Is this reading too high to bottle?

[Eddie]

I have a brew fermenting, or at least I think it's fermented, its a Brewcraft Newcastle Brown, with 1 kg of malt and regular yeast that came with the can.
Put it down on Tuesday 14/07/09 , it fermented vigorously for a few days, then settled down and hasn't had air lock activity for close to a week, the hydrometer reading has remained constant from Thursday 23/7 til now Sunday 26/07, my gut says its ok to bottle. but the hydrometer reading looks high, I did take an initial reading before pitching the yeast, but can't remember what it was.

This is my second brew, with the first, a Brewcraft Munich lager with s23 yeast at 11 degree is still going, so I haven't ever bottled yet. I'm tipping there's still a week or left in that ferment.

I still can't understand a hydrometer too well, but was hoping someone could look at my link to a pic of the hydrometer (I'm basing everything on the colour markings, with yellow= bottle, it's not there yet. any help for this first timer appreciated.

Couldn't resist a taste, and it seems to remind me of weak vegemite, not sure what that means

rgds Eddie

http://s708.photobucket.com/albums/ww87 ... CF2679.jpg

[warra48]

From what I can see of the photo, the current reading is about 1.020 SG.
I'd say this is still too high to bottle.

You could sanitise your brewing spoon, and give the brew a gentle stir to resuspend the yeast, but take care not to splash.
It will likely kick it off again, and drop the SG some more.

The yeasty taste is just of green beer which needs time to finish and clear itself up. Nothing to be concerned about, it's normal.

[Eddie]

Thanks warra, would it be worth pitching another yeast, or would there be enough life left in the existing yeast?

In retrospect, it did taste very weak as far as an alcohol content goes, so I guess there's still some fermentaion to go, I'll sanitise and give it a stir tonight.

much appreciated.
Eddie

[Bum]

The yeast in the bottom of your fermenter still has plenty of life left in it - so much so that you can re-use it on multiple future brews should you wish (I'd do a bit of research first before trying this). So no need to re-pitch at all.

If you're worried about poking anything into your wort you might be able to rouse enough yeast but giving your fermenter a bit of a gentle swirl. Whichever method you use just make sure you don't splash the liquid around.

Good luck.

[pdear]

the home brew shop near me wants me to wait until my brew drops below 1.008 before i bottle, yet it has had a consistent reading of 1.014 over the last 3 days.

the hbs told me to give it a little stir, which i have done, and now there is some more airlock activity.

is it safe to add finings and then bottle a few days later if the sg reading is still consistent, or should i be waiting until it drops lower?

[Eddie]

I gave the brew a gentle stir yesterday afternoon, enough to ensure the white sediment at the bottom all but disappeared, 24hrs later, still no airlock activity and the hydrometer is still on 1.020.

Is it safe to pitch another yeast in there? I have another ale yeast (same brewcraft one as the original) sitting in the fridge, If so any instruction on the best way to pitch it would be appreciated. The fermenter is and has maintained a 20-22 degree range the entire process so far.

Thanks again.
Eddie (getting frustrated that I may have cocked it up)

[warra48]

In reply to the previous two posts:

You haven't cocked it up.
This happens to all of us, sooner or later.

You could pitch another yeast. Rehydrate the yeast in some cooled boiled water, about 50 mil.
Once the yeast is rehydrated, and showing some bubbles on the surface, pitch the yeast.

A reading of 1.014 is very close to where I'd expect a brew with 1 kg of LDME with a kit to finish. I really doubt it will ever get down to 1.008.

Have you calibrated your hydrometer? Test it in some plain water. it should read 1.000. If it reads higher or lower, adjust the figure from the reading to get your actual.

[Eddie]

In reply to the previous two posts:

You haven't cocked it up.
This happens to all of us, sooner or later.

You could pitch another yeast. Rehydrate the yeast in some cooled boiled water, about 50 mil.
Once the yeast is rehydrated, and showing some bubbles on the surface, pitch the yeast.

A reading of 1.014 is very close to where I'd expect a brew with 1 kg of LDME with a kit to finish. I really doubt it will ever get down to 1.008.

Have you calibrated your hydrometer? Test it in some plain water. it should read 1.000. If it reads higher or lower, adjust the figure from the reading to get your actual.

Thanks again warra, I pitched another yeast following your instructions, still no airlock activity, but a hydrometer (now tested and is good) reading taken this arvo has shown it has dropped a little, I'll give it a few more days and test again.

your advice is much appreciated. Wish it would hurry up though, I have a Coopers pale ale and a Morgans Old waiting patiently for a turn in the fermenter

Eddie

[pdear]

hey
have been very patient and waited, fined it and am now bottling my first brew!
am using carbo drops, do i need to shake bottle to dissolve the drops or will they dissolve of their own accord?

[pdear]

and what temperature should i be storing them at and for how long before drinking?

[Bum]

You don't need to shake the drops up. The beer will dissolve them on it's own. Shaking your beer up isn't the best of ideas anyway.

Most people seem to report anywhere from 15 degrees to 20 degrees as being ideal temps. I usually aim for whatever I decided to brew at - same yeast so it makes sense to me but I'm not putting that forward as the "best" way, it's just how I do it. You might have enough carb to drink after a week but I personally wouldn't even think about it for 2 weeks. If you have the willpower doubling that will be worth the wait. I can't really seem to manage it myself sometimes.

[Sweeney Tod]

Hi Eddie,

I wouldn't always trust your air lock as a measure of whether your brew is fermenting or not, I have had a couple of occasions where the seal between the air lock and the grommet hasn't been the best and there fore there has been no activity in the air lock. It can be a bit disconcerting but I haven't found that there has been a problem with any of these brews as a result.
Maybe try replacing the grommet on you fermenter before your next brew and see if this helps.

Steven.

[billybushcook]

Hi Eddie,

I wouldn't always trust your air lock as a measure of whether your brew is fermenting or not, I have had a couple of occasions where the seal between the air lock and the grommet hasn't been the best and there fore there has been no activity in the air lock. It can be a bit disconcerting but I haven't found that there has been a problem with any of these brews as a result.
Maybe try replacing the grommet on you fermenter before your next brew and see if this helps.

Steven.

Or Toss the lid & airlock, replace it with cling wrap & a big rubber band (O' ring) then you can see exactly what is going on at a glance, this also lets you leave the hydrometer in the brew, (after the first big burst of fermentation has finished) again, read it each day with just a look through the top!!

Mick.

[Eddie]

Thanks for the advice everyone, I ended up pitching another yeast which fired up fermentation again, by the time it dropped to 1.014, and stablised, it just tasted yeasty and crap (seriously, I wouldn't even let my ex-wife drink it). It went down the sink. lesson learned, cleaned the fermenter and fired up a Morgans Old kit with a kg of morgans liquid light malt, the air lock is going nuts, but Micks suggestion of glad wrap and rubber band sounds like one worth considering.

Thanks once again to all who responded, I'm still working on it, enjoying the challenge and soon hoping to stop donating so much dough to Dan Murphys

rgds Eddie