SG All Wrong

[Gym_]

That last lot Of AG ,
I think I stuffed it.
The SG after 2 weeks at 25c ( lowest i could keep it constant at ) ( ale )it finished at like 1040 or something terrible.

After a bit of research i came up with the water temp when I poured into the grain was most prob wrong ..
The thermometer I was using was not very accurate I don’t think ..
So I’ve just gone a bought a MashMaster thinking that this should solve the prob form now on .. \
Not looking forward to tasting this brew.. Rather worried about how badly I stuffed it up.. \
Here the Q
How decusting is this going to turn out ?

[drsmurto]

Again my psychic powers fail me.....

Gym - what mash temp do you think you had?

How far out is the thermometer? What does it read in boiling water and ice water?

How did you measure the SG? Hydro or refractometer? At what temp?

What yeast did you use? If liquid, how much did you pitch?

1.040 seems way too high unless you were making a barleywine...... but until you give me more details i can only guess as to what went wrong and what the result might be.

Without knowing anymore my first guess is a stuck ferment possibly from underpitching.

[Clean Brewer]

Again my psychic powers fail me.....

Gym - what mash temp do you think you had?

How far out is the thermometer? What does it read in boiling water and ice water?

How did you measure the SG? Hydro or refractometer? At what temp?

What yeast did you use? If liquid, how much did you pitch?

1.040 seems way too high unless you were making a barleywine...... but until you give me more details i can only guess as to what went wrong and what the result might be.

Without knowing anymore my first guess is a stuck ferment possibly from underpitching.

I reckon it was underpitching, I recall GYM saying that he got 30 bottles out of his Wyeast pack, didnt sound like he built the cells up properly...

Thanks James thats pritty much what it seems ..
By gestamation i think there dubbleing in size ever 24hrs
in 3 days ive gorn form 2 liters to 16 so that will do for the time beeing..
into the fridge thay go ..

Hey Warra & Friends ..
When u release the gas from one of your bottles of yeast farming..
What does it smell like ?
I turned a wyeast packet into about 30 bottles all about 2 litters each and had them in the fridge
They must be still fermenting and i released the gas from them all and it smelt like shit.
Well to be precise it smelt like a fart ..
Cant possibly see that it could be off as my sterilizing < with a Z lol was exemplary..
1 possibly 2 unlikely 30 no bloody way.. so is it supposed to smell like mmm not rotten egg that’s to bad is say a semi bad fart after a a few home brews the night b4..lol
Im going to pitch it into a can brew as im not risking 30 bucks worth of grain incase it is bugged..
What ya all think?
PS there is no funny color or fur or anything on the top of the bottles all looks perfectly fine the mix even smells fine just the co2 the smells like crap ..

Problem prob comes from above qoutes...

[drsmurto]

If 1 wyeast packet is split into 30 bottles then thats serious underpitching.

Even with a 2L starter you have 1/30th of a smackpack - assuming its the activator you now have 1/30th of the yeast needed to ferment 19L of 1.050 ale wort.

So that amount of yeast should really be stepped up not 2L to 16L but more like 250mL to 2L at a bare minimum. And what are you using to culture the yeast. Making 16L of a 1.040 wort with LDME is getting expensive. That requires 1.6kg of LDME!

So Gym - how much yeast was in the bottle of the bottles that you pitched?

I think you need to go back and re-read my sticky on using liquid yeast.

1 wyeast activator pack can be pitched into a 2L starter. You can then split this into 6 stubbies.

You then take 1 stubbie and pitch that into a 2L starter. You now may have enough yeast.

So my first guess what right after all, i must be psychic!

I am not sure where you got your ideas form when it comes to splitting the yeast up.

Follow my sticky and you'll be fine.

