Two weeks ago i brewed NB’s number 8 all grain. It was my first strong ale and my fourth all grain brew(i started all grain). The OG was 1.081 @ 67F. I only used one smack pack that was in a starter for 24 hours. Fermentation was at about 65-68(lower acceptable end). Despite all the reviews i read, there wasnt a tremendous amount of foam. I never had to use a blow off and the krausen didnt seem to go over 3 inches high. Today, after only two weeks, i took a reading and it was already 1.01. I’m a little concerned that its too low and will go even lower in the following weeks. Am i worrying over nothing? What does it mean if the FG is too low?
It smells great, but upon tasting doesnt seem to have very much body.
Ive been debating how long to keep it in primary before moving to secondary. Since the gravity is already so low should i just move it to secondary and leave it in secondary for (?) how long? Ive read of people leaving this beer in secondary for up to 3 months. I’m in no hurry and want this beer to be its best, so what should i do? 3 total weeks in primary and 2 months in secondary? then pitch extra yeast prior to bottling?
Finally are these floaters just remnants of the krausen?:
Never brewed that kit but 1.010 doesn’t seem to low, there is a lot of sugar in the recipe and the instructions same to mash at 149. sounds to me like it was designed to finish dry.
The floaters ate yeast. Sounds lime you mashed low. Never made this beer so don’t know what the intended final product is. I would secondary for 2 months then bottle. You can add a neutral yeast but doubt its needed.
Leave it in the primary until hydrometer readings confirm fermentation is complete. Then add one more week of time in the primary for the yeast to finish cleaning up off flavors produced by the fermentation.
Body will develop with conditioning whether this is done in the bottle or a secondary vessel.
Just typos. I’m sure Loopie meant “the floaters ARE yeast. Sounds LIKE you mashed low”.
Flars and Loopie have both given good advice. If you choose to bottle condition instead of secondary, make sure you try and keep the bottles at or around 55-70 degrees, don’t put them in the fridge. Then after conditioning, give them at least 24-48 hours in the fridge before drinking. This allows the co2 to absorb fully into the beer.
Yeah sorry about the typos. When you mash low it produces more beta enzymes that are easily consumed by yeast resulting in a “dry” beer with little body.
