Very low SG reading after 48 hours

[borden]

Hi all. I've been reading a lot of posts on here and have tried to calm my fears by taking all the great advice here into account--most importantly, RDWHAHB--but I'm going to cave in and ask a newbie first-batch did-I-ruin-it type of question. Thank you for your patience!

So I brewed Midwest Supplies' Irish Red Ale extract kit. What came with the kit is:

6 lb. Gold liquid malt extract, 12 oz. Caramel 40L, 2 oz. Special B, 2 oz. Roasted Barley specialty grains, 1 oz. Cascade, 1 oz. Fuggle pellet hops, yeast, priming sugar and a grain bag.

Brew day went pretty well, with a few notable exceptions:

- My wort hit 213 degrees at its peak, which translated into a boil with some, but not many, bubbles. I wouldn't describe it as "vigorous" or anything. I stirred occasionally just to keep things active.
- In my first-time panic while trying to get the wort down to 80 degrees to pitch the yeast, I definitely didn't aerate enough. Maybe 30 seconds of stirring when it got to ~80 degrees, then I pitched the yeast, stirred for another 15 seconds, and capped the ale pail. Just didn't think through it.

There were other minor issues, but nothing that makes me worry too much. These wouldn't make me worry either, BUT:

1. I've seen very little in the way of obvious fermentation (a few bubbles in the airlock and that's about it). Okay, RDWHAHB and all, and I've been good about that (with store-bought beer), BUT...
2. My hydrometer was broken when I took it out of my equipment kit, so I only got a replacement yesterday (48 hours after brewing). Using a Thief to take a sample, I checked the SG and got a reading of about 1.018. Twice. Yes, I took two samples because I thought I was reading it wrong. I had two other people look at it and verify that I wasn't misreading it.

Am I completely misunderstanding what's happening in the fermentation bucket, or is it indeed the case that something is "off" with this first batch of homebrew? Could it have fermented that much in the first 48 hours (with very little in the way of krausen, when I took the reading), or could the weak boil have somehow messed things up?

Again, I beg your patience and advice. Thanks in advance.

 

[borden]

Additional info, just in case it helps:

- I'm fermenting in my apartment's closet. Temperature is 70F at the moment, fluctuating by 5 degrees a day at most.
- I rehydrated my dry yeast in a sanitized measuring cup with warm water for 30 mins before pitching it. Didn't mean to do it for quite so long but I underestimated the time it would take to cool the wort.

 

[TRainH2o]

What was the anticipated OG of your kit? How much wort did you wind up with in your bucket?

 

[TRainH2o]

Just a thought. If you pitched at 80˚F and used dry yeast, your primary fermentation may be over. Since you didn't take an actual OG reading before pitching, you really don't know what it was.

Dry yeast has many more cells than liquid. Pitching at 80˚F will accelerate the start of fermentation. Also, if it is 70-75˚F ambient, it could easily be 10˚F higher in the bucket. Higher temps = more vigerous fermentation = lower SG even after 2 days.

 

[borden]

What was the anticipated OG of your kit? How much wort did you wind up with in your bucket?

SG: 1.042-1.046
FG: 1.010-1.012

I boiled ~3 gallons of wort and poured into 2 gallons of water in the sterilized ale pail. It's just under 5 gallons.

By the way, using the Thief, I can only get about a half-full sample. It recommends two-thirds I believe. Could this be a factor?

 

[borden]

Just a thought. If you pitched at 80˚F and used dry yeast, your primary fermentation may be over. Since you didn't take an actual OG reading before pitching, you really don't know what it was.

Dry yeast has many more cells than liquid. Pitching at 80˚F will accelerate the start of fermentation. Also, if it is 70-75˚F ambient, it could easily be 10˚F higher in the bucket. Higher temps = more vigerous fermentation = lower SG even after 2 days.

I was wondering about that. There is a ring of crud about an inch over the top of the liquid, but I attributed that to me shaking the bucket up a bit while carting it into the closest (and doing it again out of malice when I thought it wasn't fermenting -- gotta learn to not take it out on the beer).

The more I think about it, the more I'm inclined to believe this answer. I took a small taste after doing the reading and it was definitely "green," but definitely more beer-like than I expected.

Would a fast fermentation mean I should move to secondary sooner?

 

[TRainH2o]

The ring is what's left over from the krausen falling. At the most active point of fermentation you have a sort of foam that rises. It is a mixture of proteins, hops and some yeast. When this krausen ring falls, you know that the most active part of fermentation is over.

I would let is sit for at least 3 weeks, but that's just me. Just because you don't see activity in the airlock, doesn't mean fermentation is over. If you had a glass carboy you could see tiny CO2 bubbles rising from the yeast at the bottom. Those guys are still hard at work. Also, the "green taste" will be taken care of if you don't rack the beer off the yeast too soon. One of the things that happens during the later, and slower, part of fermentation is the absorption of that green taste.

 

[mc_eric]

honestly, the only thing about the situation that seems out of place to me is that you took a hydro sample after only 48 hours... leave it lone, man! Your beer is going to be fine. At those temps, that yeast is probably going to chew through those sugars pretty damn quick. Leave it alone for ~3ish weeks before you do anything with it, all will be well.

 

[borden]

honestly, the only thing about the situation that seems out of place to me is that you took a hydro sample after only 48 hours... leave it lone, man! Your beer is going to be fine. At those temps, that yeast is probably going to chew through those sugars pretty damn quick. Leave it alone for ~3ish weeks before you do anything with it, all will be well.

I know, I know. In my defense, though, because of the broken hydrometer with my equipment kit, I didn't get a chance to do a reading when I pitched the yeast, so I wanted to have something to refer to when I thought the whole thing was slowing down.

I'm confused on one thing, though. I should leave the beer in primary for 3 weeks? I thought I'd read that 1-2-3 was a reasonable rule of thumb (primary, secondary, bottle). I've got a second kit I'd like to brew up and dump into that primary bucket soon, since I've got two carboys for secondary.

 

[mc_eric]

I know, I know. In my defense, though, because of the broken hydrometer with my equipment kit, I didn't get a chance to do a reading when I pitched the yeast, so I wanted to have something to refer to when I thought the whole thing was slowing down.

I'm confused on one thing, though. I should leave the beer in primary for 3 weeks? I thought I'd read that 1-2-3 was a reasonable rule of thumb (primary, secondary, bottle). I've got a second kit I'd like to brew up and dump into that primary bucket soon, since I've got two carboys for secondary.

You can do the 1-2-3 thing if you want, but a lot of people on here (including me) prefer to leave their beer in primary for an extended period (and not using a secondary). The problem with racking the beer too early is that it doesn't give the yeast enough time to clean up some of the unpleasant fermentation byproducts. There really is no such thing as a "reasonable rule of thumb" in regards to the timetable of fermentation, the yeast are going to do whatever they're going to do regardless of your schedule.

However, It seems to me like you've got a pretty low OG beer, fermentation is likely almost complete...so racking it after another week or so will probably be just fine. But leaving it on the yeast certainly won't hurt, and may actually produce better beer.

 

[borden]

Thanks to all for the advice. I'm definitely excited about doing more brewing, and appreciate the help on this first batch (sounds like it's actually on the right track!). I will now relax, not worry, and enjoy a fine beer -- while I wait for that homebrew to work its magic.