Stalled or Hosed

Hi All,

I have a one gallon batch 2 months in primary....just racked over and it really REEKS of yeast and the Gravity is @ 1.074

Here are some specs

1 gallon Mead

4# Sage Wildflower Honey

SG 1.150

1 tsp Yeast Nutrient

1 tsp Yeast Enigizer (not SNA"D)

1 packet of Lalvin 71B-1122 rehydrated

Fermented warmish 72-74
Never cleared

Am I stalled or hosed... I was thinking ... besides the yeast stench, that the Gravity was still to high... I figured it would be 30 points lower ...Any suggestions

Thanks

Jeff

It sounds like it definitely stalled. High gravity starts are tough on yeast and often cause them to stop before reaching their tolerance. This becomes more true if they are not pampered during fermentation.

With high gravity, you definitely need aeration - did you do that for this batch?
Also, are you able to check the pH?
Did your "energizer" look like tan-colored powder?
Have you tried adding some yeast hulls?

You describe a stench, and usually yeast smell "yeasty" but they don't really stink. Does it smell like sulfur?

Hmm.. maybe give it a bit more honey. or some other more easily fermented sugar and see if it kicks off again?

Easiest would probably be to make a cup or so of simple syrup (water & white table sugar).

Hey Medsen, thanks tcindie

Its a yeasty smell, but Very noticeable...not Sulfer

I stirred it a bit for the first few days but then let it relax afer 4th day
the Energizer is tan
currently unable to test PH
Haven't tried Yeast Hulls

i had one stuck at 1.040 once. so i re-hydrated two packs of ec-1118 and dumped them in....seemed to restart a little, dropped to 1.030 but then stopped. was going to order some more yeast and do some other things, but in the meantime (two weeks after the other yeast dump) i found one more pack of 1118 in the fridge. tore it open and just dumped it in the carboy dry. started fermenting the next day and tore through the rest of it in about 2 weeks.
ec-1118 is great for unsticking a stuck fermentation. aerate before pitching if you do this though.

You might want to try some yeast hulls, a good aeration, and letting it warm up a couple of more degrees.

It could certainly be a pH issue in which case these things probably won't help..

If you do decide to pitch another yeast, take the time to acclimate it to your must and the chances of success will be higher. The instructions for doing so are in hightest's sticky at the top of the page.