Stalled Brew?

[hawker831]

Hi everyone,

SO I've been brewing the Lime Milkshake IPA, things seem to be going well except its currently on day 15 with a SG of 1.022.

The recipe says FG should be around 1.010-1.012 and should take around 12 days. Everything seems to taste fine

Has this stalled? Is there anything that can be done, or should I wait a few days and test the SG again?

 

Thanks

[The Captain!!]

43 minutes ago, hawker831 said:

SG of 1.022.

The recipe says FG should be around 1.010-1.012 and should take around 12 days. Everything seems to taste fine

I’m not sure really about extract but with that lactose plus the can extract, I would think it would finish higher than 1.010-1.012. 

First up is your hydrometer reading correct in 20c water and is it all de gassed. 

Im just thinking it should finish a fair bit higher than what you are expecting 

[hawker831]

Thanks Captain,

 

The OG was a bit higher than what I thought it'd be (1.066). I checked my hydrometer last week for another brew and was working fine. I guess I'll just leave it until the SG is no longer changing.

[The Captain!!]

So is it still moving? If you have temp control, turn it up a few degrees. It might be past the optimal time to do this but it’s worth a try. 

[PaddyBrew2]

Yeah lactose will cause a higher FG as it’s unfermentable.  I had an extract stout finish on 1.020 using 250’gms of it

Shes done mate 

[Beersout]

Hi guys,

 

I'm having a similar issue on the same recipe. I think I have bitten off more than I can chew for my first brew. I put it on 11 days ago (I forgot to get an OG newbie mistake). My current SG is 1031. Reading what you guys wrote about the Lactose, does the lactose make a big difference? I bought double the ingredients (planning to do two batches one after the other I'm using a 12L MadMillie fermeter) there is a chance that there is about 10-12 extra grams of lactose in my 1st batch the one with the high SG its SG was 1031 on day 8 and still is on day 12 I have measured with two different hydrometers that give the same reading and they both read 1000 for tap water so I think they work. Should I just bottle my beer? Is it ok to add two carb drops (coopers 740ml bottles)? On an FB forum a guy recommended I pitch another packet of yeast?

[Beersout]

Also how did the beer turn out in the end?

[hawker831]

Hi Beersout,

From the responses I was getting the lactose doesn't ferment so it results in a higher FG than what is stated in the recipe.

As to the overall outcome... Not too good actually. It ended up getting infected with something and went horribly sour.

Down the sink it went.

 

Hope yours turns out better than mine did!

[Aussiekraut]

13 minutes ago, hawker831 said:

Hi Beersout,

From the responses I was getting the lactose doesn't ferment so it results in a higher FG than what is stated in the recipe.

As to the overall outcome... Not too good actually. It ended up getting infected with something and went horribly sour.

Down the sink it went.

 

Hope yours turns out better than mine did!

Sorry to hear that. I hate it when this happens. I had that problem a few times and always wondered what it was but in the end, tightened up my cleaning regime and things seem better now.

 

[MitchellScott]

Man I feel a little bad.... I think I commented on your FB post about this.

It is done. I didn't realize this was such a small volume brew and commented saying to add another yeast packet. Looks like Coopers have screwed it up also showing a FG so low.

How did it become infected?

Here is the IanH spreadsheet calculations of this particular recipe.



Mitch

Edit - I know the Mexican Cereveza isn't the right extract kit but they all contain the same amount of sugar - the spreadsheet doesn't have the Mr. Beers in it.

Edited November 17, 2019 by MitchellScott

[Beersout]

On 11/17/2019 at 8:05 PM, MitchellScott said:

Man I feel a little bad.... I think I commented on your FB post about this.

It is done. I didn't realize this was such a small volume brew and commented saying to add another yeast packet. Looks like Coopers have screwed it up also showing a FG so low.

How did it become infected?

Here is the IanH spreadsheet calculations of this particular recipe.



Mitch

Edit - I know the Mexican Cereveza isn't the right extract kit but they all contain the same amount of sugar - the spreadsheet doesn't have the Mr. Beers in it.

Hi,

 I don't think mine is infected, the test samples taste ok just flat. It's still stuck at 1031 after adding another two packets of yeast (s04 and a universal ale yeast free from LHBS he recommenced it may help start it again) added 5 days ago. So far its been in temp controlled fridge for 17 days. Should I bottle it with 2 carb drops per 740ml PET bottle as the recipe suggests see how it turns out or just tip it out  ?

