Stuck Brew?

[Fleecer]

Hi, I'm having all grain beer issues and would welcome some advice. My last 3 batches have started life around 1.070 and fermented well for 2/3 days, but ended at around 1.028/1.030. I've hopped heavily (400-500g) and have used 2 sachets of yeast. The beer is bottled and after 3/4 weeks has failed to clear. It produces a drink that initially contains a head, but eventually becomes flat and cloudy, albeit with a nice taste. For the record, I used finings pre-bottling, to no avail. The bottles themselves contain an amount of sediment, but seem no clearer than the day they were bottled. I just get the feeling that the beer has stopped short, so I'm bottling an unfinished beer? The house is generally warm, so I'm thinking that temperature control could be the issue?

Relp Raggy!

 

[wfr42]

Have you got a recipe and your mash temperatures?

2/3 days is a very short ferment.

Lots of us follow a 2+2+2 regime.
2weeks ferment, 2 weeks in bottle at brewing temp, 2weeks somewhere cooler.

 

[DoctorMick]

With that amount of hops I'd expect hop haze in the finished beer and, as far as I'm aware, no amount of finings will clear them. Cold crashing would help but doubt it would eliminate the problem completely. The FG does seem very high, as DoJ says if you've only fermented for 3 days it probably hasn't finished altho at that high a FG I'd have expected bottle bombs.

 

[Fil]

warmth generally promotes high yeast activity and can produce ester and fussel flavours which are mostly undesired, what yeast are you using? and how did the mash go for the brews, if you mashed warmer than usual you could have a lot of complex sugars the yeast cant break down and consume, does the beer taste overly sweet?

Try brewing something less head banging with an og more like 1040-1050 for a 4-5% abv, and have a vodka chaser if you need the ethanol. brewing too strong masks many of the malty flavours imho..

 

[Fleecer]

Hi, here's the original recipe, though the o.g. didn't work out. It was left to ferment for 10 days, stuck for the last 7. It does taste overly sweet, but hopefully time will balance that out:

6kg Maris Otter
1 kg Amber
0.5kg crystal
2 sachets Danstar yeast
100g of each - East kent (60 mins), North Down (dry hopped for 5 days), Fuggles (40 mins) & Sovereign (5 mins)

Boil size - 25 litres
Batch size - 19 litres

I used my new Klarstein beer kettle, which seemed to heat 10 degrees over what it should, so there was constant adjustment. The false bottom also failed, resulting in a 1/2 hour delay, and I ended up transferring the whole lot into my old cool box, c/w john guest speedfit fittings to maintain temperature.
Thanks

 

[Flatline9]

Try brewing something less head banging with an og more like 1040-1050 for a 4-5% abv, and have a vodka chaser if you need the ethanol. brewing too strong masks many of the malty flavours imho..

Beers with high OG are hard to fully ferment as the high level of sugars block the enzymes needed for the yeast to take them in. This is called the glucose effect or catabolite repression.

So yer, try brewing beers with lower OG to ensure a complete fermentation.

 

[Fleecer]

I see - I'll have a read up on the glucose effect; thanks!

I guess at some point I'm going to want to produce a proper 'head banger' again though; that's just me and my personal preference (hence the last attempt). I did produce a really nice beer last year at around 8.4% using tonnes of grain and plenty of added jaggery, but have yet to replicate it. I'm planning a 9% Christmas cake stout soon, so any tips on seeing it through to a successful conclusion would be gratefully received. It's just in my head at this stage, but I'm thinking marzipan or almond essence, sultana's, maybe glace cherries, brown sugar etc...

 

[Fleecer]

DoctorMick, I'd love a copy of that Goose Island clone if you'd be happy to share? It's got to be my favourite beer of all time (so far!)

Thanks,
Mick

 

[DoctorMick]

DoctorMick, I'd love a copy of that Goose Island clone if you'd be happy to share? It's got to be my favourite beer of all time (so far!)

Thanks,
Mick

I can send you the recipe but it didn't turn out well for me, very close to going down the sink!

 

[TheRedDarren]

Did you aerate the wort well? A 1.070 is going to need all the help you can give it. Although dried yeast will work in sufficient quantity, I'd recommend going with liquid yeast and a big starter.
Basically, you'll be left with maltriose after the simple sugars have been converted, and the yeast need to break this down using their own enzymes. Dried yeast could cut it but you'll get more reliable and predictable results with liquid yeast and an appropriate starter.

 

[TheRedDarren]

Did you aerate the wort well? A 1.070 is going to need all the help you can give it. Although dried yeast will work in sufficient quantity, I'd recommend going with liquid yeast and a big starter.
Basically, you'll be left with maltriose after the simple sugars have been converted, and the yeast need to break this down using their own enzymes. Dried yeast could cut it but you'll get more reliable and predictable results with liquid yeast and an appropriate starter.

 

[TheRedDarren]

Hi, here's the original recipe, though the o.g. didn't work out. It was left to ferment for 10 days, stuck for the last 7. It does taste overly sweet, but hopefully time will balance that out:

6kg Maris Otter
1 kg Amber
0.5kg crystal
2 sachets Danstar yeast
100g of each - East kent (60 mins), North Down (dry hopped for 5 days), Fuggles (40 mins) & Sovereign (5 mins)

Boil size - 25 litres
Batch size - 19 litres

I used my new Klarstein beer kettle, which seemed to heat 10 degrees over what it should, so there was constant adjustment. The false bottom also failed, resulting in a 1/2 hour delay, and I ended up transferring the whole lot into my old cool box, c/w john guest speedfit fittings to maintain temperature.
Thanks

10 degrees higher?! So was the mash temp in the 70's? If so that'll leave a lot of residual complex sugars.

Oh and 400g of hops in a 19 litre brew? You're a bloody legend my friend!!!!

 

[JapanBrew]

10 degrees... There's the problem. 64 degrees gets you great beta amylase, very fermentable sugars. 68 degrees gives a lot of alpha amylase which will give you sweet, good body beer. When you hit 70, you stop the process. The problem is, if you exceed more than 10 minutes above temp, you can't go back.

 

[Fleecer]

Thanks TheRedDarren, that's something I'd heard of but never thought of trying. I'll give that a bash on my next attempt.

 

[Fleecer]

Thanks all, although I've come a long way since my Wilko tin of 'just add water' malt, I realise there's a long old road ahead of me to get to the standard that you guys are at! For me it's definitely a case of enjoying the journey as much as arriving at my destination. I'm having a few teething problems, but that's how you learn I guess. I'll leave you with the image of my wife's face on discovering that my first Tesco coolbox had sprung a leak, hot wort streaming across the kitchen floor and onto the new living room carpet. Oh how we laughed! Well I did anyway.

 

[JapanBrew]

Fleecer, no prob. Ask anything. Everyone on this forum are really helpful and will give their honest advice.