Ratatatata Posted January 19, 2016 Share Posted January 19, 2016 Hi, it's me again So, got another one for you ladies and gents. The 3rd of jan I put down the "Unreal Ale" using the Coopers Real Ale, LDM and stuff. First days where really slow after pitching the 7g of Coopers yeast that came with the real ale. Prob. due to cold weather affecting my storage room. So, I moved the brew to a room with a consistent 19d celsius, pitched a second pack of yeast and everything went smooth from there on. Good nice krausen, good smells etc. Had a high OG at 1052. So checked the SG now and it's down to 1016. I think it should end at about 1010 so I'll give it some more time. Not a biggie. However, the brew tastes very yeast-y. Behind all that yeast taste there seems to be a good ale, but it's well hidden as of now. Further, it's real cloudy and after leaving a sample to de-gas in the hydrometerthingy for 20'isch minutes there was a visible ~5mm yeast layer on the bottom of the hydro. All in all, there is a lot of yeast going on here. Now, I get that this might go away if I give it another week or so. I cranked up the heat to 21d to stimulate the yeast. Maybe all goes well yeah. But if I give it another week and it still is as cloudy and yeast-y, what can I do then? I don't want to have it sitting on the yeast cake for to long either. Could I add more sugar at this stage? I'm kinda reluctant to bottle this if the yeastiness (is that a word?) doesn't go down as I'm afraid that with the priming sugar I'll have exploding bottles... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted January 19, 2016 Share Posted January 19, 2016 Hi mate, That OG is out. The ingredients in the Unreal Ale recipe won't give an SG of 1.052 in 23 litres. I'd expect it more around the 1.045 mark. So, either your sample was thicker than it should have been, or your hydrometer is reading wrongly. Does it read 1.000 in water at 20C? It should have well and truly finished fermenting by now, perhaps the overly yeasty flavour is due to pitching more yeast. I'd expect it to finish higher than 1.010 with 400g maltodextrin in it plus the dry malt and the malt in the kit itself. I'd say leave it as it is for a few days, then take a couple of gravity readings over 2-3 days. In the meantime, test your hydrometer in 20C water and make adjustments to readings if necessary. Or trim the top off if you have one of those types, in order to get it reading properly in the water. Excessive yeast in the bottles won't cause bottle bombs. Excessive sugar is what causes these... if the brew has finished fermenting then it will be fine to bottle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratatatata Posted January 20, 2016 Author Share Posted January 20, 2016 Hi mate' date=' That OG is out. The ingredients in the Unreal Ale recipe won't give an SG of 1.052 in 23 litres. I'd expect it more around the 1.045 mark. So, either your sample was thicker than it should have been, or your hydrometer is reading wrongly. Does it read 1.000 in water at 20C? It should have well and truly finished fermenting by now, perhaps the overly yeasty flavour is due to pitching more yeast. I'd expect it to finish higher than 1.010 with 400g maltodextrin in it plus the dry malt and the malt in the kit itself. I'd say leave it as it is for a few days, then take a couple of gravity readings over 2-3 days. In the meantime, test your hydrometer in 20C water and make adjustments to readings if necessary. Or trim the top off if you have one of those types, in order to get it reading properly in the water. Excessive yeast in the bottles won't cause bottle bombs. Excessive sugar is what causes these... if the brew has finished fermenting then it will be fine to bottle.[/quote'] I'm actually pretty sure I got the right reading. The water is indeed at 1000 and I've used two hydros. Never mind that though, gonna keep with your advice and just let it be a few days. Good to know I won't have bombs Perhaps the yeasty taste/smell will go down a bit after cold crashing. I had difficulties with this with my last brew, but now with -10 degrees and half a meter of snow outside cold crashing suddenly became much easier Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
porschemad911 Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 Yeah, I've had yeasty tasting beer before from bottling a little bit too early. The flavour eventually fades in the bottle, but it takes a while. After leaving a second batch with the same yeast in the fermenter for a week longer this flavour was much less noticeable. It just needs some time to settle out. Some yeasts take forever, but the Coopers kit yeast isn't too bad. Cheers, John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 In that case, you must have got a thick part of the mix when you took your OG reading because 1.052 is too high for those ingredients in 23 litres. As I said I'd expect it more around 1.045. But yeah, I'd leave it a few days. 1.016 does sound a tad high, so it might come down a little further. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratatatata Posted January 20, 2016 Author Share Posted January 20, 2016 Yeah' date=' I've had yeasty tasting beer before from bottling a little bit too early. The flavour eventually fades in the bottle, but it takes a while. After leaving a second batch with the same yeast in the fermenter for a week longer this flavour was much less noticeable. It just needs some time to settle out. Some yeasts take forever, but the Coopers kit yeast isn't too bad. Cheers, John[/quote'] Alright, good to know! Will let it work it's magic another week. Cheers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratatatata Posted January 20, 2016 Author Share Posted January 20, 2016 In that case' date=' you must have got a thick part of the mix when you took your OG reading because 1.052 is too high for those ingredients in 23 litres. As I said I'd expect it more around 1.045. But yeah, I'd leave it a few days. 1.016 does sound a tad high, so it might come down a little further. [/quote'] You know what, that might just be it. I do remember it looked a bit... well, thick ain't the right word but close enough. Could well explain it! Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frosty Chop Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 I always draw off about 80ml or so of the sludge stuff first and toss it out before filling the tube for the SG reading. I agree with the others that both readings sound high and to leave it for a while longer. Let us know how you go with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beeblebrox Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 I always draw off about 80ml or so of the sludge stuff first and toss it out before filling the tube for the SG reading. I agree with the others that both readings sound high and to leave it for a while longer. Let us know how you go with it. +1 Most to the time I brew with a good quantity of malt, so my OG reading is not always accurate. The most recent batch had some obvious clumps, which I know would have thrown the reading out a bit. I look at it as just indicative, rather than accurate, & enough to let me know that the SG has dropped when I take a reading later. To my mind, the OG reading is more or less just to let you know something's happened between readings, & I doubt the average home brewer can get a truly accurate estimation of A/V at the end of a batch from the readings; though it would give you a ballpark figure. I'd expect the only time you can get a 100% accurate reading is if you use all liquid ingredients, have them thoroughly mixed, & have the reading taken at exactly 20c. I doubt most people are that pedantic, even I'm happy to accept a bit of guesswork on that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Otto Von Blotto Posted January 20, 2016 Share Posted January 20, 2016 I think you can get pretty accurate ABV numbers with the OG/FG calculations. I use a calculation off the HMRC website for mine. It's basically OG - FG x 0.13 - but the 0.13 number changes depending on the difference bewteen OG and FG. I also have a little formula to work out the standard drinks in any size container. Given my line of work, it's handy to know this type of information. That said, brewing AG it's a lot easier to get accurate OG readings because it's already mixed up evenly anyway. If it's not sitting at 20C, there are temperature correction calculators available. I have one on my phone in a handy little app called Convert Everything. Cheers Kelsey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratatatata Posted January 25, 2016 Author Share Posted January 25, 2016 Bottled this today after coldcrashing. And it tasted really, really good! Thank you all for good advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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