velosim

Recipes 

So lots of topics similar to this that I have seen but still would appreciate some advice. Brewed my first big beer (Old Ale) OG = 1.102 February 6 (2 packets Notty) I racked to secondary on March 7 and took a gravity reading at 1.046. I took another reading 2 days later and it was the same so I prepared a 1 L starter with WLP013 London Ale and pitched on March 13. There have been no signs of additional fermentation and the gravity reading is still 1.046. Fermentation temps were around 70 degrees, up to about 73 during active fermentation for a few days. Should I wait on it (agitate every day), try another yeast infusion or another solution?

I was hoping to add some oak chips soaked in bourbon to it and let it age for another 2 months but not sure when to do that if I am stalled out.

Thanks all.

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Primary: nothing
Secondary: cherry lambic, lager
Kegged: Brandon O's Graff, BB Porter Clone, WITness Protection Program
Bottled: Trappist 3.0, Saison, Big Old Ale (bourbon oaked)

Addicted to homebrewing, not to drinking homebrew, i think...

mightynintendo

Recipes 

Hmmm... what temp did you mash at? You might just have a lot of unfermentables in your beer. I wouldn't agitate every day or your beer will never clear. You're at about 7.3% ABV though it is going to be really sweet. In general I imagine it will be a very heavy beer but I wouldn't say that's particularly bad. I doubt you're going to ferment much more. For this particular beer I think the longer it ages, the better it will be.

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'Kilgore Trout once wrote a short story which was a dialogue between two pieces of yeast. They were discussing the possible purposes of life as they ate sugar and suffocated in their own excrement. Because of their limited intelligence, they never came close to guessing that they were making champagne.'

—Kurt Vonnegut, Breakfast of Champions

Brewsmith

Recipes 

Is this an extract beer? Between a low fermentable extract, and a low attenuating yeast, you might be about done.

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FreeM80s

Recipes 

you could try amylase...

velosim

Recipes 

It was all grain, mashed at 155 deg.

13 lbs MO
3 lbs Munich
1 lbs Crystal 120
16 oz. Molassas

So it sounds like the combination of the higher mash temp and maybe the yeast I am probably done. I thought the nottinghan dry yeast would be higher attenuating and I was hoping to have a little lower FG, but thats ok. I am planning on aging it for a while so hopefully everything blends nicely and comes together over time. Thanks guys. Ill try again next time with a lower mash temp and maybe try a liquid yeast with massive starter that is very high attenuating.

__________________
Primary: nothing
Secondary: cherry lambic, lager
Kegged: Brandon O's Graff, BB Porter Clone, WITness Protection Program
Bottled: Trappist 3.0, Saison, Big Old Ale (bourbon oaked)

Addicted to homebrewing, not to drinking homebrew, i think...

TipsyDragon

Recipes 

next time mash at around 152F.

mightynintendo

Recipes 

Well that pound of molasses is relatively unfermentable assuming it's dark. 155 is also pretty high but not unreasonably high, but yeah that will contribute to more unfermentables in the beer. Your apparent attenuation is at 53% which is definitely low, but I don't think there's much that can be done now unless you added fermentables to the beer which i highly discourage. Let this bad boy age. It's going to be awesome.

It will probably make a good digestif.

__________________
'Kilgore Trout once wrote a short story which was a dialogue between two pieces of yeast. They were discussing the possible purposes of life as they ate sugar and suffocated in their own excrement. Because of their limited intelligence, they never came close to guessing that they were making champagne.'

—Kurt Vonnegut, Breakfast of Champions

FreeM80s

Recipes 

enzymes could help you get a few points http://www.brewery.org/brewery/library/enzymes595.html

damdaman

Recipes 

+1 on the amylase enzymes. I've tried it out on an extract recipe that finished high, got me another 9 points.

mightynintendo

Recipes 

thumbs up on the enzymes.

__________________
'Kilgore Trout once wrote a short story which was a dialogue between two pieces of yeast. They were discussing the possible purposes of life as they ate sugar and suffocated in their own excrement. Because of their limited intelligence, they never came close to guessing that they were making champagne.'

—Kurt Vonnegut, Breakfast of Champions