stir or not to measure gravity

[W0nderW0man]

I forgot now whether to stir or not to stir when measuring the gravity?

I made a lager and tried the Workhorse yeast with it. But because I accidently poured the whole wort (incl mash bits that came out of the bag) into the fermenter, the beer is extra cloudy now. So I measured the FG taking samples from the tab (bottom) and when I measured it straight away it says 1.016, however if I waited for it to settle, then poured it into the trial jar and measured it, it's 1.014 - both not where they should be (1.010) but I guess the workhorse yeast isn't that great when fermented at 18-19°C. It is now day 16 and surely I can't expect anything more to happen? It's been standing at the radiator for the last 4 days or so.

 

[Dutto]

Hmmm!

I always thought that lager needed to be fermented at low temperatures for a long, long time.

My last lager brew (Youngs Harvest Lager) was put on before Christmas, racked into the keg around 6th January and is still keeping pressure on the keg despite it being over three weeks now. (i.e. it is still fermenting very slowly at about 12 degrees!)

I would move your brew off the radiator and keep it somewhere at the 14-16 degree level for at least another week before checking the SG and clarity again. :thumb: :thumb:

 

[W0nderW0man]

Well the workhorse yeast isn't a lager yeast so I didn't think that it might take any longer really? It really hasn't done anything since I measured it a few days ago, which was the first time I measured then (I don't measure all the time during fermentation). The only thing that's changed significantly was the taste, as expected. it now doesn't taste yeasty anymore at all and already has a rather round and balanced taste - very light actually, more like a summer beer (well I guess with the low alc that's what it's gonna be lol!). Taste wise you could actually think it's a lot older than what it is, if I served it to someone (who don't brew themselves), they would never know it's not even conditioned.

I was also wondering whether it would harm it if I filtered it a bit at bottling, like running it through the hop mussling bag.

It might sound unreasonable but I just really would like to start another brew tomorrow, but only have one fermenter. I have plans for next weekend so can't brew then :P

 

[Dutto]

You could always try some finings if you think it has fermented out as opposed to stuck!

If you use some finings tonight it will be ready for bottling tomorrow and by doing both (i.e. with muslim over the syphon) you are giving yourself the best chance of finishing up with a clear lager.

Just in case it has stuck and there is more fermentation to come I would go easy on the sugar/DME for secondary fermentation; and try a bottle every three or four days just to check that it's still lager and not champagne! :whistle:

 

[W0nderW0man]

I haven't got any finings I don't think. What sort of finings would that be? Well... to be honest, I'm not sure whether it is stuck or finished... It was supposed to go down to 1.010 really but before I bought the yeast I looked it up and I got either people who loved it or others where it didn't perform at all and they wouldn't use it again. I decided to give it a try as a pseudolager yeast. but I am not sure now...

if it was fermented out I would prime it with 75gr per 12 litre (so 3.1gr per 500ml bottle)... what do you think?

 

[Dutto]

I haven't got any finings I don't think. What sort of finings would that be? Well... to be honest, I'm not sure whether it is stuck or finished... It was supposed to go down to 1.010 really but before I bought the yeast I looked it up and I got either people who loved it or others where it didn't perform at all and they wouldn't use it again. I decided to give it a try as a pseudolager yeast. but I am not sure now...

if it was fermented out I would prime it with 75gr per 12 litre (so 3.1gr per 500ml bottle)... what do you think?

Sorry for the delay but got sidetracked!

I use 125 grams of DME for 21 litres so the 75 grams in 12 litres is about the same; but that's when I know it has fermented out.

Give it a go, put it somewhere out of the way (wardrobes are a "no-no" if you have uncertain fermentation!), keep it warm and then check a bottle in a few days to make sure that it's not too fizzy.

Hope this helps.:thumb:

 

[W0nderW0man]

Sorry for the delay but got sidetracked!

I use 125 grams of DME for 21 litres so the 75 grams in 12 litres is about the same; but that's when I know it has fermented out.

Give it a go, put it somewhere out of the way (wardrobes are a "no-no" if you have uncertain fermentation!), keep it warm and then check a bottle in a few days to make sure that it's not too fizzy.

Hope this helps.:thumb:

Right so I bottled on Sunday with 3gr sugar per bottle and just opened one to see how much fizz is in there. It plopped nicely, just the way it should do, and nothing came spilling out.

Now the question is:
- Will this fizz get more? Should I open another (new) bottle again in a few days or just leave it now?
- What will happen with the bottle I opened? Will that be flat?

 

[Dutto]

I'd give it another few days and then try the bottle that you have already opened.

If it has stayed more or less "flat" then everything looks to be okay. I would then open a second bottle just to check that the batch really is okay; and then put all of them somewhere cool to clear.

However, if the one that has already been opened has recovered a considerable amount of "fizz" then it looks like it was bottled early. i.e before fermentation was complete.

In this case it's a real pain with very few choices. They are:

1. Wait and see. This is only possible if you can find a place where exploding bottles won't do any harm to anyone or anything.

My Mum once bottled a load of Ginger Beer too early in those old screw-top bottles. The first intimation that something was seriously wrong was when we heard a rumble from the larder as an exploding bottle set off a chain-reaction that nailed another three or four bottles.

This carried on for two or three days before my Mum dare venture into the larder, cover the remaining three or four bottles with a heavy bath-towel and open them up to release the pressure.

Even if they don't explode the internal pressure can be so high that all you may get is a fountain of foam when you open a bottle.

2. Uncap and reseal every bottle to release whatever pressure has already built up in the bottle. Fraught with all the usual problems of contamination I still think it is the better option.

The secret is our old friend "Patience" with the original fermentation. Sorry!

PS

If anyone knows of a better way of doing things please let us know!:thumb::thumb:

 

[Brightonnik]

Sound advice. My very first foray was an AG ipa kit and I followed the instructions to the letter. The kit mentioned nothing of measuring OG or anything and to be frank I wouldn't have known what an OG was either way. Long story short after bottling it became clear that fermentation was still taking place and that I had indeed bottled too early, fortunately I didn't have any bombs but what I did have was a beer that was massively over carbed. It was a valuable lesson and my next 2 attempts seem to be going a lot better (a pilsner and a Hefeweizen )

 

[W0nderW0man]

ive got swing top bottles so no biggie :) hopefully its all done. it was in the fv for 16 or 17 days with no change to the fg. i don't think infection will be an issue and if it does, it probably wouldn't hit all of the bottles, unless something is seriously wrong with my air I also read that after fermentation the risk of infection isn't so great because of the alcohol (although this brew has a rather low abv)

 

[LarryF]

I've got an AG brew fermenting now that I'm using MGJ Workhorse with and the yeast is performing very differently to how it performed in the summer. It is a hot weather yeast that can go as high as 32c and I'm wondering if the colder temps don't suit it this time of year. Mine's been in the FV for 9 days and I'll give it another 8 days and see what it comes down to. Funnily enough I've got a pack of Mauribrew 514 to use, another hot weather yeast it'll be interesting to see how that goes. They're left over from the summer and will be out of date by this summer coming, this year I'll get one pack of each, with a 3 week ferment and re-pitching from the trub 1 of each should do me this year.