Oat Porter, dead yeast = ruined beer?

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Woop

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Hey there guys, new brewer here and I have a question for the more experienced / knowledgeable brewers. Basically, I put my porter in the fermentation bucket, cooled it down, hydrated my yeast and then pitched it. It took about 48 hours for it to start showing signs of fermentation but when it started it nearly blew the lid off the bucket. 24 hours later, nothing.

I didn't really want to sweat it because I've read up quite a bit on these forums and decided just to wait it out, 1 week later, still no signs. I took a gravity reading, OG was 1.065, the reading I took was 1.040. I decided to wait a bit longer, took a gravity reading, got the same result. My IPA has been bubbling away quite merrily so I've become a bit worried, is the yeast dead? The ambient temperature was about 16-17°C and since it started fermenting so vigorously I didn't really think the yeast could just suddenly drop dead, but it's been a week now with no fermentation and I'm considering adding more yeast but my question is : Is there any way to try to salvage the brew without adding more yeast and if my yeast is in fact dead and has been for some time, will be beer taste horribly ?
 
If you've waited a week, and nothing (I mean no change in SG), then yes- something is wrong. One thing you could try would be to gently stir it up. If that doesn't work, I would try adding some actively fermenting yeast (make a starter and pitch at high krausen). Don't worry about the yeast that is dormant... it usually takes a long time before any autolysis would set in.
 
You can try rousting the yeast and bringing up the temps a bit. I'm willing to bet you have a stuck fermentation due to any number of possible reasons but your temperatures are a little on the low side for ale yeast primary fermentation. Roust it by gently rocking your fermenter back and forth to tilt the yeast back into suspension in the wort and bring your temps up to 19-21c.

I'm willing to bet the vigorous fermentation just got started not too long after you pitched the yeast initially, and the cool temperature caused your yeast to go dormant and floc out of your wort. The act of bringing up the temperatures a little bit can help the yeast wake up a little. Provided there is still plenty of fermentable sugars and the water has some trace elements/nutrients for the yeast to use while they feed, you should be able to get the fermentation started again without re-pitching.
 
Thank you very much for taking the time to help me out, already tried raising the temp a bit and re-aerating the yeast, guess I'm off to pitch some more then :ban:
 
Good catch aiptasia. I did a quick c-F conversion in my head and got it wrong! Yes, I agree, 16-17C is a bit chilly!
 

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