Honey IPA Problem

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Joseph524

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After brewing this and a .1082 OG on 7/26/12 I now have .1040 reading and steady afte 2 readings on 8/6/12/ and 8/8/12. I did not make a stater for this since I did not have the equipment but I do now. Should I pitch in more yeast or let go as is? It is in the primary fermentor still. I pitched around 200 billion to packs of the wyeast. Please any advice would be great

1/2 lb Briess Caramel 40L steep 20 mins

1/2 lb English Medium Crystal steep for 20 mins

9.0 lbs Northern Brewer Gold Malt Syrup 60 mins

1 lb Briess Amber DME 60 mins

3.15 lbs Northern Brewer Gold Malt Syrup 15 mins

1 oz centennial 60 mins
2 oz centennial 45 mins
1 oz cascade 10 mins
2 oz cascade 5 mins

1 lb Orange blossum honey end boil

1 oz cascade dry hop
 
What type of Wyeast yeast did you pitch? What temp are you fermenting this at? What temp did you pitch at?
 
I used american ale II and pitched at 78 degree. Frementing at 68. I have another pack I can use I just dont want to waste yeast or ruin what I have. I will make a starter next time I brew this since I need around 300 billion I see by mrmalty. I am sort of new to this and this was my first desinged brew. Thanks for your advice
 
I would bring the temp up to around 72 for a few days to see if that doesn't help the beer finish out. 1.040 is way too high to consider bottling at this point. You may need to agitate the fermentor a little to help rouse the yeast. Yes, I said to rouse them.
 
I would bring the temp up to around 72 for a few days to see if that doesn't help the beer finish out. 1.040 is way too high to consider bottling at this point. You may need to agitate the fermentor a little to help rouse the yeast. Yes, I said to rouse them.

+1
Sometimes I give my buckets a gentle little twist to rouse the yeast if I'm worried about under attenuating. Raise the temp and give it more time. If that still doesn't help you could try rehydrating a pack of S-05 and tossing it in there. I find S-05 to be more resilient than 1056 and cheaper too!
 
I was planning on going to the second stage fermentor after this lowered. Or should I do it and then pitch the yeast in there? What will happen if this doesnt lower and I bottled it at .1040? I rocked the fermentor last night and still need to raise the temp some more.
 
Maybe if you tried adding some more honey it might help lower the gravity a bit? Whenever I add any fruits or simple sugars in the secondary it kind of "kicks" the yeast into making a second krausen. It might be struggling now because the yeast ate most of the simple sugars in the wort and due to the low pitching rate they are having a hard time with the more complex sugars that are left.
 
If the yeast are having trouble with the complex sugars now, they will be having a really hard time once they get another taste of simple sugars. You might want to try getting a started going with some fresh yeast and then pitch in a couple days. This will help to fortify the new yeast to finish off some more of the remaining fermentables. However, adding some honey will help to dry it out a little more and add some complexity to the finished product as well. I've had success adding as much as a pound of honey directly into the fermenter without any treatment.
 
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