GB Ferment problems!

[Pale_Ale]

Wow, am I confused!

I've got a Ginger Beer in the primary at the moment contains the following fermentables:

980g Coopers kit
Coopers BE1 (600 dex 400maltodex)
500g LDM

Made it up to 20 litres.

SG was 1030 on Saturday. Seemed a bit low, oh well I thought.

Now it's been at 1011 for over 24 hours.

The wort tastes too sweet but that might be the sucralose in the kit.

What should I do?

[geoffclifton]

Save yourself the disappointment of doing a lot of work to bottle an artificially sweetened rather ordinary taste. Toss it and start from scratch with fresh ginger, ground ginger, sugar/dex etc. Search in here.

Cheers, Geoff.

[Pale_Ale]

Geoff,

I used fresh ginger and cinnamon, some lemon etc. but I know it's not the ideal kit.

I'd like to salvage this and my problem relates to the fermentation of the ginger beer, as it appears to be stuck. No drop in gravity in over 24 hours and going off the OG something is wrong and it has me confused.

According to the calculator the OG should be around 1045 with the FG 1014, however my OG was 1030 and currently at 1011.

Should I pitch another yeast or just bottle?

[geoffclifton]

Coopers GB was my first. I also added ginger and spices. I kept the fermenter under the house (crawl) but on my visits never saw the airlock bubble. OG 1025, FG 1005 at 17 days.

I don't feel that more yeast will help as yeast doesn't eat artificial sweetener.

It's your call but based on my work experience and the end result I'd bite the bullet and start again with something worth the effort.

Cheers, Geoff.

[rwh]

How long's it been in there? If >14 days, bottle. Otherwise, swirl the thing to stir up the yeast, and leave until 14 days.

Then you should be sure.

[drsmurto]

You have added malt so FG will be around 1010-1015 (ish). The general rule is take a reading each day and if you get 2 readings the same - bottle. SG does seem low but i dont know whats in a GB kit as i am brewing GB from scratch, other than the artificial sweetener

rwh is right tho, i occasionally find a ferment gets stuck and a quick swirl and the yeasties come back to life. give that a go and if nothing changes in a few days, bottle.

Cheers
DrSmurto

[Pale_Ale]

Thanks everyone,

I Repitched, on the basis that it can't hurt. The airlock has had some activity since but is quite slow. I think I'll just let it sit for another week, it will only get better anyway I guess. Was just confused by the hydro reading.

[111222333]

Unless I'm very much mistaken, I believe that new yeast is much more likely to autolyse, because they are in greater demaned of energy, and much less likely to go dormant. I would defenatly rack to get the sweet liquor off yeasties.

[Pale_Ale]

rwh, it has been in fermentation for 5 days. I realise that this is a small amount of time, but the hydrometer reading is what has me worried - particularly when there is 1.5kg of fermentables + the kit, and I only get OG 1030!

112233, I only pitched about 5g more dry yeast and gave it a shake, and there would still be some residual sugar after such a short time in fermentation. Doesn't autolosys take a long time to occur?

[111222333]

Yeah usually, I think you'd easily be safe up until month or so, but I believe that dry yeast is much more suseptable in a low gravity environment, due to their energy requirements.

[drsmurto]

Pale Ale

Any clues as to whats in the GB can - from my recollection, its ginger extract and artificial sweeteners none of which is fermentable. so you have 1.5kg of fermentables.

Just checked up for you and if you go to this site (http://www.brewcraft.com.au/wa.asp?idWe ... etails=120)
and enter in the details you get a SG of 1030 and a FG of 1.004-6 depending on what you classify maltodextrin as (dex vs LDM).

So it looks like your readings are fine and you just need to give it some more time.

Time, patience - keys to a good homebrew!

Cheers
DrSmurto

[Pale_Ale]

drsmurto, I have overlooked the contents of the Coopers can...I figured there would be SOME fermentable sugars in the can. If what you're saying is correct, my OG & FG would be spot on!

Maltodextrin is best entered in as dried corn syrup I believe.

Thanks,
Pale

[Pale_Ale]

I've just tasted this one. It has made quite a respectable Ginger Beer.

What I put down:

Coopers kit
BE1
500g LDM
Kit yeast
125g ginger grated, boiled
2 Lemons, zested, juiced, boiled
1tsp cinnamon

There has been some critism of the artificial sweetner. I can't taste it and I doubt it could be picked. I would attribute this to the added ingredients masking it possible. Plus with the added body and carbonation (180g dex) that probably goes further to reduce the artificial taste.

Notes would be ginger is spot on, virtually no cinnamon taste, not enough lemon and could've done with a lower ferment temp (24 average) as it does tastse a bit yeasty/beery.

Overall, pretty good, very drinkable and has quite a warm kick.

Certainly glad I didn't dispose of it!

[drsmurto]

What was the total ferment time on that one Pale_Ale?

I have mine (made from scratch - 2kg raw sugar in 15L) bubbling away still, 2 weeks today. Using a champagne yeast so am hoping to get a lower FG, somewhere near 1.000. Its been at 24ish the whole time. Started at 1.048 so expected it to be a long ferment but 2 weeks is a PB for me! Not going to do a SG test until the airlock levels out - i am a big believer in leaving the bugger alone once its going unless i am dry hopping.

With 2 lemons i am surprised you cant taste it but maybe the extra ginger is and the malt is hiding it as well as the fake sugar....

Cheers
DrSmurto

[Pale_Ale]

Done in about 6 days @ 24 but there wasn't a huge amount of fermentables in it. I bottled at 9 days, would've left longer but outside temperatures in Adelaide are fluctuating a fair bit at the moment and wanted to get it into bottle where I can put them elsewhere.

As you know 38 degree days aren't that great for beer.

Lemon is there, just not enough. It is fairly sweet but you can't taste the Diet Coke aftertaste.