Stuck fermentation or no?? HELP PLEASE

Ok, so i brewed a porter last sunday evening (1.069 OG). Fermentation started late monday, But by last night it was pretty much stopped and today i havent seen anything happening. Here was what i did, please let me know if you thinki should repitch or just let it go. I am fairly new and dont want to waste a whole batch if i can avoid it.

this was the first time we used a started so i dont know if i messed it up. to make my starter i started about 30 hours before we were brewing. Added 100g DME to 1000ml (1 L) and boiled for 5 min. Cooled to 65 and pitched the yeast. Let this sit for the day shaking and stiring as much as i could whenever i walked by. on brew day, about 4 hours before i was going to pitch, i used an aquirium pump with sanitized airline and let this oxygenate the yeast until we were ready to pitch. Cooled the wort to about 70 and pitched my starter.

This is not my first batch of beer, but it is the first that is fermenting at my house, and just not sure if only 3 days of bubbling in the airlock is enough.

What do you think?

Give it another week or 2 and then check the FG, wait 2 days and check again, if it is stable then it is done. 3 days isn't nearly enough time for it to be finished.

Edit: Oh and the air lock is not to be used as an indicator on what is going on inside the fermentor; break yourself of that thought now before it becomes too much a habit.

Edit: Oh and the air lock is not to be used as an indicator on what is going on inside the fermenter; break yourself of that thought now before it becomes too much a habit.

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Great advice, always use your hydrometer to determine if fermentation is complete, depending on the ambient and wort temp, three days isn't out of the question.

frettfreak said:

let this oxygenate the yeast until we were ready to pitch.

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Oxygenated the yeast or the wort?

Cheers!

WOW! thanks for the fast responses!

Trox said:

Give it another week or 2 and then check the FG, wait 2 days and check again, if it is stable then it is done. 3 days isn't nearly enough time for it to be finished.

Edit: Oh and the air lock is not to be used as an indicator on what is going on inside the fermentor; break yourself of that thought now before it becomes too much a habit.

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Really? WOW. i just read all these stories of fermentors blowing the top off and i guess i just figured there should be a lot of action going on. Good to know! Thank you

pumpkinman2012 said:

Great advice, always use your hydrometer to determine if fermentation is complete, depending on the ambient and wort temp, three days isn't out of the question.

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I have a infrared temp gun and a peel on fermometer on the outside of the fermentor. Both read between 70 - 72 depending on the time of day and such.

CryoEng said:

Oxygenated the yeast or the wort?

Cheers!

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Yeast in the 1L starter.

@pumpkinman2012 this is a little but how big is that pumkin in your profile pic? I am assuming you grew it given you name? That thing is INSANE!! WOW

You should aerate (wasn't oxygenate in this case) the wort, instead of just the yeast starter. Unless you are aerating or oxygenating the starter wort when you pitch the yeast into it. More benefit in the batch rather than the starter.

I dont think it would be out of the question to have at least dropped near its terminal gravity in a day and a half. Especially if the yeast starter was healthy and you kept your temps stable. Hopefully there was enough dissolved oxygen to get the job done.

I have been really watching air lock activity, it means nowt after about two weeks ! You will find that minuscule little bubbles are still coming up in your brew, they may only move the airlock once a day or two, that is still fermentation and the SG will still be changing. Expect the fermentation to take at least two weeks, then give it another week or more, then you can start evaluating the brew with an SG sample

frettfreak said:

on brew day, about 4 hours before i was going to pitch, i used an aquirium pump with sanitized airline and let this oxygenate the yeast until we were ready to pitch. Cooled the wort to about 70 and pitched my starter.

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What was your logic in oxygenating dormant yeast? After 26 hours in the starter, all growth/replication had likely already occurred.

+1 on all the above.

The primary fermentation could well be done in 3 days. That doesn't mean the beer is done. It's still conditioning and doing extensive clean-up after the hard work. Let it sit for at least another 2 weeks. Porters need some aging anyway, so it's better to leave it on the yeast for now.

You could pull a hydro sample to set your mind at ease, but use utter care with sanitation. It should be close to FG. What yeast did you use?

pdxal said:

You should aerate (wasn't oxygenate in this case) the wort, instead of just the yeast starter. Unless you are aerating or oxygenating the starter wort when you pitch the yeast into it. More benefit in the batch rather than the starter.

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I was going back and forth on that. I read some say do the yeast others say the wort. I am new to this so figured i would try it both ways and see. I am brewing again today maybe so i will try to oxygenate the wort this time.

statseeker said:

I dont think it would be out of the question to have at least dropped near its terminal gravity in a day and a half. Especially if the yeast starter was healthy and you kept your temps stable. Hopefully there was enough dissolved oxygen to get the job done.

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well, i would think there should be enough, i usually dont oxygenate anything and dont have a starter, just pitch the vial and go. Figured the starter should at least do something i am hoping. lol

g-star said:

What was your logic in oxygenating dormant yeast? After 26 hours in the starter, all growth/replication had likely already occurred.

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again, i dunno. Will be trying it another way next time.

IslandLizard said:

+1 on all the above.

The primary fermentation could well be done in 3 days. That doesn't mean the beer is done. It's still conditioning and doing extensive clean-up after the hard work. Let it sit for at least another 2 weeks. Porters need some aging anyway, so it's better to leave it on the yeast for now.

You could pull a hydro sample to set your mind at ease, but use utter care with sanitation. It should be close to FG. What yeast did you use?

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I went with WLP001 California ale. I almost opted for the English Ale, but wanted a little more attenuation and less residual sweetness left over. We will see how it works out lol.

So that brings up another question for me. Is there a standard that people usually leave brew in primary / secondary? What is the purpose of an extended primary or secondary? I have seen times range anywhere from 1 week in each to 30 days in each and just trying to figure out when it is appropriate or needed.

Thanks for all the advice guys!!! I really appreciate all the input!

Most experienced brewers on here seem to think that the only reason to go to a secondary is if you're going to rack your beer onto something or mix something in. Leaving the beer on the yeast for a week or so after primary fermentation is complete allows the yeast to clean up after itself and reduce the chances of off flavors from the yeast themselves.

2 to 4 weeks on standard gravity ales up to about 1.060. After that you'll want a couple more weeks. 4 to 6 unless you get to your terminal gravity sooner. But gravity readings will be the only way to know for sure.

frettfreak said:

again, i dunno. Will be trying it another way next time.

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The best advice you can be given as a new brewer is to read some basic texts like "How to Brew" and "Yeast", which will give you a better idea of what is actually happening when you make beer. Just trying things willy-nilly (like oxygenating dormant yeast) just wastes your time and money.

Good luck.

g-star said:

The best advice you can be given as a new brewer is to read some basic texts like "How to Brew" and "Yeast", which will give you a better idea of what is actually happening when you make beer. Just trying things willy-nilly (like oxygenating dormant yeast) just wastes your time and money.

Good luck.

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Well it was hardly willy nilly, but i definitely get it. there were several posts on here and other forums that mentioned doing that so its not like i just decided it wold be a good idea! lol. actually just ordered a couple books, but was going through the how to brew book online. the yeast one is the one i am most interested in at the moment.