Possible Stuck Fermentation:

KELLEHERC · 08-20-2009, 01:17 PM

Hello All,

I think I may have a batch not fermenting and I was afraid of this happening since we brewed. Here's what happened:

This was an extract batch of Octoborfest. A friend who picked up the ingredients had a yeast I had never used before. I have used the dry and the liquid but I had never seen the pouches. He read the directions and we thought we knew how to use but when he added the yeast the pouch inside was still intact. With no real options at the time we broke the inner pouch as well and added it too.

Its been 10 days in a fermentation bucket.
SG - 1.042
I will take a reading today and post.
The has been very little activity

Iam no expert but have brewed many batches and have never seen such a lack of activity.

- What would a gooD reading be after 10 days?
- Any suggestions what to do if under fermented?

Thanks

**Yooper** · 08-20-2009, 01:20 PM

If you check the SG today, and it's the same in three days, it's either finished or it's stuck. If it's finished, it will probably be in the area of 1.012-1.018 (depending on yeast strain and ingredients).

KELLEHERC · 08-20-2009, 01:35 PM

and if its stuck?

Can I opick up some yeast and add now?

or any suggestions?

**Yooper** · 08-20-2009, 01:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KELLEHERC

and if its stuck?

Can I opick up some yeast and add now?

or any suggestions?

If it's stuck you can add more yeast. But you don't know if it's stuck, and it's probably not. It's probably just finished. It may be close to done, with only a couple more points to go.

Evan! · 08-20-2009, 02:03 PM

Let us know what the current SG is. If it's stuck (1.020 or greater), you can add more yeast, but in my experience, it's next to impossible to get a stuck fermentation started back up by simply dumping a new pack of dry or liquid yeast in there. The only way I am ever able to restart stuck ferments is to rack the beer onto a fresh cake from a separate recently-fermented batch. The sheer viable cell count gives it a chance to really get finished, and I have done this successfully in probably 8 different batches. Also note that the lower it is (say, 1.020), the harder it will be to get restarted. If you started at 1.042 and you are now at 1.038, then adding a packet of dry yeast might just work. But if you're now at 1.022, it will almost certainly not do a damn thing to add new yeast. At that point, racking onto a big cake is your best bet.

KELLEHERC · 08-20-2009, 06:38 PM

It looks like it is at...

SG = 1.010

**Yooper** · 08-20-2009, 06:39 PM

Your beer is done. You can either let it sit a bit longer, or rack it to secondary. Either way is fine.

That's a little lower than I'd expect for an Octoberfest, but it's right in the ballpark.

KELLEHERC · 08-20-2009, 06:48 PM

Thanks - it does seem a bit low but I take pretty careful readings.
I usually let it sit a while and check and re-check what it says so I think Iam reading it correctly. The last few brews I got a LOT more fermentation action and with that yeast in a pouch I had my doubts about this one.

I think I will let it sit for now - re-check one more time in a few days and at some point rack to a carboy. I have had good results using a secondary but agree with what others say about moving it too soon.

If anyone else has opinion on the readings please let me know.

Thanks

**IrregularPulse** · 08-20-2009, 06:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Evan!

Let us know what the current SG is. If it's stuck (1.020 or greater), you can add more yeast, but in my experience, it's next to impossible to get a stuck fermentation started back up by simply dumping a new pack of dry or liquid yeast in there. The only way I am ever able to restart stuck ferments is to rack the beer onto a fresh cake from a separate recently-fermented batch. The sheer viable cell count gives it a chance to really get finished, and I have done this successfully in probably 8 different batches. Also note that the lower it is (say, 1.020), the harder it will be to get restarted. If you started at 1.042 and you are now at 1.038, then adding a packet of dry yeast might just work. But if you're now at 1.022, it will almost certainly not do a damn thing to add new yeast. At that point, racking onto a big cake is your best bet.

Tahnks for this post. I'ma ctually dealing with my first stuck fermetation with a OG of 1062 stuck at 1026 with S-04. Tried rousing and heating up a little but no change in a week. I'm brewing an extract tonight with some spare time I have run into. It is an IPA. Thank it would lend weird flavors if I racked my 65% rauchbier onto the cake in a couple weeks??