 

I have the ingredients to make another batch but am really apprehensive about making it, in case its a shit recipe that doesn't work, am I wasting my time and money.

[Journeyman]

34 minutes ago, Beersout said:

Hi,

 I don't think mine is infected, the test samples taste ok just flat.

The samples will taste flat anyway, even if they get a bit of foam on top. If it tastes OK I'd be bottling it with the carb drops and wait a couple of weeks. If you have PET bottles make sure you squeeze them on bottling to see what they are like and then you can check progress by squeezing later to see how much harder the bottle is.

[Lab Cat]

1 hour ago, Beersout said:

I have the ingredients to make another batch but am really apprehensive about making it, in case its a shit recipe that doesn't work, am I wasting my time and money.

I would start with something much more simple next time. It's better to get the processes right first before trying funky craft beer madness science experiments like this one.

[Beersout]

2 hours ago, Lab Rat said:

I would start with something much more simple next time. It's better to get the processes right first before trying funky craft beer madness science experiments like this one.

Yeh I was mostly chasing high abv with a 10l FV making my option pretty limited. I'm thinking about doing an easy amber ale, recipe link below. Also can I just substitute Mr Beer stuff for Coopers or Morgans equivalents as long as its the same weights?

https://www.diybeer.com/au/recipe/the-voodoo-that-you-do.html

[Lab Cat]

5 hours ago, Beersout said:

Yeh I was mostly chasing high abv with a 10l FV making my option pretty limited. I'm thinking about doing an easy amber ale, recipe link below. Also can I just substitute Mr Beer stuff for Coopers or Morgans equivalents as long as its the same weights?

https://www.diybeer.com/au/recipe/the-voodoo-that-you-do.html

I reckon that will be a winner and easy as. Not used any of the Mr Beer as I have the big FV, but Amber malt and brown sugar love each other if you like malty sweetness

[Beersout]

13 hours ago, Lab Rat said:

I reckon that will be a winner and easy as. Not used any of the Mr Beer as I have the big FV, but Amber malt and brown sugar love each other if you like malty sweetness

Silly question, its an easy recipe and uses the yeast from under the cap of the extract tin but it says to ferment it at 20 - 24c but I was going to brew it in a temp controlled fride at the same time as my FWK which is will be brewed with US05 which says it brews at 15 - 22c but I've read you should brew ales at 18c. Should I aim to the lower end and set fridge for 20c or 22c or does it not make that big a difference? My main priority is the porter over the amber if one of them has to suffer quality wise.

[Journeyman]

14 minutes ago, Beersout said:

Silly question, its an easy recipe and uses the yeast from under the cap of the extract tin but it says to ferment it at 20 - 24c but I was going to brew it in a temp controlled fride at the same time as my FWK which is will be brewed with US05 which says it brews at 15 - 22c but I've read you should brew ales at 18c. Should I aim to the lower end and set fridge for 20c or 22c or does it not make that big a difference? My main priority is the porter over the amber if one of them has to suffer quality wise.

The kit yeast will brew fine at the lower temp. If you're worried, you could rehydrate it first or even activate it in some sugar water at the 'proper' temp then pitch the creamy liquid.

[Lab Cat]

3 hours ago, Beersout said:

Silly question, its an easy recipe and uses the yeast from under the cap of the extract tin but it says to ferment it at 20 - 24c

This is Coopers default brewing advice. They know many people using their kits have no Temp control and 20-24 is ambient temp in most homes. Their ale yeast will brew at those temps, but may throw off some flavours, as most yeast will at higher temps. I'd set your fridge to 18, it's a good ale yeast temp and I've done loads of Coopers yeasts at that range. You can take it up to 22 at day 4 or 5 to make sure it finishes off.

Edited November 24, 2019 by Lab Rat

[Beersout]

Just drank my first one of the Lime milkshake IPA it turned out really well. Red in colour, decent body and clarity. I think I lost some of the citra hop flavour/freshness from the dry hopping maybe because I left it another week (and pitched another yeast pack). The lime flavour is barley there either but I used the zester side of a four sided grater and none of the zest came off it to put in the brew (will just use the fine grater part next time). Packs a bit of a kick too I think it may have turned out stronger than the 6% the recipe says but don't know because I forgot to take OG. Overall though I'm really happy with it and will make it again. I'm tempted to go another 25g of citra on top (75g total for a 8.5L batch) next time and cold crash, but I need to read up on cold crashing with bottling.

Edited December 10, 2019 by Beersout