FG too high, any suggestions?

I am attempting to make the Octo-Bourbon that is listed in the recipe section. Made it BIAB. 16.5 lbs grain, I increased it 10% due to method and I was shooting for an extra half gallon. Expected OG was 1.065....I came in at 1.070.
Expected FG is 1.011....I am at 1.026. IT was at 50 for 2 weeks. Now I am 3 weeks in. 5 days ago I swirled and turned up temp to 55 from 50. I think it came down a point or two, but not much. I have temp control.
I pitched 2 packs of saflager 34/70. I ended up with 6 gallons, 1/2 gallon more than called for. My extra grain allowed for this. Any other ideas on getting it down lower? The recipe didn't call for a d rest. But, if I left it at room temp for a day or two, could this help? Any help is appreciated.
I boiled for 90 minutes...munich, pilsner, vienna and caramunich.
Any help is appreciated.

I would raise it and give it the d rest and finish and then cold condition, it should finish

It won't help with this batch, but if you aerate your wort, it helps with these issues.

I did aerate it. Pure oxygen.

So, my FG is still stuck at 1.026. Shooting for 1.011. Way high. I have swirled and warmed to try and finish. Nothing. Can I add more yeast? Am I screwed? Several weeks and hasnt moved.

Well, you can add some champagne yeast, saison yeast, or some other higher gravity ale yeast. You won't get any noticeable flavors at this point of fermentation, so just pick the cheapest one you can come by.

The OTHER option, which you probably won't go for, but I would do, is pitch some Brettanomyces. I'm strange, so maybe don't follow that line of thinking

I have some cheap ale yeast, would you recommend against that? LHBS is over an hr away!

rdbrett said:

So, my FG is still stuck at 1.026. Shooting for 1.011. Way high. I have swirled and warmed to try and finish. Nothing. Can I add more yeast? Am I screwed? Several weeks and hasnt moved.

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Try to find a retailer fo SA-02. Should take care of your problem. Last time I searched suppliers were in France and Lithuania.

rdbrett said:

I have some cheap ale yeast, would you recommend against that? LHBS is over an hr away!

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That should work. It's at least worth a try.

What was your OG when you started? Whats your estimated ABV at right now with the stuck fermentation?

OG was 1.070. Overshot a little. Was looking for 1.065. Started ferm on 11/21. Its at 5.8% right now.
Its the Octobourbon recipe off this site. My wood chips have been soaking forever! Lo

Warm it up to finish, but you underpitched almost 30%, so it may not finish as low as you would like. What were your mash parameters? That might also be playing a role. Any chance you mashed higher than you wanted/thought? "Expected" FG is not perfect.

I pitched 2 packs of saflager 34/70. I didnt not aerate as I previously thought. (Diff't batch). I did box it back & forth with other bucket. My notes indicate my mash temps were pretty good, nothing obvious.
I am 1 yr into brewing, so you may speak above my head soon.
Safe to assume aeration problem?

So, I pitched a wine/champagne yeast. How long do I need to give it? 2weeks like other?

To complete the thread...I pitched extra yeast...and over a week later, it's not coming down. SO, at this point, I'm stuck at 1.025. Do you drink it? If I soak bourbon chips in it and age it? Matter of personal opinion? Doesn't taste all that good where it's at. Usually they taste drinkable at this stage. Crap

I'm not sure wine yeast is the best choice here. Sure they are alcohol tolerant, but you aren't into that range yet, and an under attenuated beer should pretty much only complex sugars left. Wine yeast are used to, and used for, simple sugars. I've gotten a couple of beers to come down a couple of points each by top cropping off of the first few days of an active ale ferment. I've only ever seen it go down another 3-4 points, but I've never had a beer finish that high either.

If it isn't drinkable by now, I don't know if it will be. Different yeast will not help you ferment starch, which I presume is present in your beer. If conversion did not happen in your biab mash, you can't fix it post boil.

If you can't get it to drop otherwise marveden's Brett idea might be the only chance. It will eat starch, but you have to be willing to stay with it for the long haul. And you still may not like what you get.

What about pitching an alcohol tolerant ale yeast out of a starter? Or diluting the beer to bring the gravity down?

Never thoughts of diluting it, can you do that? Will it mix?
Can I throw another packet of the original yeast in?

Diluting will mess with the Ph, so I am not sure how good of a route that would be. You would be introducing more possibilities for infection

You are probably right, but at this point I basically have nothing to lose. It appears it is going to be a ruined batch.

Try top cropping off of a different batch at high krausen. Ive gotten a few points to shave off of apparently finished ferments this way.

You can always try Beano or Amylase.
Not the best solution but worth a try before you dump it.
Both break down starch into simple sugars, they just work a little differently from each other.