The last two batches I've made, the gravity didn't go down far enough, leaving us with around 3-4% less ABV than we expected. I'm not sure what could be causing this. With one beer, an IPA, the beer still turned out quite tasty, though at 4.7% ABV instead of the expected ~7%. The latest beer, what was supposed to be an imperial red ale turned out to be an extremely sweet, 3.7% ABV mess. What are some things that could cause this? Bad yeast? Underpitching? We didn't make a yeast starter, could that have led to under-fermentation? Starting a new batch next week and don't want to repeat the same mistakes. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.
It was partial grain. We steeped grains, but used malt extracts. Here's the recipe for the IPA: http://ldcarlson.com/public catalog/Brewers Best Recipes/1065.pdf I don't have the recipe for the red on hand, but it was the same partial grain brew. Both used dry yeast. The OG for the IPA was, I believe, 1.060, or so. The OG for the red was 1.068, and only went down to 1.042. The IPA was in the primary for a week, then racked to secondary and dry hopped for another week, then bottled. The red was in primary for 3 then bottled. Temperature should be around room temp, though it likely fluctuates around a bit to the colder side since it's winter.
Was it an actual brewers best kit or did you just buy the ingredients based on that recipe? If it was a bb kit, do you know how old it was? Old extract + old yeast is what I'm leaning towards.
Yes, it was an actual Brewer's Best kit. The second kit was not, however, it was just a collected set of ingredients, not a branded kit.
It is my un-expert opinion you have a bunch of very dangerous bottle bombs on your hands. The beer more than likely was not done fermenting (1.042 is very high fg. I would move the beers to a cold refridgerator to stop potential refermentation immediatly to be safe. What was the fermentation temperature? type of yeast?
Not sure on the type of yeast. It likely said on the packet but I don't remember off hand/threw out the packaging. As I said earlier, temp was likely around room temp, likely fluctuating a bit cooler due to winter. I don't really have the option of moving them to a fridge, since there's no room for 20 bottles in my fridge. I opened one a few weeks ago and didn't experience any explosions. Is there any way to tell if there will be possible explosions?
I agree with jmich. You are gonna have some bombs in a couple weeks. 1.042 is very high to bottle. If I were you I would open rag bottle and let the gas escape, re-cap and repeat a week later. Next time leave it in the primary for 3 weeks and dry hop in primary in the 4th week.
Casting my vote for 'incomplete fermentation - ambient temperature to cold.' The good news is this problem is relatively easy to fix. - Wrap the fermentor in a blanket to conserve heat or buy an electric belt. - Set the fermetor on a folded blanket to reduce heat loss through the bottom. - Get the fermentor off the floor where the temperature can be 3 - 5°F colder (2 - 3°C).
I'm gonna say underpitching and under-oxygenating. 1.060 is right on the edge of the recommended starting gravtiy for 11 grams of dry yeast which most packs are. also need to make sure when transferring from kettle to fermenter to let the wort splash so there is oxygen to get the yeasties starting fast. if you're using US-05 you should almost always finish around 1.010
I disagree. An 11 gram pack of yeast should be plenty for 5 gallons of 1.060. Mr Malty suggests 12 grams, but "underpitching" by such a small amount should have little to no impact noticeable on fermentation.
