hangover from full grain

[ro39se]

Hello fellow brewers
I have just started full grain brewing and for some reason i am getting throbbing 2 day hangovers from 1/2 a dozen beers.
Is it because I brewed while it was end of summer and i fermented in to hot of tempreture. Starting gravity was 1054 but it stopped fermenting at 1025 and
wouldn't go any further. I have another brew on the go it is a honey beer original gravity was 1060 it is now at 1028 after a week and a half in the fermenter and slowing right down not sure yet but why are my beer dipping out and not reaching closer to 1010. Why did I not get this problems when I was extract brewing?
Cheers from Australia

 

[Shooter]

If the temperature was warm you could have gotten some fusel alcohols. However, your gravity didn't drop very far for what you're claiming is a hot ferment. That's not even 4% ABV. How hot are we talking? How are you measuring the final gravity?

 

[beergolf]

Sounds like too hot fermentation caused fusel alcohols. This will cause nasty headaches. I did one brew when I first started that fermented too hot. It would only take one to give me a terrible headache.

Figure out a way to keep the ferment temps at the low end of the recommended range for the yeast you are using and it will fix that problem.

 

[ro39se]

Dear Shooter, It was end of summer so around 30oc but at that time of year it would have fluctuated up and down. I measure with fractometer which i tested the other day for calibration. I have a big fridge now to ferment in during hot time with an external thermostat running into it. During colder times i run the thermostat probe into fermenter and attach a heat belt around fermenter. what do I do with "hangover brew" just drink less of it or dump it.
Thanks

 

[ro39se]

I started all-grain brewing with a 27ltr urn and did boil in bag set up which was good but I ended up having to sparge 3/4 more out of the grains to make up 21ltrs or so. Not like when I extract can brewed I had a better yield. Now i have a 76ltr pot thinking that if I had more room I would get better circulation of water around grains and get better results as compared to boil in bag. i guesstamated and put in 25 ltrs of water to the 5kg of grain hoping that I would end up with something closer to 21ltrs and not do a sparge eliminating a process and saving me some time, washing and equipment. But as it turned out with 25ltr starting water i still had to sparge an extra 5ltrs or so to get me back up to 21ltrs and be able to get me a finished amount to fill a 19ltr keg. I tested sparge water and it was around the 1040 mark so didnt affect overall opening gravity. Also it seems that I have more gunk in bottom of fermenter than I did with extract brewing is this true? Also having this new pot with false bottom grate in it when i drain wort out of it and sparge it made it alot harder sparge and clean grains out than with boil in bag method. Can i boil in bag using this pot. If so why do I need false bottom lol. or am I better getting a 50ltr urn and do boil in bag like i did before. I do find that an urn holds tempreture better that pot. With Urn I used to set temp and walk away with pot with burner i am paranoid that it lpg will blow out or tempreture spikes.
cheers

 

[acidrain]

The refractometer is useless after fermentation. For FG, use a hydrometer. This doesn't have anything to do with the headaches though.
Get a handle on your fermentation temps, and your beer will turn out much better, and you should have no problems with headaches.
Beer farts are a different subject.

 

[JLem]

I measure with fractometer which i tested the other day for calibration.

I assume you mean a 'refractometer'...if so, your final gravity measurements are not accurate. Refractometers are not particularly useful once there is alcohol present - they are not designed to deal with ethanol solutions. There are some spreadsheets and online calculators that you can use to correct your readings, though I have also heard that those are not always accurate either. Your best bet is to use a hydrometer to measure final gravity.

 

[ro39se]

I just checked my latest reading yes its reading 1010 I didnt even think that refractometer useless when alcohol present but makes sense when I actually thought about it cheers jlem and acid rain

 

[Shooter]

JLem and acidrain got to it before I did, but I suspected there might be a refractometer involved. I use mine for FG all the time, but you do need to be aware that the number needs to be converted due to the alcohol.

 

[ro39se]

what might be the formula be for that thanks

 

[Pratzie]

google "morebeer refractometer". it should take u to an excel spreadsheet. I can't access it due to restrictions from work or else i would copy/paste it but it should pop up once u google it.

But they are correct. Ive just been using a refractometer to check that the FG is stable for three days and then just using a hydrometer when it is to get the correct FG. I'd rather use the refractometer so im using less beer for the reading when checking multiple times.

 

[ro39se]

can i work out the % of alcohol is in the fusel infected beer i have brewed. i remember the og can i still pop some beer in hydrometer even a month after brew in keg and calculate %? just to give me idea of the ethanol i have created lol