Re: Help My Kit Has Stopped Fermenting

kippa7 · Post by **kippa7** » Fri Oct 02, 2009 8:44 am

Brilliant.
Readings tonight and tomorrow then. If all is good i'll bottle on saturday (day8) or i might hold off until sunday (day 9).

Cheers Parv.

kippa7 · Post by **kippa7** » Tue Oct 06, 2009 1:21 pm

OK, so now my Munton Smugglers premium has stopped fermenting too.
After 24 hours it was bubbling away nicely, then stopped after 4 days.
Hydrometer reading was 1018.

Left it two more days, no action.
Hydrometer reading was 1018

Two days later, no action. Did a HR which remained at 1018.
Threw in a spoon of muntons enhancer and half a sachet of new yeast.
Gave a stir...... hoping for the best.

No further bubbling at all since.
Im taking a HR tonight to see if theres been any change.
If not.... should i just keg and prime it as it is right away?????

ANy advice please lads????

Parva · Post by **Parva** » Wed Oct 07, 2009 12:43 am

Leave it for a day and see if it drops anymore. If it doesn't then go ahead and keg / bottle it as normal. 1.018 is about the highest I would want to end up on a moderate strength beer and it should hopefully have fermented enough to give you a beer with a lot of body and still retain bitterness. Anything above 1.018 and you're going to have a sweetness that's unwelcome in a pint of bitter but if it does stick at 1.018 I would still go ahead and keg / bottle it.

Having said that, if I were doing secondary fermentation (I don't due to force-carbing cornie kegs) I would still keg / bottle it even if it were 1.020, there's a good chance that the secondary fermentation could kick in and munch some of the additional sugars left from primary fermentation and get you down nearer the target. If bottling I would definitely aim to underprime (1/4 teaspoon of sugar per bottle instead of 1/2) just in case it really got going again, don't want bottle / fizz bombs.

Prime as normal if kegging though.

Edit: Doh, I just made a confusing post there. IF it stays at 1.018 and you're bottling it, prime as normal (1/2 tsp sugar per bottle), if it was 1.020 (I know it's not) then the above applies, cut down to 1/4 tsp. Kegging either at 1.018 or 1.020 just prime as normal.

kippa7 · Post by **kippa7** » Wed Oct 07, 2009 11:33 am

Parva to the rescue yet again - cheers mate.

I took a reading last night. Down slightly to around 1016 in 3 days. Cant see it dropping any more to be honest though.

Im up to day 10 of primary fermentation now, so im going to take another reading tomorrow (thurs night) if it remains at 1016 then i will keg, but i cant do this until saturday - which would be day 13...... Is this too long for primary fermentation? And are there any implications of this?

Bottled my pilsner successfully on the weekend. This has been in the warm for a few days, and will be sent to my garage tonight for 21 days before i attempt a tasting session. Bottled 40 pints, so should last me a while.

On the weekend im starting off my last 2 kits before christmas Muntons Santas Winter warmer & Midas touch. Thats it then for this year.
Hopefully the winter warmer will be just about ready for some seasonal guzzling!!!

Just the one question this time Parv - if you dont mind pal!!

Parva · Post by **Parva** » Wed Oct 07, 2009 6:41 pm

Two weeks in the FV isn't unheard of, I've done it many times with no ill-effects.

Indeed I never keg before day 10 anyway. 1.016 is just fine, mine tend to finish at 1.015 and are invariably very good and in fact I wouldn't want to go much lower than this as you start to lose 'body'. I'm sure yours will be a cracker.

kippa7 · Post by **kippa7** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 9:26 am

Thanks again for the help Parv.
HR last night was 1016 again.
I'll prime and keg on saturday morning.

The kit says to add a maximum of 85g of enhancer/sugar for priming.

I added 100g to my lager (as you suggested 100-150g) - would it hurt to do the same for the smugglers ale?

Parva · Post by **Parva** » Thu Oct 08, 2009 2:19 pm

As you're kegging it it will be absolutely fine.

kippa7 · Post by **kippa7** » Fri Oct 09, 2009 9:03 am

good man Parv.
Why dont you just come round and brew it for me mate!!!

Parva · Post by **Parva** » Sat Oct 10, 2009 4:22 am

kippa7 wrote:good man Parv.
Why dont you just come round and brew it for me mate!!!

Hehe, sounds like it's all done now anyway.

deanrpwaacs · Post by **deanrpwaacs** » Thu Dec 10, 2009 11:43 pm

ok , i am on my fourth kit now the first was a admirals reserve, the second a milestone black pearl both bottled and i now have a bargain brew dark mild in the F V 10 days(i know it was the only one they had

) with B K E and a dash of black treacle,and a DITCHES stout in the F V 5 days but i just cant seem to get any of these below 1012,i brew at a steady 20c and had tried giving the black pearl a stir but this didnt drop so was bottled,and the mild was stired but no joy,the ads also was bottled after 12 days.
Is it me ? My hydrometer reads 1.000 in water at room temp so i hope this is ok.
Or should i be a little more patient.

dunc · Post by **dunc** » Fri Dec 11, 2009 1:56 am

1012 doesn't sound bad, particularly for the stout. I wouldn't worry, if they've further to drop they'll do it in conditioning anyway, that's not a bad FG mate. the FG stated on the kits is far too low for what you generally end up with, particularly if using owt other than sugar as fermentables. You'll still have decent beer

scottmoss · Post by **scottmoss** » Fri Dec 11, 2009 9:18 am

Hi,

My black pearl has been in the fermentor for 14 days now! Took a reading yesterday and it was at 1014! I've been gently stirring it everyday since monday! Hopfully I can bottle it on saturday.

Roy · Post by **Roy** » Thu Apr 15, 2010 2:13 pm

Made up an out of date Brew Buddy bitter kit last week, (second out of date kit so I know there's nothing wrong with them)

1kg light dme
pot of honey, boiled,
50g EKG steeped in a hop tea for 30 mins
Sachet of Nottingham yeast.

Was slow to start and eventually started around 36-48 days after pitching the yeast. It's been stuck at 1020 since Saturday.

Was the same on Tuesday so i roused the sediment with sanitised beer making spoon, added half a tsp of youngs yeast enhancer and pitched the original yeast sachet that came with the kit.

Will leave it a day or two and take another reading although i'm pretty sure i've got duff nottingham yeast after reading a few threads about it

krisleeds · Post by **krisleeds** » Thu Jul 01, 2010 2:24 pm

Young's lager kit (yeah, i know!!)

Its been in my garage in Costa del Whitkirk (At a steady 20 C) for 10 days now and seems fermentation is stuck on 1.010ish. The bucket lid still has pressure on it almost every day though....

However i didnt take an initial reading as its my first go and wasnt aware i should've....

Kit instructions says gravity needs to be 1.006 or lower....

Questions are:

Is 1.010 low enough? Or should i wang it in the airing cupboard for a day or two?

Is there a way to establish the strength without the initial and end gravity readings?

Cheers!

Beer O'Clock · Post by **Beer O'Clock** » Thu Jul 01, 2010 3:14 pm

krisleeds wrote:
Questions are:

Is 1.010 low enough? Or should i wang it in the airing cupboard for a day or two?

Is there a way to establish the strength without the initial and end gravity readings?

All suggested FGs given in instructions are a target, and like darts sometimes you hit it, sometimes you don't. Take a reading over a couple of days. If it stays the same then it's finished.

While there appears to be no calculation of ABV without an OG, I like Ditch's philosophy regards alcoholic strength. Drink a couple. If you fall over it's strong. If you are still standing it's not.

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