Need advice on first Porter

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by Bassnut54, Jan 9, 2016.

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  1. Bassnut54

    Bassnut54 Initiate (199) May 24, 2015 Missouri
    Trader

    My son and I brewed a porter last Saturday and everything went good until the next morning when I woke up and checked on the ferment-er. The wort was coming up through the air lock and clogging it up. Then it would build up enough pressure to push the foam through air vents. I was afraid it was going to blow it out of the bucket. I took the air lock out and cleaned it and then sanitized it again and reinstalled it. It was clogged up within an hour again. Cleaned it again and sanitized it and reinstalled. This time it it just bubbled continuously. I checked it the next day and it was still bubbling but had slowed down to a bubble per minute. I have not seen a bubble after the first 48 hrs. I took a gravity reading and it is 8 points shy of the FG. Should be 1.018 and it is 1.026.The original gravity was 1.063. My question is, should I go with it or pitch more yeast in it?
     
  2. JackHorzempa

    JackHorzempa Grand Pooh-Bah (3,375) Dec 15, 2005 Pennsylvania
    Society Pooh-Bah

    You just had the condition of a vigorous fermentation and not enough head space in your fermenter. What you did here was just fine. Your other option (next time) is to implement a blowoff. If you have a 3 piece airlock a blowoff can be implemented by just putting on flexible transfer tubing on the center piece of the 3-piece airlock:

    [​IMG]

    As regards the situation of your final gravity, can you provide more details here:
    • What was your grain bill (or extract & grain bill)?
    • Which yeast strain did you use?
    • What was your fermentation temperature throughout the fermentation (temperature of the wort/beer)?
    Cheers!
     
  3. scottakelly

    scottakelly Maven (1,487) May 9, 2007 Ohio

    Wait a couple days and recheck your gravity. Your vigorous ferment likely had nothing to do with your high FG.
     
  4. PapaGoose03

    PapaGoose03 Grand High Pooh-Bah (6,057) May 30, 2005 Michigan
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah

    Was your OG reading close to where it should have been, and are you fairly close to the correct quantity of liquid for your recipe? If you are short on the correct liquid amount, that will give you a higher reading, and if you OG was high, then your FG likely will be too. I agree with the above recs -- take a second reading in a few days to determine if the FG is steady or still moving downward.
     
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  5. MIBeerGeek

    MIBeerGeek Initiate (0) Dec 26, 2015 Michigan

    I would let it roll another week or so, gravity should drop another few points at least. Putting you close to your FG mark.

    Cheers
     
  6. Bassnut54

    Bassnut54 Initiate (199) May 24, 2015 Missouri
    Trader

    Thanks for the replies. This is only my 5th batch of beer and the first time I had a vigorous fermentation.

    The grain bill was
    6.3 lbs of Dark LME
    2 lbs Wheat DME.
    Specialty Grains were-
    1 lb English Chocolate Malt
    .5 lb of English Dark Crystal
    .5 lb of English black Malt

    Original gravity should have been 1.065. I have a full 5 gallons of wort. The yeast I used was Danstar Windsor ale.
     
  7. JackHorzempa

    JackHorzempa Grand Pooh-Bah (3,375) Dec 15, 2005 Pennsylvania
    Society Pooh-Bah

    Frankly, giving that 'grain bill' and the yeast of Windsor you should not expect to achieve a FG below 1.020.

    Within the "Dark LME" you have contributions from dark malts and in addition you used 2 lbs. of dark malts as specialty grains. In total you have 'tons' of unfermentable sugars here. In addition Windsor is not a highly attenuating yeast.

    I would be willing to bet 'big bucks' that 1.026 is the lowest you are going to achieve here given the combination of grains/extract and the yeast you used.

    Despite all of this aspect this may indeed be a great Porter. I have a Robust Porter that I brewed a few months ago with an OG = 1.089 and FG = 1.037 and that beer is excellent. Guess what: I used Windsor to brew that batch.:slight_smile:

    Cheers!
     
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  8. VikeMan

    VikeMan Grand Pooh-Bah (3,067) Jul 12, 2009 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah

    Leave it alone and check gravity in another week or so.
    BrewCipher predicts 1.024 for this, which is a bit higher than the 1.018 you were expecting. My guess would be attenuation is finished, or pretty close to it.
     
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  9. Bassnut54

    Bassnut54 Initiate (199) May 24, 2015 Missouri
    Trader

    Thanks guys. This makes me feel better. The instructions in the kit said the FG should be 1.018. I am starting to see the instructions in these kits are pretty basic at times and not very accurate. I will leave it alone and check it again later this week.
     
    PapaGoose03 likes this.
  10. AngryDutchman

    AngryDutchman Zealot (693) Aug 8, 2015 Pennsylvania

    It'll be fine. You'll love it and you have learned something that wasn't in the kit instructions.

    As for the OG/FG, are you adjusting the readings to account for the temperatures at the time you took the samples?
     
    inchrisin likes this.
  11. Bassnut54

    Bassnut54 Initiate (199) May 24, 2015 Missouri
    Trader

    AngryDutchman, no; I am a novice when it comes to brewing and not sure how to adjust the readings. It sounds like I need to take this in to account. Can you point me in the right direction on how to do this? Thanks.
     
  12. VikeMan

    VikeMan Grand Pooh-Bah (3,067) Jul 12, 2009 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah

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  13. Bassnut54

    Bassnut54 Initiate (199) May 24, 2015 Missouri
    Trader

    Well folks, I racked the beer into the secondary fermenter and added my bourbon soaked oak cubes and low and be hold the wort started getting a foam on top and the air lock started bubbling again. My question is, did we wake up the yeast when we racked it in to the carboy or was it the bourbon soaked cubes? It has been bubbling for 3 days now.
     
  14. Brew_Betty

    Brew_Betty Initiate (0) Jan 5, 2015 Wisconsin

    Bubbling always indicates the release of gas from the fermenter and sometimes it indicates fermentation. Introduction of foreign objects such as oak or dry hops provide nucleation points that promote the release of CO2.
     
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