First batch stuck, weird stuff floating

**fireantz** · 09-04-2009, 03:33 PM

I started my first batch of Big River Brown Ale w/ Munton's on Sunday (30 Aug) OG was 1.042. There was activity pretty early on and a good amount of it until it dropped off. I checked on 2 Sep and it was 1.020 and again yesterday with the same reading. Both times I shook it to try to get it down. The temp has been around 73 on the ale pail.

I'm going to wait until at least Sunday to re-pitch if that even is a good idea, but the main thing I wonder about is the stuff floating at the top. I'm not sure if it is just part of the hop pellets or something bad but here is a picture: http://eshack.net/images/IMG_1212-resized.jpg

flaminpi3 · 09-04-2009, 03:44 PM

The stuff looks okay. It looks like material from the krausen ring that may have been knocked off when you shook it. Drink your sample, and if it smells and tastes like warm flat beer, you're good to go. In my experience, if your gravity has finished dropping then your beer is done, especially with a low OG beer. I've repitched before when I was stuck at 1.020, and all it accomplished was wasting fresh yeast. Give it some more time, and if it's still 1.02, you're ready to bottle. You may have just created more unfermentables than you anticipated.

**Nurmey** · 09-04-2009, 04:16 PM

Everything looks normal to me. The reading (1.020) is pretty normal for Munton's yeast. The instructions may give you a target but I've never gotten to it using Munton's yeast. Let it sit another week or two to possible drop another point or two and let the junk you kick up settle, then bottle it up.

Welcome to HBT!

heiman5 · 09-04-2009, 04:22 PM

ive made 2 muntons batches and both times the lowest I could get was like 1.018 holding steady for about a week of nothingness

**fireantz** · 09-04-2009, 04:32 PM

Thanks for the responses. I know I've read about mutons getting stuck around where I'm at so I figured that was as far as it would go. I'll just wait longer like everyone says and keep taking readings before putting it in the secondary.