Stuck Fermentation @ 1.020

After a 20 yr hiatus from home brewing I decided to check out the technology advancements in this hobby. After a month or so I began compiling all my equipment to make Kal's electric brewery. That portion is going well. In the mean time I decided to make a batch of Kolsch using Brewers Best kit as purchased. Fermentables 3.3 lbs of LME, 2 lbs of DME, 12 oz of Carapils specialty grains, one oz each of bittering and aroma hops. All done by the instructions and over sanitized everything (trust me). Brew day was Feb 26, 2012 and the 5 gal of wort cooled within 20 min to 70 deg F and placed into my new 15 gal SS conical fermentor. OG 1.045, (tgt 1.042-1.046) The Nottingham ale yeast was prepared in accordance with the instructions on their website and pithed on the previously aerated wort. Airlock activity almost non-existent. My local home brew store recommended taking a look inside for krausen and the airlock inactivity might be due to the large amount of free space in the 15 gal conical. Good 4-6 inches of krausen, fermentation active. Mar 6, SG=1.023, Mar 7, SG=1.020 and stuck there for a week. Local HBS recommended aerate and repitch yeast, done on Mar 17. Today Mar 22 SG=1.020, no fermentation. Wort tastes sweet, looks like a good clear beer though. Suggestions for this rookie?

One more fact, fermentation temperature maintained towards the high end of the recommended 57-70 deg F. 65-70 deg F was the norm for this batch.

Whoever gave you that advice should be slapped... Extract is notorious for ending around 1.020 due to unfermentable sugars produced by the maltster as well as during your boil. Your beer was done at 1.020 because the yeast is not able to consume the excess sugars and it is possible your beer will go stale quickly with the added oxygen post fermentation. I personally would bottle, the sweetness might not be as apparent when carbed and chilled.

Thanks OC, the internet is slammed full of the same exact "re-pitching" advice I received. Lot of people to slap. I'm gonna give you experts a day or so to chime in and make a move. My options at this point range from kegging/carbonating to flushing the batch down the $hi++er. The clock is ticking, I'm anxious to make another batch. Thanks again for the response.

I think it's just done. 1.020 is not unusual for extract batches.

Most of my DME brews stop around 1.020. I have had a few dip below that, but for the most part, they stop Within 4 points around 1.020. In darker beers I have had success upping my OG with some brown sugar to get the alcohol content I am looking for.

WoodyF15 said:

Thanks OC, the internet is slammed full of the same exact "re-pitching" advice I received. Lot of people to slap. I'm gonna give you experts a day or so to chime in and make a move. My options at this point range from kegging/carbonating to flushing the batch down the $hi++er. The clock is ticking, I'm anxious to make another batch. Thanks again for the response.

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DO NOT FLUSH IT. Send it to me for proper disposal.









Seriously - it's just fine. I have had beers stall out at 1.020 before. Kegged, carbed and served. Tasted just fine.

Instructions state FG 1.010 to 1.013, Thanks SH for your comment. I'm leaning towards kegging.

If you are going to brew with extract again, try adding only a small portion of the extract in the initial boil and add the rest with about 15 minutes left in the boil. It's called a late extract addition and prevents carmelization of the extract so it becomes unfermentable by the yeast so you would most likely wind up with a lower FG. Definitely keg and drink it, if it is on the sweet side the ladies should love it!

Thanks OC, never heard of it, live and learn?

http://www.beersmith.com/blog/2008/02/20/better-beer-with-late-malt-extract-additions/

Maybe try adding a beano to it, sounds silly but it is known to restart fermentation. Downside is that it can become uncontrollable because you won't have a way to denature it; so start with a very small amount.
I use Amylase Enzyme (Beano is very similar) as part of my "yellow fizzy water" recipe; it will dry anything out.

Here are a few interesting reads; I am sure there are more:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/beano-23199/
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f14/amylase-enzyme-110378/
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f62/miller-lite-really-triple-hopped-123937/

Thanks FishSniffer

You've received some good advice here. My only comment is that late extract additions can help prevent caramelization (caramelization of extract makes the extract unfermentable, and thus you end with a higher final gravity), but it's mainly useful when doing partial boils. Caramelization moreso happens if you are boiling all of your extract in only a few gallons of water for your wort (making it a high gravity wort), but does not happen so much if you are boiling all of your extract in a full 5+ gallons of wort.

All that said, I think a lot of times the extract you use could have been previously caramelized to some extent. This contributes to why extract brewers often end with a FG around 1.02.

Muncher, the recipe called for 2.5 gal of water @ 150-165 deg F to steep the specialty grains for 20 min. Then bring the wort up to a "gentle rolling boil" and add only the 3.3 lbs of Pilsen LME. So the boil qty was only 2.5 gal with the additional volume of water added after the schedule of hops and DME additions. Good info from everyone, thanks. This beer might be drinkable after all?

