So, two weeks ago tomorrow (Sunday 1/20), I brewed this brown ale kit that came in a package with some equipment ... It came with a dry yeast, which I re-hydrated per directions. On the Tuesday after that, I had to go out of town. Monday and that morning, I did see the airlock activated, but it looked slow. I returned Wednesday night and there was zero activity. .. so, that's were I probably made a mistake, should have got it to a warmer place (Northern Michigan and we had extreme cold during that time) ... but I left it be, figuring maybe I just missed seeing it happen. So, today, I moved the beer from the bucket to the carboy; checked gravity; 1.023, recipe said it should have been 1.015... Need I be concerned that it actually did not finish? If it didn't finish, is it too late to take action? What will be the effect on the final product if it didn't finish and just go ahead and bottle it two weeks from now?
I dont think It is too late to remedy, I would try ramping up the temp 10 degrees f or so. I say that because I am dealing with a similar situation. I have a high gravity belgian in a secondary and it pooped out at 1.020. I'm bottling this one as well so really concerned about fg. (should be 5-8 points less) I kicked up the fermentation temp 8 degrees yesterday and I already have some airlock activity .That doesn't mean my sg will drop, but It's a good sign. tbd. I wouldn't risk bottle bombs and take some kind of action.
It's not completely accurate, but taste the beer. If there's a dry sweetness that disappears quickly after swallowing, it's malt and you just got a more dextrinous beer than you wanted. If it's lingering, cola-like or sticky, it's sugar and your fermentation stuck.
Thought I should post an update for heck of it... After heating up my fermentation to 74f, I was able to squeeze it from 1.020 down to 1.0165. The late in the game heat up worked! I planned on having it in glass for 6 weeks but it took 7. It stabilized for 4 consecutive days so I bottled last night, finally. cheers
Mine didn't nothing when warmed up so I pitched another pack of dry yeast ... it did a little. I checked it today, it's 1.020, so I'm accepting that it's done. It tasted fine. Going to let it sit another week then bottle it and see how it turns out. Brewed today, and, once again, gravity was high. I'm starting to wonder if my hydrometer is off? Everything from day one checks high. OG, FG, doesn't matter, always high.
you should be able to test your tap water to see where it falls, If it's off there then yeah get another one.
Check out this post on instrument calibration: http://www.brewersfriend.com/2010/12/19 ... esomeness/
