Ferm stopped before FG

BrewSwag 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
T

t-jarks22

Well-Known Member
Joined
Apr 17, 2012
Messages
89
Reaction score
10
Hey guys, so my black IPA is stuck. OG was 1.065, after 2 weeks in primary (ferm had seemed to slow/stop) I transferred it to secondary without taking a reading. I know I should have just left it in primary and should have taken a reding before transfer and dumping the yeast cake.
Any way, I was stuck with a gravity if 1.038 and not sure what to Si with it. I let it sit in the secondary for another week with no change. A week later I made another yeast starter and added that to the secondary. Now a week later it has only gone down to 1.032. Now what?! Not sure where to go from here. Should I try another starter or am I just wasting yeast? Or should I just keg, carb and see what happens?
 
Lesson learned about moving beer off yeast before confirmation of final gravity................

Is this extract or AG? Need some info to determine why it stuck. If AG, the following:
1. Grain bill
2. mash temp
3. yeast strain
4. Starter or no starter and size
5. pitching temp
6. Fermentation temps

Just because it is at 1.032 now doesn't mean it wont go lower but the info above will help. You were inpatient originally so don't be inpatient again:) LEave the beer alone until you figure this out.
 
duboman said:
Lesson learned about moving beer off yeast before confirmation of final gravity................

Is this extract or AG? Need some info to determine why it stuck. If AG, the following:
1. Grain bill
2. mash temp
3. yeast strain
4. Starter or no starter and size
5. pitching temp
6. Fermentation temps

Just because it is at 1.032 now doesn't mean it wont go lower but the info above will help. You were inpatient originally so don't be inpatient again:) LEave the beer alone until you figure this out.
Click to expand...



image-2965526107.jpg

Yeast strain was wyeast 1056 from a pale ale. Made a 1.5 qt starter over 72 hrs. Pitching temp was 66 deg, but ferm temp was around 74. Guessing the ferm temp played a part?
 
A couple things noticed. You have about 11% of the grain bill as Caramel malt, this is a lot, usually around 5% of the grain bill is recommended as it is less fermentable. Second is the re-use of the yeast. While this is done frequently there is the possibility that the yeast may not fully attenuate depending on its overall health from the previous batch. In addition, while you made a starter, at 1.5L was still a little underpitched. You did not provide the mash temp but if it was higher than 152 then you mashed too high and contributed to a less fermentable wort as well. Is your thermometer calibrated? THe estimated FG at 1.010 is also a little lower than I would expect, more like 1.015-17

So, based on all these variables it is quite possible that your beer is basically done. If the beer hasn't continued to move with the re-pitch then I would wait a few days and take a reading, if it moved again then give it more time, if its stable and unchanged then bottle and expect a sweeter beer then you anticipated:)
 
duboman said:
A couple things noticed. You have about 11% of the grain bill as Caramel malt, this is a lot, usually around 5% of the grain bill is recommended as it is less fermentable. Second is the re-use of the yeast. While this is done frequently there is the possibility that the yeast may not fully attenuate depending on its overall health from the previous batch. In addition, while you made a starter, at 1.5L was still a little underpitched. You did not provide the mash temp but if it was higher than 152 then you mashed too high and contributed to a less fermentable wort as well. Is your thermometer calibrated? THe estimated FG at 1.010 is also a little lower than I would expect, more like 1.015-17

So, based on all these variables it is quite possible that your beer is basically done. If the beer hasn't continued to move with the re-pitch then I would wait a few days and take a reading, if it moved again then give it more time, if its stable and unchanged then bottle and expect a sweeter beer then you anticipated:)
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot, some great info there. The mash temp ended up between 152 and 156 throughout its duration. Yea, I put it into I brewmaster and it was going for a FG of 1.016. So I was shooting for that. It has moved down to about 1.031 so I'll give it another few days.

Just out of curiosity (I will be kegging this) but if I were bottling. Would adding priming sugars be necessary or even work for carbonating? If the yeast are intact done for.
 
Swirl the fermenter and make sure it's warm enough, say in the high 60's to low 70's.

Yes, the yeast are still there, but there isn't fermentable sugar for them to eat, only dextrines.

If it moves at all in a few days, keep swirling it every day and taking a reading every few.
 

Similar threads

K
Question About Keg Secondary
Replies
9
Views
736
Broken Crow
Broken Crow
Zippy123
Yeast starter for pressure lager (~68 F ferm)
Replies
10
Views
610
rallenhall
rallenhall
D
Stuck fermentation on an imperial stout
Replies
8
Views
459
G_robertus
G
Gadjobrinus
Festbier seemingly stuck at 1.030?
Replies
15
Views
713
Gadjobrinus
Gadjobrinus
V
No sign of fermentation after 48 hrs
Replies
3
Views
346
odie
odie

Latest posts

Back
Top