[Help] High FG with Kettle Sour

[ScoobyDude]

Brewed up my first kettle sour. When transfering to the secondary for fruit additions, I took a gravity ready and it was 1.03 :/

I brewed using 3lb of Pilsen DME and 3 lbs of Wheat DME. Brought 4.5 gallons to 180ish degrees, dumped in DME bags, let sit for 15 minutes, then cooled to 100 degrees and pitched 7 pills of swansons l. plantarum pills. Over 3 days it soured up very nicely to my taste (don't have pH meter so didnt get pH). Then brought to boil, cooled to 65 degrees and pitched 2 packs of S-05. Fermentation took off within 12 hours. Huge, gummy krausen hung around for 12 days. I finally decided to transfer to secondary despite stubborn krausen. Now here I am...

The hydrometer sample tasted great. Just wish the FG would have gone lower, and maybe it's not the FG afterall. I was thinking the krausen was just stubborn, but maybe it was a sign fermentation was not done. ..but 12 days is a long time, so...

So, do y'all think the fruit addition in the secondary will revive the yeast to keep chugging? Should I pitch another pack or half pack into the secondary? Or does yeast not attentuate as well in sours? Or, maybe pitch that amylase enzyme to see if that helps bring down gravity?

I usually finish my extract brews around 1.02, so I'm used to higher FG's......but 1.03 is a let down. I don't want a keg of sour fruit juice!

 

[RPh_Guy]

Brewed up my first kettle sour.

You might want to consider using a co-souring method for next time:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/threads/fast-souring-modern-methods.670176/

I took a gravity ready and it was 1.03 :/

Remember that a hydrometer tests density (i.e. NOT the amount of sugar or the attenuation).
Lactic acid in a sour beer increases the density, so this is normal.
It's certainly possible that attenuation was also a bit low because of the pre-souring (and lack of rehydration?).

I brewed using 3lb of Pilsen DME and 3 lbs of Wheat DME. Brought 4.5 gallons to 180ish degrees, dumped in DME bags, let sit for 15 minutes, then cooled to 100 degrees and pitched 7 pills of swansons l. plantarum pills. Over 3 days it soured up very nicely to my taste (don't have pH meter so didnt get pH). Then brought to boil, cooled to 65 degrees and pitched 2 packs of S-05. Fermentation took off within 12 hours. Huge, gummy krausen hung around for 12 days.

Process sounds fine.

Or, maybe pitch that amylase enzyme to see if that helps bring down gravity?

IMO adding enzyme would be the best option if you're set on "fixing" it.

However, you said it tastes great so I don't see why you would need to do anything to change it.

Cheers

 

[ScoobyDude]

@RPh_Guy I hadn't read of or thought of lactic acid affecting density. But that makes sense. Bacteria converts sugar to acidic compound, rendering it unable to convert to alcohol. Thanks for help with that insight! ...and it really did taste good, so I probably won't fudge with it.

12 hours after racking onto 4lbs of (thawed) frozen berries and there is already slight active fermentation going on. We'll see what that does.

I'll try to remember to report back on eventual FG at kegging time.

 

[ScoobyDude]

Providing an update here.

I let the secondary ferment go for 2 weeks at uncontrolled temps, with sticker therm reading 64ish all the time. My house is pretty cold. About 2-3 days prior to kegging I used my fermwrap to raise temp up to 72 degrees, and then unplugged it. I just wanted to ramp up any last bit of fermentation possible.

So, FG at kegging time ended up being 1.018! I'm happy with that.

The beer itself still needs to carb up, but the sample I pulled was tasty. Definitely sour. Pretty much lip puckering. And the berry flavor is there too. But I'd say my first impression is it's pretty one-dimensional. Not a lot of body, mouthfeel or depth, but I didn't really have too complex of ingredients or process that would create that depth. It's very much berry flavor and sour, no more...no less, haha. I think it'll brighten up once it's chilled and carbed up, and be a nice light and refreshing beer to have on the tap lineup.