Can 1020 be a final gravity?

earthwormgaz · Apr 23, 2013

I tried the Coffee and Doughnut stout somebody listed here ... viewtopic.php?f=21&t=36716&start=60

It started out at 1054 at 55 degrees. It's been at 1020 for a week odd, in the barrel fermenting for getting on for 3 weeks. I don't want it to ruin sat in there too long, or end up flat as a pan cake. That said, it's meant to be having some maple stirrup poured into it for priming.

Should I attempt to bottle it at this point? Is a small bottle of maple stirrup too much? Don't want bottle grenades!

Advice gratefully received, worried about this one after all that effort and ingredients cost!

:cry:

PD · Apr 23, 2013

why not pm the original poster of the brew they may be able to help you better. 1020 is normally too high but it may be what they wanted... a sweet beer....

Cononthebarber · Apr 23, 2013

Not sure what you mean by "It started out at 1054 at 55 degrees" is that degrees Celsius? If so that's way to high a temp to begin fermentation or have I confused something?

What temperature is it now? You could try moving it somewhere a bit warmer and giving it a gentle stir and see if fermentation starts up again. If not I reckon its done...you could rack it and leave for another week then test again. If its the same gravity then I would go ahead and bottle it. Not sure about priming as unsure how much sugar content is in maple syrup? Perhaps someone else can help with that?

earthwormgaz · Apr 23, 2013

A sweet beer would make sense for coffee and doughnut I suppose? Okay, will steralise a hydrometer and spoon and test again and stir while I'm at it.

EDIT: Tested it, it's still 1020. I gave it a fair old stir. Will test again in a few days. It's 25 degrees in the kitchen, so wouldn't want it to be any warmer really.

BTW: I did pitch yeast until it'd cooled, but didn't take another gravity reading.

pittsy · Apr 23, 2013

i make that 1066 (corrected to room temp) and average yeast should drop that too around 1018 ish at 6.4% so it may well be finished with a heavy body , but as it's a strong drink it's safer to leave longer than low abv .

graysalchemy · Apr 23, 2013

earthwormgaz said:
A sweet beer would make sense for coffee and doughnut I suppose? Okay, will steralise a hydrometer and spoon and test again and stir while I'm at it.

EDIT: Tested it, it's still 1020. I gave it a fair old stir. Will test again in a few days. It's 25 degrees in the kitchen, so wouldn't want it to be any warmer really.

If its 25c room temp what was the actual temp of the beer during fermentation? I find that in the initial stages of fermentation I need an air temp of about 19c to maintain 21c in the beer but this drops with time so air temp = beer temp. I would be worried about 25c if that was me.

carl_saint · Apr 23, 2013

What temp did you mash at? A high mash temp can lead to a high FG

earthwormgaz · Apr 28, 2013

I tested this again today, it might have dropped a couple of points since my last post, but I think I'm going to bottle it. I can't stand the thought of all that effort going off sat in the barrel for weeks ...