[Gym_]

Yer sorry ill try and give you as much info as possible
.. ok well
I just checked it out again its at 1015 .. the thermometer is off by 10c I thought I had it at 70c but looks like it was at 80c instead ..
Also just tasted it and besides being flat and warm it tasted like orange juice that’s had the sugar removed and watered down ..
Rather strange tasting beer.. ..
I pitched 2 liter of liquid yeast that was in a LDME starter and going rather well..
Started fermenting within a few hrs

[Gym_]

i prob did stuff up the yeast ..

i got the smack pack and put in a 2l bottle with 200g of LDME with a air lock on top ..
Left for 24 – 48 hrs Then poured 1 litter of it into anther 2liter bottle with 200g of LDME and the same with the left over liter and kept doing that for 4 days until it went from 2 liters to 4 then 8 then 16 then 32..

I hate learning new shit… prob should have stuck to my rocket fule at least i make that drinkable

[drsmurto]

1.015 is fine.

80C mash is not. I have no idea what you will achieve at this temp as its normally mash out - ie. stopping all enzyme activity. Which explains why it tastes all wrong. I suspect you produced a very hazy wort of low SG that wasnt very fermentable.

A good thermometer is crucial. Do you have a copy of beersmith/promash to do all the calculations for you?

Ok, first step of your wyeast is fine.

The 2nd step has me a little confused.

You split the 2L in half and pitch each of the 1L into new 2L containers with 200g of LDME. Do you mean you added LDME to the 1L of yeast solution or did you make up another 2L of wort (200g of LDME in 2L of water).

Can you confirm this please?

[Gym_]

Dame you got me confused now lol ...

Okays after putting the smack pack in a 2litter bottle with 200g of LDME for 24hrs I then put half in anther 2liter bottle and put like 700 mill of water and some more LDME and then did the same to the other half and kept doing that every day or so

I also put one of the bottles into 20 liters of tined ale it turned out fantastic,,
however the all grain I think ive totally stuffed up..

I didn’t think the thermometer was inaccurate until I looked up what would course it all to stuff up.. I didn’t think it was the yeast because the tined ale is perfect.. so that only left the temp on the mash ..

So I just bought one of these..



That should fix that prob for the next lot of grain ..
Arrrr dear,, look like im in deep doo doo

[drsmurto]

Sounds to me like you are making a too concentrated wort in the subsequent steps. 700mL of water and 200g of LDME each time gives a wort of 1.100.

I suggest you try and simplify your procedure which is why i wrote this (which i know you have read but you didnt follow it for some reason).

the aim of making starters is to make yeast, not beer so you dont want to force the yeast to try and replicate/multiply in a wort above 1.040. Too much stress. Your 1.100 wort would have slowed down the rate of yeast multiplication. You also would have raised the alcohol content of your starter above the level at which the yeast can survive. Most yeast have an alcohol tolerance of up to 9% abv. By repeatedly adding a new batch of 1.100 wort every day you will have stopped the yeast working and this may explain the weird smell you were getting. With no yeast able to ferment out the starter you have most likely got an infection.

So if it was me i would start the process again with a fresh pack of wyeast. This time dont split into any more than 6 stubbies. Each stubbie can be used to make up a new 2L starter to ferment 1 batch of beer. You are still getting 6 beers from 1 pack so its still very economical.

As for your thermometer issues - you will still need to calibrate that new mashmaster thermometer. Would love one of those myself. Put it in ice water and see what temp it reads, the same for boiling water.

Hope this doesnt put you off mate, it took me a while to get my head around this caper and i am a scientist!

[Gym_]

Thanks Doc,,,, Aprèsate the help
Wonder if the yeast slurry I got out of the tin ale fermenter would be ok ..

[Gym_]

Ok just adjusted that meter its within 0.5c either side of boiling to freezing..

Not sure what to do about this yeast I’ve got my next grain arriving today and no yeast to pitch,
Except left over kit chit or what came out of my fomenters..

[Clean Brewer]

Ok just adjusted that meter its within 0.5c either side of boiling to freezing..

Not sure what to do about this yeast I’ve got my next grain arriving today and no yeast to pitch,
Except left over kit chit or what came out of my fomenters..

Gym,

Where are you getting your grain from? If its Craftbrewer, may I suggest to you, just to buy the appropriate dry yeast(us-05 or us-04) and use that for now. The dry yeast from Ross is good stuff and goes off no worries.

