Fermentation woes

Hey all. So I returned to extract brewing after about a year using beer in bag kits. Haven't had a beer stop fermenting EVER until my last 2 batches, and they both have. The first was an ESB with steeped specialty grains. Used all light DME for the extract portion. Hit the exact OG of 1.055. Wyeast 1968 yeast. Fermentation took off within 24 hours and there was a strong krausen.

Stopped around 1.036 after 3 weeks. Took hydrometer readings after 2 weeks every 2 days and there was no movement. After attempting to rouse the yeast etc. I got more yeast. No dice. After waiting and waiting and waiting I had to go out of town for a month and didn't want to leave my wort alone. No amylase enzyme was available where I live so I crushed and threw in 3 beano tablets. When I got back from vacation the beer was still fermenting at 1.017. Left it until last weekend then cold crashed and now it's kegged. "Final gravity" was 1.008. It's drinkable but tastes like a beer made with dextrose instead of proper amounts of extract. I imagine this is because the beano ate sugars it normally wouldn't.

Anyways, brewed a pale ale on Feb 3 that was simply light DME and Amarillo hops. OG on this beer was 1.053. US-05 yeast. Good fermentation and hoppy krausen again. After 1 week the gravity was 1.037. Today I checked again and it's 1.035. Still a hoppy yeast suspended mess. It looks like a still fermenting beer, but it seems to be either moving eternally slow or stopped just like the last beer.

The extract I'm using is from a local home brew store called the Noble Grape, and they sell their own branded extract. Would you guys imagine this is just horrible extract? I buy all my other homebrew supplies from them as well and they've always been excellent. Temperatures on both beers never exceeded a range lower than 64 degrees or higher than 74 degrees farenheit. I would hate to have to salvage this beer with beano again, as it tastes really nice apart from being unfinished and sweet. I could pitch more yeast but this seems too uncanny to ignore. Even when I was a total beginner and fermented beers above 90 degrees they at least finished. Never had a single fermentation problem except these last 2 beers. My pale ale is still just sitting in primary doing next to nothing/nothing at all. Should I try their liquid extract instead of dry next time? Find another store? I'm really hesitant to continue trying the same thing, as these are recipes I've used in the past and never had an issue. The only different variable is the extract.

Any thoughts/opinions/advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks!

So the last two, were they the only ones with the noble grape DME? If so I would deffinatly suspect .

Ya just the last two. I lived in Toronto before I switched to beer in bags when I moved here. Had different extract there and never had a problem.

It's interesting that both have "stopped" at around the same gravity. As previously mentioned, I'd suspect the extract to be the problem. Of course, it's quite possible the most recent is still fermenting, especially since you mention it as being "yeast suspended."

Wait a little longer until you can verify that fermentation has in fact stopped. If it's still too high, I'd try pitching some Nottingham to see where that gets you. It should ferment pretty clean if you keep the temps down and it's a beast so it will chew through anything the 05 couldn't without messing with the flavor profile of your Pale Ale too much. Give it about a week, then check the gravity.

If that doesn't get you anywhere substantial, I'd highly suspect the extract. At that point, brew the same recipe but change the extract and see what happens.

+1 on the notty. It goes to 1.008 for me all the time

Last time it stopped the store was happy to give me some free yeast. So long as they don't blame me for the problems they prob will again

I'll wait until monday as I leave again the next day. If it's not below 1.030 I'm gonna pick up some notty and throw it in rehydrated. If that fails I'll try their liquid extract and if that's no good I'll move on. I'll def let them know if they're selling bad extract.

Thanks guys

If the nottingham doesn't work, save yourself some hassle and try a different extract brand altogether. At least that's what I would do.

Have you asked your LHBS owner if he/she or any of their customers has had the same problem? It sounds like you're doing everything right so their extract would be my prime suspect.

I'd check temps first. I've had 3 batches all lock up because temps were a hair too low (low 60's). A few days closer to 70° and they went back to work.

I'd also use Notty before Beano.

Temps are controlled at 66. Used notty and nothing so I threw some beano in and gave it a good throttling. It'll be drinkable in a month or two. Tried their liquid extract on my latest batch and it's been blowing off from the carboy for 3 straight days. Seems their liquid extract is at least fine. Course I'll have to wait til it's finished and I'm drinking it til I can really say that