To bottle or not too bottle? 🤔

[Buffers brewery]

Can I ask (just checking) how are you measuring the SG? Hydrometer or refractometer?

 

[Welsh Badger]

Hydrometer. I calibrate it against water

 

[The-Engineer-That-Brews]

Hydrometer. I calibrate it against water

Mate don't let ANYONE put you off, and don't EVER stop trying

If you could only change one thing, what do you reckon you'll change next time?

 

[Welsh Badger]

Mate don't let ANYONE put you off, and don't EVER stop trying

If you could only change one thing, what do you reckon you'll change next time?

Thanks.
I would say I underpitched. I used 1 x pack of liquid yeast. Think it should of been 2.

As I said, still learning and it was my own recipe. Half the fun is in the trial and error.

My beer hasn't killed anybody yet, so winning so far

 

[Buffers brewery]

As I said, still learning and it was my own recipe. Half the fun is in the trial and error.

I couldn’t see anything wrong with your recipe but then I’m no ex-spirt. Keep going mate.

It’s interesting that your beer was able to start fermenting again once you’d bottled it. So the yeast was still alive and active. It’s a mystery

 

[Welsh Badger]

I couldn’t see anything wrong with your recipe but then I’m no ex-spirt. Keep going mate.

It’s interesting that your beer was able to start fermenting again once you’d bottled it. So the yeast was still alive and active. It’s a mystery

Thanks.
Yeah was confusing. No change to gravity points after a week. 4 days inactivity so tried ideas. I had agitated the cake, pitched a Nottingham yeast starter to kickstart, neither helped.

Will put it down to experience

 

[Arcs]

I would have kept adding more yeast until eventually it kicked off. Different yeasts too for nutrient. Ok you weren't going to be able to salvage the yeast from the trub as it would have ended up being a hybrid of what was in there in the first place. I had a problem like this when making a strawberry wine earlier this year(that took 3 months but eventually it got there)and on occasions like this where the SG is high, the yeast tends to baulk at times.

Adding more yeast for the fermentation process to kick off gives the yeast more nutrients to feed off as yeast is cannibalistic. I get this problem also when making some really hard seltzers from time to time too. Patience is key when doing high SG beers like this beer. Sometimes it is best to wait it out and add more yeast until it's 'done'. So 14 days or 4 weeks or 6 weeks, it doesn't matter how long in my experience. As long as you hit the FG =) It's still good that you tried. Might have been an interesting beer to keg and brew under pressure tho =)