Stuck Fermentation? - Smoked Porter

Brewed a smoked brown porter 12 days ago https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/brew-day-lap-sang-sou-chong-smoked-porter-245584/
Brew partner checked the gravity this evening and it was at .024 - original gravity was .053. He was hoping to rack it to secondary tonight (I am a solo primary guy, but it was his brew) but I told him to swirl the fermenter to rouse up the yeast. Hoping that helps them finish their job.
Ambient room temp is 68-70.
Would it be advisable to chuck 1# of partially inverted light golden candi syrup?
And we used 04 on this - rehydrated 1 hour or so prior to pitching.
Thanks for the help and suggestions.

I'd wager it's not stuck, I would check the gravity again in a couple of days. If it's still dropping simply wait longer, if not then swirl as you've said and maybe raise a few degrees.

Did you oxygenate the wort? Check the oxygen threads

If there are bubbles in the airlock, it probably is just a slow fermentation. let it go for longer before messing with it to be sure.

We oxygenated when we racked to the fermenter - and we don't use an airlock as we open ferment. Colo - that is what I was thinking. What about adding the Lyle's candi syrup? Any advantage to doing that?
Thanks guys.

beerspitnight said:

. . . . . What about adding the Lyle's candi syrup? Any advantage to doing that?
Thanks guys.

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Well if it's stuck, all that does is give stressed yeast more to stress about If the gravity is still dropping and it's part of the recipe or you just want to raise the ABV then go for it.

Fair enough Colo - I was thinking it might kickstart the yeast. We'll just see where it is on Sunday and go from there.
Thanks guys.

Progress report?
I'm a newbie and am at the bottom of the learning curve

Yeah, pretty bummed - we dumped 1# of candi sugar and shook the hell out of the fermenter got down to .021 on Wednesday. My brew partner tasted it on yesterday and said we had vinegar. Not sure what happened.

beerspitnight said:

Yeah, pretty bummed - we dumped 1# of candi sugar and shook the hell out of the fermenter got down to .021 on Wednesday. My brew partner tasted it on yesterday and said we had vinegar. Not sure what happened.

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Tell us what it's like in another week, you never know.

Most plausibly your wort has been contaminated by Acetobactor aceti, a common contaminant which converts ethyl alcohol to acetic acid, vinegar. The bug is widely found in nature and requires oxygen to function. According to the excellent resource Brew Chem 101 by Lee Janson there could be some other factors causing a vinegary taste.

Let a bottle of wine sit at room temp. for long enough and voila!, it turns to vinegar!

Check this out for a brief treatise on vinegar making:

http://www.popsci.com/diy/article/2008-12/making-vinegar-home

Ya might consider letting the Acetobacter finish its job. You may be fortunate enough to have created a flavorful artisan vinegar for cooking!! Would make great Xmas gifts.

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Just for fun check the below.
When open, click Learn a little more about vinegar.
Note the website mentions making vinegar with a sumptuous ale.

http://www.oakbarrelsltd.com/vinegar-barrels.html

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