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Refermentation of Beer

MRMARTINSALES

Grandmaster Brewer
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Hi,

I have a homebrew kit, small plastic one where you use the  malt extract kits.

I made a huge mistake and transferred my fermenting beer into the conditioinig tub before it was completely fermented.

Is there any way i can get fermentation going again in the fermenter or is it too late?

Its been conditioning for about a week now.
 
Are you talking like a Mr Beer type kit?

How do you know that you transferred it too soon?

How did you determine that it's not continuing to ferment? The lack of airlock activity doesn't mean much.

What temperature is the brew?
 
Yes thats what im talking about.

Well the kit says that it should reach around 7% it started at 1.070 and got down to 1.040 which is around 3.9%

But when it was fermenting the  head just went after a few days so i assumed it had finished fermentation, i broke my hydrometer so couldnt check so took a chance.

It was fermenting at 20'C. It is not in a garage which is cold (maybe 6'c)

Thanks
 
I'm not too familiar with those kits, but I may be able to answer your questions.

I did discover when I first started brewing and used extract kits that hydrometer readings were not always accurate because there was a tendency to get wort stratification. If the Krausen (the foamy stuff on top) fell, then active fermentation should be close to completed, but the yeast still works for awhile after to "clean up" after itself. I got in the habit of leaving my beers in the primary for a week or two before racking off the yeast cake to a secondary. The exceptions are my wheats which I want a little cloudy, my Belgians that can take more time, or my imperial beers which take more time.

You could try a small sample of your beer, I've done that when there is a question about the quality of a brew. My method is to sanitize a glass shot glass and take a sample (if I'm dipping it, I'll sanitize my hand too, I use Starsan). A gravity reading of 1.040 will be undrinkably sweet. If that's the case, you will need to warm the brew to around 65-70 degrees F. Not sure what the Celsius temperature would be. If fermentation doesn't restart after a day, you'll probably have to pitch more yeast and maintain a warm temperature.
 
Greetings - I highly recommend replacing your hydrometer. It's impossible to effectively brew without one.
 
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