Fast Ferment Test

[Rhyno]

Hi all,

 

I recently read about doing a Fast Ferment Test and decided to do one for my Dunkel I am brewing at the moment. I took a decent sample of the wort and pitched 1/2 packet of S23, and then let it ferment at room temp, and also chucked it in the HWC for awhile.

 

The only thing is it came out quite a bit higher than what I was expecting, so my question is, can they be trusted?

 

I was expecting to achieve a FG of 1.014, the FFT FG came out at 1.018. Now my OG was bang on so I know that's not an issue. I am wondering if fermenting at those temps the yeast has had too big of an orgy and is too spent to finish of the job?

 

Currently my brew is sitting at 1.025, fermenting away happily at 10c. Should I be trusting the Fast Ferment Test as when I should be racking to secondary and largering or should I just wait until everything stops and do it then.

 

Cheers guys

[Andrew]

We do them here at our brewery and the fast ferment attenuates about 5-6% more than the actual brew. You really need to do a few to see how they compare with your typical ferments, which isn't easy if you use different yeast all the time. I'd use them as a guideline but unless you do alot to get some data I wouldn't live and die by them.They will tell you if you have a major issue though.

[Rhyno]

Cheers for your reply Andrew.

I will wait and see what happens with this one, but I am slightly concerned seeing as though the Fast Ferment only attenuated at 66% when I was expecting 74%. The fact you have said your FFt's come out at 5-6% more has me reaching for another drink!

[Rhyno]

Well, the FG of the brew came out at 1.022 :( Guess I did have a major issue after all.

 

I have just bottled now after 4 weeks largering @ 0.5C, lovely malt aroma with very nice colour and clarity, just gutted about the FG.

 

Oh well, onto the next one................