High FG

What went wrong? Was this supposed to happen? Should I throw it out? What do I do now?

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Eddie O.
Posts: 6
Joined: Tue Jan 29, 2008 10:16 pm

High FG

Post by Eddie O. »

Hello, I am looking for an answer to my problem.

I brewed a lite ale, and the OG was close to the predicted, then after a week in the primary fermenter I transfered it into the the secondary fermenter. When I did that I took a SG reading and it was 1.012. Then last night I took another reading because I was going to bottle it. The FG was still 1.012, me being a new brewer and this batch being for my dad, I went ahead and bottled it. Now today I am having some worries.

Will this beer over carbonate in the bottle?

What went wrong?

What should I have done instead of bottling it?

Will it taste bad?

This was my first attempt at brewing something lite, I am not a lite fan but my dad only drinks lite beer.


PLEASE HELP!


Recipe:

3.3 lbs. Liquid Light Extract info
1.0 lbs. Dry Extra Light Extract info
.25 lbs. Cane Sugar info
0.4 oz. Whitbread Golding (WGV) (Pellets, 4.5 %AA) boiled 50 min.
0.6 oz. Whitbread Golding (WGV) (Pellets, 4.5 %AA) boiled 15 min.
Yeast : Munton-Fison Active Brewing Yeast info
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billvelek
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Sounds like fermentation was finished

Post by billvelek »

My fermentations are usually finished in a week and the gravity normally doesn't change in secondary for me, so I don't think you have anything to worry about. A final gravity reading of 1.012 is not unusual, and is influenced by various factors, such as the amount of unfermentables which is determined by the type of grain you use and your mash schedule, or the brand of extract you use, the original gravity, and even by the type of yeast you use and its health.

If you are really worried, open a bottle and see if it gushes; you can open one each day or two, especially if they are well carbonated, to keep checking (naturally, drink the beer). If you ever get a gusher from one that you haven't dropped, then that is a sign that something is wrong -- either overcarbonated or possibly infected; you should immediately refrigerate as many as possible, or put them in an ice chest and ice them down real good and then transfer to the refrigerator when you have room. The cold will cause the yeast to flocculate and stop carbonating the beer any further, and the cold will also reduce pressure within the bottles. Also, if it was a bad gusher, then you won't know how close the bottles are to being bombs, so be VERY careful; I'd wear glasses, gloves, and long sleeves (probably a coat or field jacket for no longer than the transfer should take), and don't shake the bottles any more than necessary.

Cheers.

Bill Velek
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