Hi, I'm wondering if someone can provide some advice...
My first all-grain batch has been in the fermenter for 3 weeks and my gravity readings have come in higher than expected at a consistent gravity of 1.015 for the last two days. The beer smells and tastes good, but I'm worried that I won't be able to hit the projected ABV (was 5.1%, coming in now at close to 4%).
OG of 1.045
Projected FG of 1.05
Gravity reading has been at 1.015 for 2 days.
Grain Bill:
7 lbs Pale
3 lbs Victory
.5 lbs Chocolate
.75 lbs Crystal 60
Yeast: Irish Ale Yeast
My strike water was 5.6 gallons at a temp was 160, dropped to a consistent 152 when grain was added. I added another 3.5 gallons to sparge with.
The first week in the fermenter, I kept the temp at 70 and have dropped it down to 65 for the last two weeks. The krausen dropped after 2 days.
My first thought was that this could be a stuck fermentation, but I'm not sure.
So I'm wondering:
-could the volume of sparge water have impacted the level of fermentability?
-is there anything that I could do to increase the ABV at this point? Pitch more yeast? Add some kind of sugar to the fermenter? I just don't want to ruin the beer.
I can live with a lower ABV, but I want to understand what went wrong. I also don't want to try to fix it and wind up ruining it.
Thanks
Chris