I bought one of those kits that were on offer back in October ( ref this thread ) but did not get round to doing the actual brew until start of December. Mine was the 'Block Party Amber Ale'.
I have previously only made ready-extracted kits so I followed the stove-top steeping and boiling instructions pretty religiously. But I read some reviews saying the end result was rather thin and recommending to brew short, so I made the final volume up to ~4.2 gallons with an OG of 1058-1060.
Used the included yeast, which was probably a mistake. Annoyingly, I didn't see a use-by date. ANyway, it took off fine and after less than a day was glugging happily.
InkBird set to 21.5 deg C with a Cd threshold of -0.5 deg. Inkbird probe attached to the outside of the FV, 2/3 way up, using dense bubble-wrap and gaffer tape.
After nearly two weeks, on Dec 16th, the fermentation had been quiet for several days. Took a sample and the SG was ~1028-1030.
Figured the yeast was maybe not that good, found a leftover yeast sachet in the fridge (came from a Range MYO Bitter that I had not used at the time as I brewed it direct on the previous brew's yeast earlier in the summer); hydrted the yeast with some LME in ~200 ml warm water then chucked it in. The yeast had definitely started, the PET bottle I had started it in was pressurised. But very little activity observed from the fermentation lock in the next few days - an occasional small glug.
Today, still pretty much the same SG - (sorry, not a good photo)
I've read some of the threads about stuck fermentations - should I try giving this a stir? Add another yeast? (if so, where from?) Change the temperature?
Perhaps the expected FG will be high because of the fact I've brewed short? The sample did taste a bit sweet and malty but not extremely so.
Thanks for any comments...
I have previously only made ready-extracted kits so I followed the stove-top steeping and boiling instructions pretty religiously. But I read some reviews saying the end result was rather thin and recommending to brew short, so I made the final volume up to ~4.2 gallons with an OG of 1058-1060.
Used the included yeast, which was probably a mistake. Annoyingly, I didn't see a use-by date. ANyway, it took off fine and after less than a day was glugging happily.
InkBird set to 21.5 deg C with a Cd threshold of -0.5 deg. Inkbird probe attached to the outside of the FV, 2/3 way up, using dense bubble-wrap and gaffer tape.
After nearly two weeks, on Dec 16th, the fermentation had been quiet for several days. Took a sample and the SG was ~1028-1030.
Figured the yeast was maybe not that good, found a leftover yeast sachet in the fridge (came from a Range MYO Bitter that I had not used at the time as I brewed it direct on the previous brew's yeast earlier in the summer); hydrted the yeast with some LME in ~200 ml warm water then chucked it in. The yeast had definitely started, the PET bottle I had started it in was pressurised. But very little activity observed from the fermentation lock in the next few days - an occasional small glug.
Today, still pretty much the same SG - (sorry, not a good photo)
I've read some of the threads about stuck fermentations - should I try giving this a stir? Add another yeast? (if so, where from?) Change the temperature?
Perhaps the expected FG will be high because of the fact I've brewed short? The sample did taste a bit sweet and malty but not extremely so.
Thanks for any comments...
