There’s plenty, for sure.
I brewed today!
- Thread starter The Brew Mentor
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How's the boil smelling?
Not done one myself but hear the boil can smell pretty wrong.
It smelled sour for sure! Nothing overpowering, but not the sweet wort smell from a normal boil
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Sounds interesting. I can see myself using it, probably start with a sour hazy IPA (I've had a few I enjoy and a few I don't). Though it's not in either of the local stores yet.
Just saw the ad in zymurgy today. Sounds interesting for sure
It appears that I have my first stalled/stuck fermentation. After noticing little obvious fermentation activity, twice I have swirled the carboys to try to wake things up. This morning, I drew a tiny sample, and refractometer read ~1.025 - recipe final gravity expected 1.013. Should I buy another packet of same (or similar) yeast, or pitch some 3rd generation US-05 slurry?
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(Assuming the refractometer was adjusted for alcohol)
How long has it been fermenting overall? Anything about the process that makes you think it wouldn’t have fermented out as planned? High mash temp? Old yeast? Just spitballing here...
I’d be inclined to swirl again and raise the temp a few degrees.
Good luck.
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As Megary said, you need to correct the refractometer reading when alcohol is present. If you haven't done that you'll want to read this page and all of the pages linked on it.
https://www.brewersfriend.com/refractometer-calculator/
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What yeast are you using? Some Belgians like to "stall" (they actually keep fermenting, just very slowly) at or around that gravity. After that, the questions about use of a refractometer are valid: Are you correcting it for alcohol (BF has a correction calculator)?
To all above - refractometer reading is not corrected for alcohol, but I suspect it is close to true. The yeast is LalBrew Abbaye Belgian Style Ale, with November 2020 expiration - the packet seemed a little “old” and was chosen as a last resort. I brewed on Monday June 29 - yeast was rehydrated according to package directions, and seemed lively when pitched. Fermentation activity was evident not long after, but there was no krausen. I do not have temperature control, using a cool interior closet for fermentation (~72 degrees F). Activity seemed to stop within about 4 days of pitching.
Thoughts?
Thoughts?
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Post the OG and I'll correct the reading for you. It won't be exact because I have no way of knowing the WRI that's specific to your refractometer, but it will be within a gravity point or 2, so you'll know where you really stand.
Hi Bob - OG was 1.048 (hydrometer).
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Your SG is 1.011 +/- .002
Good news!
So it appears that the yeast might have just blown thru the fermentable sugars, and now is in clean up mode. From here, I’ll just let it ride for the normal 3 weeks in primary. It should be ready for bottling on or around Monday July 20.
Thanks @BOB357 and others for responding. I need to do the calculations for the wort refraction index (WRI).
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A refractometer is almost a must for small batch brewers, but it takes a bit of setting up beyond zeroing with distilled water in order to be accurate. Once you're zeroed and have calculated your WRI, it'll all but replace your hydrometer.
There is only one advantage I can think of post fermentation of a hydrometer is you can drink your sample and get a taste of how the beer is tracking.
Yes there's not much you can do at this point to help what's been before but it can give you the green light for packaging or for adding other nefarious additives to tweek final beer.
Yes there's not much you can do at this point to help what's been before but it can give you the green light for packaging or for adding other nefarious additives to tweek final beer.
Thanks again! This reiterates the fact that I need to determine the WRI correction factor for my refractometer. I wonder if it’s possible to do so using past measurements, of which I have many.
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If you have OG measurements from both hydrometer and refractometer that will work. If not, you can use the WRI average as you collect samples. You may be off a point or 2, but it's better than no readings at all.
