Declining FG!

[garylewis1966]

Bit worried about my brew, a Coopers Dark Ale started 10 June. 500g DME, 454g jar of H&B malt extract, 300g dextrose and 20l water, 1040 OG. Thought I was ready to bottle tomorrow because hydrometre reading has been 1004 for 2 days but today is 1002. i) This sounds very low to me and ii) I assume I should leave it alone until the reading has been the same for 3 days which will be the longest I've had a brew in for before bottling. Any advice would be a godsend, please

 

[garylewis1966]

Just popping out, so won't be checking replies for a while. Cheers

 

[jonnymorris]

1002 does sound low. Are you sure you're reading your hydrometer correctly? 1012 would make more sense.

8 days in primary is nothing... I leave mine for two weeks min. Yes, you're looking for a stable reading for 3 consecutive days before bottling.

 

[ScottM]

Is it supposed to have such a low OG?

My first extract has been going for 8 days and it's still purring along. The temps have a massive impact on fermenting time.

 

[garylewis1966]

thanx scottm and jonnymorris, just checked without my glasses on (I'm short-sighted) and it's nearer 1004 so I'll probably bottle tomorrow.

Interested in what you say about leaving for 2 weeks jonnymorris, is this regardless of the reading being constant for 3 days? What's your rationale for leaving for at least 2 weeks?

Cheers

 

[ScottM]

thanx scottm and jonnymorris, just checked without my glasses on (I'm short-sighted) and it's nearer 1004 so I'll probably bottle tomorrow.

Interested in what you say about leaving for 2 weeks jonnymorris, is this regardless of the reading being constant for 3 days? What's your rationale for leaving for at least 2 weeks?

Cheers

Hope I'm not butting in but I think I can answer this...

When the yeast work their way through the sugar they leave behind a lot of enzymes used to break down the sugar and turn it into alcohol. Once they are finished with the sugar they then do a bit of tidying up by absorbing the enzymes (or something like that). If you rack it off too early you can take a lot of these enzymes with you and you may get some off flavours. Leaving it for 2 weeks ensures that fermentation is complete (under normal circumstances) and that the yeast has had plenty of time to do its tidying up.

Also working this way means that you generally don't need to bother with checking the FG too often. Once at the end is generally enough as you will have a clear indication if the fermentation has stuck.

I personally rack off into a secondary for a few days just to make sure they are 100% finished. By racking off into a secondary you will be waking the yeast back up due to all the movement going on. If they wake up and find some sugar they will do a bit of fermenting again so I like to make sure the beer is as clear as it's going to get before I bottle.

HTH :)

 

[jonnymorris]

Yeah. What he said.

Thanks for that.