Gravity not low enough?

[ABV]

I am new to this first of all. I have brewed 5 different beers so far.(extract) Most everything I have brewed has met or come really close to hitting the specific gravity. Right now I am fermenting a Russian Imperial Stout. The original gravity was supposed to be 1.078-1.082. When I finnished brewing and took a reading, I got a OG of 1.066. After fermenting for a week, I took a reading before racking into the secondary fermenter and I was only at 1.030. The FG is supposed to be at 1.017-1.020. I am a little confused. Do you guys think this beer will finnish fermenting in the secondary to get the correct FG, or did I do something wrong? I am brewing from an extract kit and pitched the yeast right into the fermentor(per instructions). I was hoping for an Imperial Stout, not a stout. Any help or answers would be helpful! Thanks in advance.


Jason

[egens]

You say your using an extract kit. That would make it hard to miss your O.G. by that much. You would have to have forgotten about 2-3 pounds of extract. So, my guess is you actually hit your target O.G., but got a bad hydrometer reading. (I believe this has happened to me too. In my case I think the culprit was not mixing after I topped the carboy up with water. Even though the liquid looked homogeneous, so I got a lower reading than I should have.

Now working from the assumption that you started around 1.080, you're yeast have dropped the beer to 1.030, so 50 gravity points, in about a week. That sounds about right. My guess is that they probably do have at least another 10 points in them, but it will take at least another week to do it. This is a big beer, and big beers take more than a week to reach final gravity.

- Erich

[BigWally]

Did you make a starter or just pitch from the vile or smack pack? Higher gravity beers also need more yeast. If you don't want to make a starter, you may want to pitch two yeast packages into the beer.

[ABV]

I only pitched 1 packet of dry yeast. The instructions told me to pitch it right on top of the wort. I guess Ill let it sit for another week or more and take another reading. Im guessing that there inst much else I can do, but wait?

[BigWally]

With dry yeast you definitely want to rehydrate it before pitching. You could try pitching more yeast. Just don't oxygenate the beer now.

[Dave Warner]

I'd give it some more time. If you see a ton of yeast sediment on the bottom of the fermenter, you could try and gently swirl the fermenter to rouse the yeast beack in suspension. Some yeasts are highly flocculent, meaning they glob onto eachother and protiens and settle out of the fermenting beer. That makes for a clear beer, but can hinder fermentation if there isn't enough yeast to do the job before it starts settling out.

I agree with Big Wally that you underpitched on the yeast. It's one of those things that the kits, and sometimes brew stores and other brewers don't tell you when you first start out. One vial of liquid yeast is good for a low gravity ale. One packet of dry yeast is good for a medium gravity ale. Lagers require 2 to 3 times that. Any stronger than those than that and you should buy more yeast or make a yeast starter. I'd look that up. After fermentation temperature, I'd say pitching the right amount of yeast is the biggest contributer to consistently good beers.

Rehydrating the yeast before you pitch Like Big Wally said helps activate the yeast so it hits the wort running. It isn't really necessary, but it helps. That can help avoid infection by getting a quick start to fermentation. Underpitching yeast could cause some off flavors, but you still should have enough yeast to ferment your beer to completion.

[donniestyle]

You should look into the other threads. There is information on pitching rates. There are web sites with calculators that will help you calculate them. The big vials and big smack packs contain about 100,000,000,000 yeast cells at packaging. A dry yeast packet contains less. Age reduces the amount of viable cells. Using multiple packages will give you the proper cell counts, but still does not mean they will be healthy. You definitely will benefit from making yeast starters.

[snake10]

ABV,
Try swirling your carboy or fermenter. Your fermenter may have gotten cold causing your yeast to drop out and settle to the bottom. If you shake it up and get it warmer your yeast should fire up again and finish out. Just and idea.
Bart

[Guerra]

If you started with dry yeast. Just pitch more dry yeast. Do not rehydrate, just buy two packs, pitch it and hope for the best... IMHO.

Also make sure your fermentor is somewhere that you can keep the temp stable.

You definitely will benefit from making yeast starters.

I agree if using liquid yeast, but it has been documented by some very smart people that dry yeast starters actually kill more yeast cells then they grow...

[ABV]

That beer is long gone now.
It turned out really good, just dont think it was an Imperial Stout. However, I will be pitching two packs/vials of yeast on any high gravity beers that I do from here on out. That is until I start making starters. Thanks for the replys.