It is probably important to get you AG brewing, temps etc down pat first, and then start culturing yeast once your comfortable with AG.

Ive done 5 AG brews and still using dry yeast for them, im feeling fairly comfortable with brewing now so ill get a couple Liquid yeasts(for appropriate brews) on my next order and go with them..

I think each step of brewing should be understood first before getting over your head with other stuff, especially something as delicate as yeast..

CB

[drsmurto]

I have a few packs of dry yeast i leave in the fridge in case a starter goes awry or if i decide to brew and havent got myself organised enough to have some liquid yeast ready to be pitched.

Gym - definitely get yourself a number of dry yeast packs - US05, S04 and nottingham for your ales, dunno about lager yeast and i have never used a dry lager yeast. Dry wheat yeasts are availble too.

Dont you dare pitch a kit yeast into an AG brew! Dont even think about.

I wouldnt start another AG batch until you have a supply of yeast. Either buy it from the same place you are getting your grain now or go to one of the many online retailers - Craftbrewer, Beerbelly, Still Brewing etc etc etc

Join up over on Aussiehomebrewer and get in touch with other AG brewers in your area. There is a group called MALE (Macarthur Ale and Lager Enthusiasts) who sound like a great bunch of blokes - i am assuming from my school geography lessons that the macarthur area of sydney and byron bay arent too far apart?

[gregb]

... the macarthur area of sydney and byron bay arent too far apart?

Depends what you define as far apart.

[drsmurto]

Bugger. Shows how much travelling i have done in NSW. Didnt realise Byron bay is closer to Brisbane than it is Sydney... so should have done a search before relying on my beer addled memory!

[Gym_]

Dont you dare pitch a kit yeast into an AG brew! Dont even think about.

LOL .. ok now that’s the first time I’ve smiled all day..

Nah ill just have to bite the bullet and pay for a 2nd lot of postage for the yeast.

I’ve been buying all my stuff off Ross and only just ordered 5kg of grain, a air stone and some starsan, I would like a couple of thous tap caps keep these friggin fruit fly’s out of me bloody beer tap but he hasn’t got any in stock .
I also wanted those little plastic caps that go on the keg lid legs as I received a keg without them and it doesn’t seal properly until its hit with a big charge of gas..

Anyway I’m getting off track here ..
These you think I should order ?

http://www.craftbrewer.com.au/shop/details.asp?PID=690
http://www.craftbrewer.com.au/shop/details.asp?PID=689

[drsmurto]

Yep, US-05 for American ales (actually, any ale that you want a clean hop flavour to shine thru rather than malt) and S-04 for more estery English beers.

[Clean Brewer]

These you think I should order ?

These are good Value, and as I said work really well, probably Fresher as well as they are Foil Sealed..

http://www.craftbrewer.com.au/shop/details.asp?PID=851
http://www.craftbrewer.com.au/shop/details.asp?PID=913

$3.95 a pack and 12grams per pack, grab a couple of each...

I also wanted those little plastic caps that go on the keg lid legs as I received a keg without them and it doesn’t seal properly until its hit with a big charge of gas..

These, http://www.craftbrewer.com.au/shop/details.asp?PID=833, make sure that these are on you keg and seal properly, I lost a whole Cylinder of Gas due to a couple of these leaking.. Some of the old PRV dont seem to get a good seal like the new ones, they are made differently..

Also, do you use this http://www.craftbrewer.com.au/shop/details.asp?PID=890
also important to put on every rubber seal on your lid seal, PRV, gas in seal, beer out seal, poppets and gas in beer out posts. Creates a good seal...

[Gym_]

OKies ill order that yeast now ..

No this is what im talking about that i need http://www.gymjunnky.com/feet.jpg

[Gym_]

I just orded in some yeast some of what you said doc and some of what CB said and seeing i was paying for postage again i bought some more grain..
Tell yas what thou i wish somone would make a good tutorial on how to use beersmith on youtube.. complacated friggin program