Question re final SG of St. peter's ale kit.

flyboy69

I have a St. Peter's ruby red ale 3kg all malt kit in the fermentor at the moment. When I started there was plenty of airlock activity for 3/4 days and now nothing for the last couple of days. The SG is reading 1.020. Is this reading normal for a final SG for this kit? It is higher than the final SG readings I got for my last two beer kits (they were not 3kg kits, hence my confusion).
Is it OK to go ahead and bottle?

slayerking

That sounds very high, I wouldn't bottle just yet.

What was the original gravity?

Airlock is an ok indication that theirs fermentation happening, but its not a good indication that fermentation has stopped (lid may not be completely air tight).
The best way to know when fermentation is finished is to take 2-3 successive readings, over a few days. If there's no change in the gravity, then its more than likely finished.

flyboy69

the OG, if memory serves was 1.048. I should have written it down:(.

I just checked again and reading 1.018, patience required me thinks!

I will take your advice slayerking and check for successive readings over the comming days.

slayerking

Yea, the hardest thing about brewing beer is the penance til its ready!!!:)

Best to wait, bottle bombs are not good!!!
Even leaving it a little longer after its finished fermenting completely is a good idea. Gives the yeast time to clean up after itself.

Let us know how things go.:cool:

flyboy69

It's over a week now since my last post and I thought that I would have my brew bottled by now, but it's still fermenting away although very very slowly.The lack of action in the airlock, I reckon was caused by the bung not being snug in the opening of the lid(probably loosened when removing the lid to check on the SG). I now make sure it's tight fitting when replacing the lid after each check of the SG. The reading today is 1.014. I am going to be very busy for the next week and a half and won't get a chance to do any bottling, so I am hoping that if the fermentation finishes soon that by sitting in the fermenter for so long won't have any adverse effects on the brew.

mayto

It is probably very near or finished fermenting at 1014. If the reading stays the same for a few days you should be good to bottle.

flyboy69

The brew is now bottled. The final SG settled at 1.014. Took a taste for quality control purposes:rolleyes: and even at this early stage tastes good. Looking forward to the time its ready for drinking proper.

Shiny

I'm having the exact same issue with this kit. I came across this thread while trying to troubleshoot it.

My SG was 1020 yesterday and still 1020 today after 7 days. I'm extremely paranoid about oxidation now as I took out the airlock with the intention of bottling until I saw how high the gravity was and put it back in. There has been no airlock activity since so I assume all that oxygen that got in is just sitting there on top of my beer???

If it doesn't go any further that will leave me with a paltry 3.25% beer plus maybe another 0.5% from priming the bottles ?

mayto

Your beer should be fine but the finishing gravity is still high alright.You could try rousing the yeast very gently at the bottom of the fermenter with a sanitised paddle. Fermentation could slow if the fermentation temp is below 18C, you do not want it over 22C really either. A lot of kit instructions are pretty poor and rush you to bottling too quickly. I would usually ferment for about 10 days and then transfer to a second fermenter for a week before bottling of kegging.

Shiny

I gave it a good stir there this evening and threw in a few grains of yeast nutrient to *encourage* it a bit.

The temperature is generally around 20 - 22deg so that shouldn't be slowing it in that respect.

BPH

Quick query if any one here is keeping an eye on this. I've just brewed my St. Peters Ruby Red last night, from people who have already brewed it how long did you leave it in the fermenter before bottling ? Transfer to secondary fermenter or straight to bottle. Any tips appreciated. Thanks.

BeerNut

Same as any kit: give it a minimum of two weeks and there's no need to secondary unless you really want to.

padre78

HI all.
I am a novice at brewing and this kit is only my second ever brew. The first one was mangrove jacks pale ale kit which i was very happy with fir a first brew.

I was having the same problems with the FG of the St. Peters kit. After two weeks in the fermenter the FG is 1014/1012 and has been for two days so i am thinking it may be ready for the bottle. I am a bit concerned with the colour though its more golden brown than ruby red, is this something to be concerned about?

I also noticed a nice bit of sediment when i take a sample so maybe the fermentation didn't have full effect? i dunno.

I noticed the temp this morning on it as 16/18 degrees so maybe its too cold?

Anyway, having sipped the sample it seems to taste very similar to the pale ale that i brewed just a few weeks ago, if thats how it turns out it wont go astray but a bit disappointed the ruby red didn't materialise.

Any help is greatly appreciated and a big thans to all of you for your comments so far which have got me hooked on this already!!!!!

mordeith

I've made the St Peters Ruby Red and it cleared and had a nice reddish tint after 2-3 weeks in the keg.