Another kit bites the dust......

Denis7

I managed to get my hands on a free Finlandia Winter Ale kit, this is the 5th kit brew I've attempted since starting in March. Before this one I made a Coopers real Ale with a kilo of spray malt and I used Muntons Premium Gold yeast, anyway, I bottled it at 1014 which it was at for 8 days despite gently trying to rouse it to get the FG down, OG was 1044. I was wondering WTF FG was so high. I had a bottle of it and its ok after 4 weeks. The Finlandia Ale is a case of dejavous cos its been 19 days in the fermenter with a FG of 1016 (OG was 1040). I again used Muntons Premium Gold Yeast and I'm beginning to think that therein might lie the problem. I also used a kilo of light spray malt, and I dry pitched the yeast both times. I've kept the Finlandia ale at a fairly constant 22c, tried to rouse it 5 days ago but it aint budging. It smells great and tastes ok, can anyone point me in the right direction with this? The people at homebrewwest were kind enough to give me the kit for free, wanting a review in return and I'm fairly pissed off that I might have blown it - twice in a row.

guildofevil

I am unfamiliar with that yeast, so I can't tell you from personal experience, but Googling around, I found it referred to as a moderately attenuative yeast, so it would be expected to leave some stuff behind. If you want a highly attenuative yeast, try Danstar Nottingham.

On the other hand...

If you are having difficulty getting your beer to attenuate, you might consider substituting some of the DME with sugar. I know we say not to use sugar, use DME instead, but that is really more about not using the 1kg of sugar recommended by the instructions on the side of a budget beer kit.

Sugar is 100% fermentable where DME is about 75% fermentable, so it leaves nice flavourful stuff behind.

If you use 500g of DME and 500g of sugar your beer will attenuate more. If you use 1kg of sugar and not DME it may well attenuate too far, leaving you with a thin, flavourless beer, which is why we recommend DME.

It's all about finding what's right for you.

Denis7

Thanks for the reply. You've confirmed my suspicions about DME as a previous batch of ale went the same way, again with a kilo of DME. No harm done though, other than having 40 bottles of malty 3.6% ABV winter ale. Its only my 5th batch but I will definitely be reducing the amount of DME I use with kit beer. Anyway, I'm going to try extract brewing shortly and will be bearing in mind your suggestion of Danstar Nottingham. Thanks

Bigcheeze

Are the beers too sweet or have too much body for your liking ? If not, then there's no point in chasing gravity numbers. There's nothing wrong with a beer finishing at 1.014, it's within normal range. If you add sugar, you'll get a drier, thinner beer so add sugar if that's what you want to achieve but don't do it just to reach a gravity number.

Also, 22 is a little on the high side for fermentation temperature. 20 or below is safer.

Saruman

For me, room temp of 18c is what you want, unless you are aiming for higher alcohols, phenols and esters like say a Belgian dubbel or something.

The beer sounds like it will be just fine. Plenty of body I would say. Enjoy it and learn as you go along.

Denis7

The beer tastes fine, its just that I like a strong ale, like Theakstons Old Peculier (5.6%) say. I'll see what its like in a month or so, I am enjoying the learning though and its always great to get feedback, thank you Saruman and Bigcheeze.

Bigcheeze

If you're looking for more strength you could add more extract and reduce the water by a litre or two to get the OG higher.

adamski8

Denis7 wrote: »

I managed to get my hands on a free Finlandia Winter Ale kit........I again used Muntons Premium Gold Yeast and I'm beginning to think that therein might lie the problem.

why are you using this yeast? the finlandia kit came with its own yeast, why didnt you use this?

jay leavy

I have the ame problem at the moment with a Findlandia kit - a "traditionel" one. I think its an ale. Brewed it, pitched re-hydrated yeast. The yeast seemed not to be doing much when i re-hydrated in the wort for 15 mins - no foaming or anything, but it did seem to break up and sink into it. There is condensation, a nice smell but no airlock activity after 2 days.

i have had previous experieince of yeasts behaving differently and not immediately causing airlock activity. Woiuld this be true of ale yeasts? I used the kit yeast supplied. Its been holding at about 19 c temp wise. I have not bothered to get out the hydrometer yet. It was a 1kg kit - I added 500g DME and 500 g dextrose. The OG then was only 1028 I think - when mixed to 20 litres, so I added another about 15o g dextrose and got it up to 1030.

So I will wait and see, any advice?

And to the original poster - I did a Brewferm Gallia (from Homebrew west) with just dextrose (550 gr), OG 1050, FG 1012. It was a bit frothy at first and slightly over carbonated (2 carb drops in each bottle) but after 4 weeks in the bottle this has been one of my nicest ales to date. It was a 12 litre brew, gone far too quickly, I must do another one with better fermentables adn add less sugar when bottling. Also don't drink beers out of glasses with the laser etching in the bottom, it makes them too frothy.

BeerNut

jay leavy wrote: »

any advice?

Don't use the airlock as an indicator of fermentation activity.

Is there krausen (foam) on top of the wort?

Saruman

If there is no airlock activity, either the seal is not sealing it correctly or else it is possible you missed it. Some yeast can go mad very quickly and you missed all the activity while you were asleep and now the yeast is working more slowly.

A hydrometer reading is the only real way to know. If it is less than it was going in, then the yeast is working fine.

jay leavy

thanks beernut and saruman

there is a thin layer of scum on top of the wort and it just started some airlock activity tonight at around 9.30 - exactly 24 hours after it was brewed.

So I will leave it be as its busy and use the hydrometer coming up to the weekend to see what its doing.

cheers

Saruman

Ah, only 24 hours. That can be very normal depending on the yeast and temp of the room.

homebrew.ie

you do need at least 24 hours before most things kick off but id be a but concerned by 2 carb drops in a bottle what size bottle do you use jay leavey??? noting worse that bottling 40 hand grenades:-)