My 2nd Batch Fermentation Stuck?

griffonage · 12-17-2010, 10:13 PM

So this is my 2nd batch of beer, first turned out great.

I made a porter from 2lbs grain 7lbs Amber Malt Syrup

SG 1.061
Wyeast 1338 European Ale

On day 11 I racked after w/o taking a gravity reading (i'm a newbie) i assumed everything would be fine.

On day 13 I took a grav reading 1.033 (today)

I'm pretty concerned the Final grav is supposed to be 1.014-1.018 according to the recipe.

The closet I kept the fermentor in is on an outside wall, it may have reached low 60's with the local cold spell.

Will warming it up restart it? I'm guessing not much yeast left after racking, should i add another yeast pack after getting it up to 70?

help please

***Update*** 12-18-2010
I'll keep updating the thread so those who come after me can learn from my error and attempted fix.

After the advice I received here, reading other threads and the advice of the guys at my local home brew store I opted for the following steps.

I got the beer warmed up
purchased a 1338 Wyeast Euro Ale smack pack
smacked it, let it bloom for 3 hours in the pack then added it to the beer.

having removed the beer from the yeast cake, i just wasn't comfortable letter it restart on its own, call me impatient maybe

Calder, I would have used your option of pulling a gallon out if I were not using Wyeast smack packs, since the Wyeast has some nutrients to start with, I thought I'd try and keep the wort/beer from extra exposure to o2 risking oxidization.

My choices were primary governed by what i felt was safest, and most true to the recipe.

This morning I have a nice new kraussen forming and airlock activity every 12-13 seconds (not stellar, but I'll take it)

More to come

***Update*** 12-23-2010

Original Grav = 1.061 (20 days ago)
Grav 6 days ago = 1.033
Current Grav = 1.031

With so little change in grav after a week and re-pitching I've decided to go ahead and bottle. It's at 4% alcohol. It doesn't taste off, nor overly sweet. With carbonation i think it'll be quite good, I'll update with my first taste after 3 weeks.

malkore · 12-17-2010, 10:33 PM

get it warmed back up, but its possible you could need to repitch to get it fully attenuated and at the right FG.

As you found, anything short of hydro readings is pure guesswork, so it really is important to take a reading before you ever rack off the primary yeast cake.

You'll find many many people here (myself included) often skip a secondary and just go with a longer primary, then rack and bottle/keg after 3-4 weeks in primary.

especially with darker beers that won't show much clarity anyhow, a secondary can just be a bit of a waste of effort and time.

I do secondary, but only when primary has resulted in terminal gravity being reached and there's a need for secondary's benefits.

Nothing wrong with always doing a secondary either, as long as its done.

Calder · 12-18-2010, 03:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by griffonage

On day 11 I racked after w/o taking a gravity reading (i'm a newbie) i assumed everything would be fine.

That's the mistake.

I always rack before I take a gravity reading. But I do take a sample when I rack (+ about a pint for the worker). I have never had a stuck fermentation, but if I found I had one, I would know at that time and probably pour the yeast cake into the new fermenter.

How to fix it ..... Since you racked it, you have lost most of your yeast, otherwise I would have just said to bring it to a warmer temperature. I think I would take a gallon out, aerate it, and pitch a pack of S-04 (or other decent dry yeast), get that started, and pour the whole thing (including sediment) into the bulk of the wort, but would not aerate the main batch.

Never had a stuck ferment, so never tried it.

griffonage · 12-23-2010, 11:45 PM

It's been 6 days since warming it up and pitching an additional yeast pack.

Here are the results, not much to write home about. Do I bottle? Do I wait longer?

Original Grav = 1.061 (20 days ago)
Grav 6 days ago = 1.033
Current Grav = 1.031

Recipe OG = 1.054
Recipe Target = 1.018

Calder · 12-27-2010, 01:01 AM

Leave it another 6 days and see what happens. The new yeast is struggling because of the alcohol. If it's still at 1.031 in 6 days time, then the new yeast is doing nothing. If it's moved, then keep watching it.