So I've been helping my brother with a kit beer that has stopped at 1.021 SG. Thing is, this kit is supposed to be a very close imitation to a macrobrew beer and it is far too sweet and underattenuated to even resemble that beer.
The kit was really fresh, manufactured about 8 days before making it, so I figured I could trust the yeast to be adequate, but mrmalty and my cellphone calculator both say the yeast was only half as much as needed.
So I've never repitched before, or even had to, but I've waited long enough to know it's fermenting no further. So my question, because I don't fully get the theory behind repitching when the slurry is probably adequate to throw another beer on top of, is whether people have actually had much success repitching. I don't have access to amylase except for beano right now, which I'd rather not use, and swirling/raising the temp hasn't been enough on its own, so its really my only option. He bought a case of 6 kits, so there's a yeast packet for each one and I can pitch one of those, but if it's a largely frivolous attempt I'd rather save it for his next batch (combined with reusing the current slurry), because if I have to end up buying yeast for a future batch, I'm not sure which would give the result he wants.
Also, if I do repitch, is there any need to re-aerate? I'd think, especially having swirled it a fair amount, that there'd be too great a risk of ending up with oxidized, cardboard-tasting beer. But I've never had to do this before so I have no idea.
I'm sorry if this has been asked and answered a million times before. I tried to search, but right now, my internet access is limited to my cellphone, and my android browser doesn't seem to like the search tool on this site whatsoever.
The kit was really fresh, manufactured about 8 days before making it, so I figured I could trust the yeast to be adequate, but mrmalty and my cellphone calculator both say the yeast was only half as much as needed.
So I've never repitched before, or even had to, but I've waited long enough to know it's fermenting no further. So my question, because I don't fully get the theory behind repitching when the slurry is probably adequate to throw another beer on top of, is whether people have actually had much success repitching. I don't have access to amylase except for beano right now, which I'd rather not use, and swirling/raising the temp hasn't been enough on its own, so its really my only option. He bought a case of 6 kits, so there's a yeast packet for each one and I can pitch one of those, but if it's a largely frivolous attempt I'd rather save it for his next batch (combined with reusing the current slurry), because if I have to end up buying yeast for a future batch, I'm not sure which would give the result he wants.
Also, if I do repitch, is there any need to re-aerate? I'd think, especially having swirled it a fair amount, that there'd be too great a risk of ending up with oxidized, cardboard-tasting beer. But I've never had to do this before so I have no idea.
I'm sorry if this has been asked and answered a million times before. I tried to search, but right now, my internet access is limited to my cellphone, and my android browser doesn't seem to like the search tool on this site whatsoever.