So it sounds like you added your DME later in the boil, and if so, you actually did a late addition.

In either case, since you pitched more yeast, I'd probably give it a few days to make sure the new yeast isn't doing anything. If you were to bottle now, and the new yeast does pick up the fermentation again, you might have some bottle bombs on your hands.

You'll still have beer, but if your FG stays at 1.02, it might end up oxidized because you aerated after primary fermentation completed. Hopefully the new pitched yeast multiplies and takes up some of that oxygen, but I'm not an expert.

And P.S. if it is oxidized, the beer will go bad in a matter of time. Drinking it a bit quicker than normal would be recommended in that case.

Muncher, I did aerate prior to pitching the yeast but the next day I shot some CO2 in to bleed off the Air layer in the conical. I read this somewhere and thought I'd give it a try. I'm really scrambling to save this batch if you can't tell.

It sounds done to me; Notty rips thru wort
Welcome back btw!

Off topic: You can't make a kolsch w/o true liquid kolsch yeast. Sorry I *am* that snobby.
I would look at getting a different kit going forward-- fresh extract can be had from Austin Homebrew, Midwest, Northern Brewer, More Beer etc-- All are great online & brick/mortar stores.

Midfielder,
I jumped into brewing the extract Kolsch kit without any research. A few days later I read all the post about the proper yeast to use for a real Kolsch. Since the Notty was already pitched all I could do was wonder how bad I screwed it up. Dumping trub today, kegging tomorrow. We'll see.

My "beef" is with the BB kit maker, not you
good luck!

Midfielder5 It's the brand carried by my LHBS. I'm re-engaging in this hobby after a long time away, thanks for the info, my learning curve will be steep with all the help offered.

Great stuff here!! Just wanted to let you all know!

I have done three all extract brews and just created a post about my newest thinking I had a stuck fermentation! I was fine with the first two being in the 1.020 - 1.024 range as they were high OG beers (1.56 and 1.061) but after doing my first SG today on a 1.044 OG and finding it at 1.022 I was flummoxed! Too bad I read this after creating that thread. lol

Thanks all!

WoodyF15 said:

Muncher, I did aerate prior to pitching the yeast but the next day I shot some CO2 in to bleed off the Air layer in the conical. I read this somewhere and thought I'd give it a try. I'm really scrambling to save this batch if you can't tell.

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There is nothing to save. Your beer is done fermenting and it should taste just fine. Relax man.

Carb'd for a week on CO2. What next? Age another week or so or start pouring?

I would say start pouring and see what you've got... If it is oxidized, you will want to drink it fast before it turns to liquid cardboard. Give it a try and let us know how it is!

I brewed a batch, it took 48 hours to start bubbling, then stopped in less than 48 hours. I hate to open it to take a reading for fear of infection, a problem I've had a LOT. So any way I can tell its really stuck? I was thinking of just sprinkling in a new pack of dry yeast in the hole for the air lock. Bad idea? Is it okay now? ANY SUGGESTIONS ?

togodoug said:

I brewed a batch, it took 48 hours to start bubbling, then stopped in less than 48 hours. I hate to open it to take a reading for fear of infection, a problem I've had a LOT. So any way I can tell its really stuck? I was thinking of just sprinkling in a new pack of dry yeast in the hole for the air lock. Bad idea? Is it okay now? ANY SUGGESTIONS ?

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Your airlock is just a guage of CO2 escaping your fermenter, not a guage of fermentation. Let it sit for a few weeks before checking your gravity, then re-pitch if it appears to be stalled.

togodoug said:

I brewed a batch, it took 48 hours to start bubbling, then stopped in less than 48 hours. I hate to open it to take a reading for fear of infection, a problem I've had a LOT. So any way I can tell its really stuck? I was thinking of just sprinkling in a new pack of dry yeast in the hole for the air lock. Bad idea? Is it okay now? ANY SUGGESTIONS ?

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Agree with OClair. Don't pitch more yeast just because bubbling stopped after 48 hours. It's possible it already finished most of the fermentation. It's also possible it's just temporarily stalled due to factors such as temp changes. There can be a number of reasons. I'd wait until its been in the fermenter for two weeks before taking a measurement.

WoodyF15 said:

Thanks OC, the internet is slammed full of the same exact "re-pitching" advice I received. Lot of people to slap. I'm gonna give you experts a day or so to chime in and make a move. My options at this point range from kegging/carbonating to flushing the batch down the $hi++er. The clock is ticking, I'm anxious to make another batch. Thanks again for the response.

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Repitch advise yes.. It's the aerating again that they deserve a slap for.

Tapped the Keg a few days ago. Although I made every mistake possible, it turned out great. Very thick head and a great Kolsch. Better to be lucky than good. All 5 gallons almost gone. Wife loves it.