine. It tastes fine honestly to me personally but I am concerned about bottle bombs as was mentioned. I was thinking that maybe it did not ferment all the way? I was thinking 2 weeks fermenting would be enough time to complete primary. My local brew shop did give me one thing different from the recipe. They gave me a liquid yeast instead of a dry yeast. I had never used a liquid before. They gave me a tube of white labs california ale yeast WLP001 which I followed instructions for. After having it refrigerated until use and then set out at room temp for a good 5 hours I pitched it as instructed. This may be another reason. However, back to my MAIN question about ambient room temp. You guys don't think this was a major player then? I am aware of needing a cooler and need to find out the best way to chill the bucket during primary. Might need to invest in small used dorm refrigerator or something.
dstranger99
Well-Known Member
An FG of 1.042 is way to high, I'm wondering if the yeast stalled, and now you're gonna end up with bottle bombs.....
flars
Well-Known Member
Your problem is most likely under pitching the yeast. One vial of fresh WL yeast isn't enough for a 1.060 OG beer. May have been for a 1.050 if the yeast was only a day old. A starter to propagate more viable cells would have been best.
Three weeks in the fermentor may have helped to bring the SG lower, but at over 3.5% alcohol yeast begins to lose the ability to propagate new cells and use the fermenting beer as a huge starter.
Three weeks in the fermentor may have helped to bring the SG lower, but at over 3.5% alcohol yeast begins to lose the ability to propagate new cells and use the fermenting beer as a huge starter.
Excellent. So I can look forward to exploding bottles of beer. Sweet. Better take up precautions then! Just for spit and giggles I did a little experiment to see how well calibrated my hydrometer is. I used an erlenmeyer flask and chilled water down to 60 degrees the same temp as the hydrometer is supposed to be calibrated at. It sat at 1.002 which was just a tad low at about 2 tick marks below 1.000. While not crazy off, it is still off. I realize this is not enough to explain what happened to me but I like the yeast theory. I've never used liquid yeast and to be honest, I am not a fan. I've always had great results with dry yeast and this was first time. That sounds like a more likely explanation to me.
flars
Well-Known Member
To enhance safety check a bottle for the CO2 pressure level every two days. Loosen the edge of a cap and listen for escaping CO2. If none or very little reseal the cap. Laying a quarter across the top of the cap when lifting will prevent creasing. Select a different bottle each time.
Judge the carbonation level sound to that of a commercial beer on opening.
Refrigerate the bottles when you decide carbonation level is sufficient. This will cause the yeast to go dormant.
Judge the carbonation level sound to that of a commercial beer on opening.
Refrigerate the bottles when you decide carbonation level is sufficient. This will cause the yeast to go dormant.
dstranger99
Well-Known Member
And in addition to this, just be careful fooling around with them when they are warm, I've had caps that blew off so hard it made a sound like a gunshot...
Thanks everyone. I have the swivel tops. So the suggestions is to crack open and see what is going on then every couple of days. I will do that and see what happens. Stay tuned...We had a bottle of kombucha explode in our pantry few months back. What a mess that was.
One thing I just thought of. This whole bottle bomb thing would only apply IF there were still yeast active. If so, it would debunk the bad yeast theory, no? If there were not enough yeast cells to ferment the initial batch then how could there be enough to do a secondary in the bottle.
flars
Well-Known Member
This makes me think you are following a recipe and not really given the fermentation the time it needs to finish.
Yeah I was following a recipe however it did not state how long to let sit. I figured 13 days was more then enough time. I was just afraid that the high ambient temp would do more harm. I dunno. Guess we'll wait and see what happens.
hunter_le five
Sheriff Underscore
How did you take your FG reading? In a test tube? In the primary?
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I took SG in the tube the hydrometer comes in. I've used it before wushu no issues. I made sure it wasn't touching sides or have any bubbles on it. I still think it was a case of bad yeast. Liquid yeast seems really tempermental. Will be using dry from now on. Would there be any harm in using 2 packets of yeast instead of one?
