Advice please

[Djtrouble1982]

Made a lager using 2 cans its been in the fv for nearly 3 weeks in a fairly cool room, it's stuck at 1.20 I checked a few days back and there were big bits floating in ( like treacle), just checked again and now there's some large white bits on the top. Any advice on what I should do????

 

[Dave1970]

don't like the sound of the large white bits - do you have a photo?

I'd treat it as a stuck fermentation as in this thread. If you have an infection then it'll probably have to be chucked but you might as well try to get it fermenting again until you can be sure whether there's an infection or not

 

[Djtrouble1982]

Not the best pics, and the white bits look small lol

 

[TRXnMe]

Yup, that ^^

Te big white lumps might be the yeast krausan, or they might be nasties. Does the brw still smell OK? If so have a little taste (wine thief / turkey baster) and if it tastes OK it probably is.

It is quite difficult to make beer taste bad, assuming you take reasonable care with sanitation :)

PS, change to [img] for the piccie to work ;)

 

[Djtrouble1982]

Smells ok and don't taste to bad just very weak and lots of bits in it

 

[wilsoa1111]

Ah looks like many of my fine brews (floaters look plenty healthy to me), rem its a lager (dependant on kit may just be a multipurpose ale yeast which struggle if fermented at proper lager temps) and really wont taste/smell great till its had a wee mature and got some bottle conditioned kick- hydro reading is a bit high -odd- but really only a tad high- might sort itself in the bottle- i would go ahead myself and bottle if using plastic pop bottles (wont explode if does decide to go down to 1.010). if u think its not fully done could bring it into the warm and give a wee mix (as per stuck fermentation). you could always do a bit of both and bottle one or two while treating rest as stuck and in a wk should be able to assess if are going to overprime.

Anyway, looks fine to me but then im a student and i really hate chucking out "good" beer

 

[Djtrouble1982]

Moved it into a warmer room last night and the white bits are getting bigger.

 

[alanywiseman.]

Seems to me like fermentation is still active. Have you tried the stuck fermentation thread?

 

[Djtrouble1982]

Gonna give it a few days see what happens and will update you all with the outcome

 

[Djtrouble1982]

Ok so it started to ferment again and I've now bottled what's the chance of it clearing

 

[fbsf]

I know this isn't what you wanted to hear, but I would have left it in the bucket for another week, somewhere cooler - the yeast would have dropped out a bit and would have been clearer before bottling. Mine normally take around two weeks - 5-7 days to ferment and then 7 days to drop out.

Did you take a hydrometer reading before bottling? I'd be a little concerned that it was still active, given that cloudyness. If it was under 1.012 then it's probably fine.

Finally, did you prime the bottles before capping them? If so, keep them somewhere warm for a week to allow the yeast to carbonate the beer, then put them somewhere cooler (or, preferably, cold) for at least a fortnight, and the beer should clear and form a sediment at the bottom of the bottle.

 

[bobsbeer]

Looking at that bottle it is carbonating just fine. If you did add priming sugar be careful you put them somewhere that won't harm if they blow. But after carbonation put them somewhere cool and it should clear. Be patient. :

 

[Djtrouble1982]

It's been in the fv for about 3 weeks, the fg was fine. I've just put it somewhere warm and will leave it there for a week or so then move somewhere cool its to drink at Christmas so hopefully will clear if not ill have to manage with the ever growing wine collecting :)