I think I could use some advice from those of you who are more experienced than I.
2 weeks ago I brewed an English Barley Wine beer. I used approx. 5 Kg CPM as well a 1 Kg malt extract & 1kg invert sugar. The volume turned out to be approx. 15L and my OG was 1130. I used Danstar Nottingham dried Yeast and yeast supplement after a week. The supplier assured me the yeast would cope with the high gravity. All seems well. It smells and tastes good. For a light coloured beer it has great depth of flavour, quite a lot of sweetness and an almost syrupy feel in the mouth. The FG, if this is the end, is 1040 and this starts the alarm bells ringing. There is another week of fermentation to go following the recipe but I have just racked the beer for the second time and the yeast was well settled and the beer reasonably clear so I think there isn't much fermentation left to occur.
My questions are
1. I was expecting a FG of 1026 (as per recipe) but since my OG was higher than the recipe 1130 instead of 1122 does that mean I should accept a higher FG?
2. How long can I afford to wait to see if the FG does come down?
3. When I bottle the beer do I add primer sugar (& assume the yeast is alive) or do I and add a live yeast and primer sugar culture (& assume the yeast is dead) like they do with Worthington White Shield? Or do I assume the yeast is alive and there is enough residual sugar, in the beer to produce a secondary fermentation, so no need for additional primer? I don't want to have bottles exploding.
Barley wine (English-style)
20L grain mash + extract
OG =1122, FG=1026.
Target ABV = 14.2%?
Ingredients
5.1kg Maris Otter malt
240g Crushed Crystal Malt
67g Goldings Hops (60 mins)
1.0kg Light dried premium malt extract (30 mins)
1.0kg Sucrose (30 mins)
12g Fuggles Hops (20 mins)
1 tsp Irish Moss (15 mins)
8g Fuggles Hops (flameout)
Brewer?s Yeast ? Danstar Nottingham dried Yeast
1 pkt Youngs Finings (7 days)
? tsp Yeast nutrients (7 days)
Method:
Liquor - treat 15L water with AMS (20ml) & DWB (12g). Heat to strike 70 ?C
Mash grains at 66 ?C in 15L treated liquor for 60 mins. Stir & raise temp to 76 ?C for 20 mins.
Sparge with 77 ?C water to a volume of approx. 20L.
Weigh hops & tie up in separate muslin bags.
Boil: Add Goldings at start, Malt extract & Invert brewing sugar at 30 mins, Fuggles for last 20 mins & Irish moss 15 mins before end boil. Add invert brewing sugar. Stop boil at 60 mins. Wort volume should be approx. 15L. Add Fuggles hops at flameout and soak for 15 mins
Ice Bath: Chill wort rapidly using ice bath Take OG reading
Ferment: Hydrate yeast with cooled kettle water & pitch starter at 20 ?C. Skim every day.
7 days later: Rack & fine in new FV. Add yeast nutrient & stir.
14 days later: After fermentation is finished, rack in new FV & take FG reading.
Prime: each bottle with 1.5g white sugar and bottle. Mature for 8-12 weeks.
2 weeks ago I brewed an English Barley Wine beer. I used approx. 5 Kg CPM as well a 1 Kg malt extract & 1kg invert sugar. The volume turned out to be approx. 15L and my OG was 1130. I used Danstar Nottingham dried Yeast and yeast supplement after a week. The supplier assured me the yeast would cope with the high gravity. All seems well. It smells and tastes good. For a light coloured beer it has great depth of flavour, quite a lot of sweetness and an almost syrupy feel in the mouth. The FG, if this is the end, is 1040 and this starts the alarm bells ringing. There is another week of fermentation to go following the recipe but I have just racked the beer for the second time and the yeast was well settled and the beer reasonably clear so I think there isn't much fermentation left to occur.
My questions are
1. I was expecting a FG of 1026 (as per recipe) but since my OG was higher than the recipe 1130 instead of 1122 does that mean I should accept a higher FG?
2. How long can I afford to wait to see if the FG does come down?
3. When I bottle the beer do I add primer sugar (& assume the yeast is alive) or do I and add a live yeast and primer sugar culture (& assume the yeast is dead) like they do with Worthington White Shield? Or do I assume the yeast is alive and there is enough residual sugar, in the beer to produce a secondary fermentation, so no need for additional primer? I don't want to have bottles exploding.
Barley wine (English-style)
20L grain mash + extract
OG =1122, FG=1026.
Target ABV = 14.2%?
Ingredients
5.1kg Maris Otter malt
240g Crushed Crystal Malt
67g Goldings Hops (60 mins)
1.0kg Light dried premium malt extract (30 mins)
1.0kg Sucrose (30 mins)
12g Fuggles Hops (20 mins)
1 tsp Irish Moss (15 mins)
8g Fuggles Hops (flameout)
Brewer?s Yeast ? Danstar Nottingham dried Yeast
1 pkt Youngs Finings (7 days)
? tsp Yeast nutrients (7 days)
Method:
Liquor - treat 15L water with AMS (20ml) & DWB (12g). Heat to strike 70 ?C
Mash grains at 66 ?C in 15L treated liquor for 60 mins. Stir & raise temp to 76 ?C for 20 mins.
Sparge with 77 ?C water to a volume of approx. 20L.
Weigh hops & tie up in separate muslin bags.
Boil: Add Goldings at start, Malt extract & Invert brewing sugar at 30 mins, Fuggles for last 20 mins & Irish moss 15 mins before end boil. Add invert brewing sugar. Stop boil at 60 mins. Wort volume should be approx. 15L. Add Fuggles hops at flameout and soak for 15 mins
Ice Bath: Chill wort rapidly using ice bath Take OG reading
Ferment: Hydrate yeast with cooled kettle water & pitch starter at 20 ?C. Skim every day.
7 days later: Rack & fine in new FV. Add yeast nutrient & stir.
14 days later: After fermentation is finished, rack in new FV & take FG reading.
Prime: each bottle with 1.5g white sugar and bottle. Mature for 8-12 weeks.