Fermentation Stuck & Racking to Secondary

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OrangeCatBrewery

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Brewed a Dry Irish Stout on 6/9 & pitched yeast (wyeast irish ale). Next day fermentation was rocketing along. By 6/12 it had slowed/stalled. Took an SG reading on 6/16 & 6/17 - 1.017. I roused the yeast on 6/17 and today the SG is 1.016 @ 66*. {I would assume that you should still add +1 to the reading since it is above 60*}

In my estimation fermentation has stalled. I feel that the next option is to rack to a secondary and hope that the yeast will lower the SG to closer to 1.011.

Here is my question. My LHBS is closed today and I do not have a secondary. I was going to use my bottling bucket as a secondary. But I dont have a lid. Can I put plastic wrap (saran wrap) over the top and use tape or tied down cords around the side of the bucket to make it a tighter seal. Is this a feasable option? Should I wait until tomorrow and but a lid or a secondary? (they open at Noon) :confused:

Any idea or suggestion is welcome and encouraged!!!! :D
 
OrangeCatBrewery said:
Brewed a Dry Irish Stout on 6/9 & pitched yeast (wyeast irish ale). Next day fermentation was rocketing along. By 6/12 it had slowed/stalled. Took an SG reading on 6/16 & 6/17 - 1.017. I roused the yeast on 6/17 and today the SG is 1.016 @ 66*. {I would assume that you should still add +1 to the reading since it is above 60*}

In my estimation fermentation has stalled. I feel that the next option is to rack to a secondary and hope that the yeast will lower the SG to closer to 1.011.

Here is my question. My LHBS is closed today and I do not have a secondary. I was going to use my bottling bucket as a secondary. But I dont have a lid. Can I put plastic wrap (saran wrap) over the top and use tape or tied down cords around the side of the bucket to make it a tighter seal. Is this a feasable option? Should I wait until tomorrow and but a lid or a secondary? (they open at Noon) :confused:

Any idea or suggestion is welcome and encouraged!!!! :D
Click to expand...

What's the rush?
 
If you think it's stuck the LAST thing you want to do is rack it. You leave yeast behind when you rack which will make it less likely for additional fermentation to occur. If you want to rouse the yeast try giving the fermenter a gentle swirl. If that doesn't work you might consider repitching some dry yeast.

What was your OG? It's hard to tell if you have a stuck fermentation without knowing the OG. Most of my stouts finish around 1.014 so you may not be that far off (1.011 seems low to me for an extract stout). Remember that extract has a lot of unfermentable sugar in it compared to AG.

To answer your actual question about using saran wrap, I would say no, you are opening your beer up to infection. There is no reason you can't leave it in the primary an extra day, even if it's totally ready to be racked.
 
Not trying to rush....It just seems like fermentation has stopped IMHO. Usually my fermintations take 14 days, regardless of yeast type. And if this one stops fermenting I will have a 3.0% stout on my hand.

But your input is definately appreciated. I will let it sit awhile longer.
 
JadedDog........OG was 1.038 and I dont know the exact temp but it was low 80's so I estimate it at 1.041.

6/9-1.041......6/12-1.019.....6/16-1.017.....6/17-1.017.....6/18-1.016/7 (66*).
 
+1 to what JadedDog says. Leave it be for now. Its only been in the primary for 9 days, which isn't that long. It could drop a few points still.

I typically leave my beers in the primary for 3 weeks before bottling or racking. I take a gravity reading after about 7 days and again after the 3 weeks is up. After 7 days the beer is usually close to the FG, but the SG continues to drop by 2 or 3 points between the first and second reading.
 
If you roused the yeast on 6/17 and it dropped another point already, how is it stuck? Leave it for another week at least. If you're worried about autolysis or oxidation, RDWAHAHB. You have at least another two weeks in the bucket before that starts to be a concern.
 

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