Stuck at 40?!

How can my brew be stuck at 1.040?!

I did the popular Rochforte 8 clone I found on this site. I overshot on the OG, it came in at 86.

The WLP540 took off like a rocket (decanted 3.5 litre starter into 5.4 gallons of wort) and brought it down to 1.040 in less than a week. Since then it hasn't budged! I've tried all combinations of rousing/warming/pitching a small amount of simple sugar and yeast nutrient/racking on to a healthy Nottingham yeast cake, and nothing.

My hydrometer reads 1 in water and brew day seemed to go to plan (1 hour simple mash at 154). I can't see why it should be a yeast problem given everything I've tried, and I can't imagine that nearly half of the wort is unfermentable!!

Any ideas?!

I've been trying to fix it for a long time now, I initially pitched over 8 weeks ago. A sample yesterday morning tasted a little sour (compared to tasty but sweet samples a few weeks back) so I think I've meddled with it a bit too much now and it might be a sad ending...

you could try some montrachet champagne yeast on a sample...

wouldn't be a bad idea to get another hydrometer, as a back up isn't a bad thing to own.(i just broke my third the other day)

Right about now I'd be checking the accuracy of my mash thermometer...

Cheers!

I'd be doing the same. 154 is really high for such a clone, but it doesn't explain that high of a gravity. Are you sure you stirred them mash well enough for a uniform temp throughout? Did you do a fast ferment test?

Hm I'm pretty confident in my thermometer and hydrometer, I've brewed since and everything worked perfectly. If the hydro reads 1.000 in water I find it hard to believe it is incorrect reading 1.040 in the beer (especially when it tastes sweet). I stirred the mash thoroughly three times through the hour mash the same way I always do.

Perhaps I'll give the Nottingham a few more days and if there's no movement then I'll try Montrachet. Though if it's clearly infected/oxidised by then I might just give up!

What's a fast ferment test? Massively over-pitching a small sample? I didn't...is it worth trying now?

Don't add wine yeast just yet. Draw a sample and try it on that. See if it does anything first, and see if you like the resulting flavor. You haven't yet mentioned how it tastes, anywhere.

Also, read this:http://wiki.homebrewersassociation.org/FastFermentTest

A few weeks ago it tasted very good but very sweet, just as i'd expect for a half-attenuated beer.

A couple of nights ago it tasted a little sour, but that could have been a mouthful of yeast or steriliser (only sampled half a mouthful!) so I'll take a proper sample this weekend and report back.

Thanks for the link GuldTuborg, had never though to do that, sounds good!

Hmm... let us know how it turns out.

BTW, did you pour off the starter liquid first before pouring it in there? Not that it makes much difference to fermentation, but that's a lot of gross oxidized "beer" in your brew.

Yep, did it well in advance and crash cooled/decanted, it took off an blew the fermenter lid within 24 hours!

What was the brew temp range? I'm not sure about 540, but a couple of the Belgian yeasts just stop if they cool off.

The temperature did drop to the bottom of the recommended range after the first days, which could well be why it stopped, but surely warming and rousing should make it start where it left off?

Sample definitely has a tartness to it that it didn't have a few weeks ago, but can't yet tell whether its a yeastie/lacto/aceto/dodgy fermentation tartness! Otherwise it has all the right belgian flavours but just far too much sugar.

I made my own Belgian candy sugar, but I don't think I could have screwed this up and made it unfermentable?!

There have been stories of certain Belgian yeasts not wanting to restart after hitting certain low temps. Again, I don't know if 540 is one of them...it's just a thought.

Any changes, by the way?

Update

After trying all of the above I finally conceded that the fermentation might be more or less finished rather than stuck...so in frustration I just gave up and left it for a month!

Last week I decided to take a sample and try a fast ferment test in the warm, hasn't budged. I decided rather randomly to try adding some enzymes - four random tablets from a health store - Super Strength Multi Enzyme Formula | Digestive Aids | Holland & Barrett. I added one to the sample and four to the full batch (crushed up and dissolved in a small amount of sanitised water). Lets see what happens...

Also interesting to note that it now has a definite white-ish pellicile growing across the top. It still tastes like a Belgian beer which is too sweet and a little tart.

I'm going to let it ride out for a bit longer, who knows what it'll turn into...!

I have decided it must have been my Belgian candy sugar - if I let it get too hot while cooking it may have become unfermentable?

It's just going to stay sat in the garage in the cold for a few months unless anyone has any better ideas...

The Belgian candy sugar should have contributed 12 points, which would have brought it down to just under 1.030 without it, still not great

Try repitching some more yeast. Maybe you had an unhealthy pack to start with and didn't get much growth out of it. Or let the pellicle ride if it's already there, it's not going anywhere but might take a long long long time to get to FG.

I've already tried racking on to a healthy cake and also fast fermenting a small sample, I'm pretty sure it isn't going anywhere fast with new yeast!

I've got no idea what bugs are in it to create the pellicile, I presume given a year or longer they could either make it taste disgusting or delicious?!