noisy123
Well-Known Member
I have been brewing big beers lately, and I have been having stuck fermentations. I have brewed one with wyeast 3787 and the other with wyeast 3864. They get to around 1.03 after a month, then nothing. There are lots of threads on how to get them going again so that's not what I am after (This method from Evan! and others does the trick), but I'd like to prevent them in the future.
From what I read there are four ways of getting a stuck fermentation in beer:
1) Inadequate fermentables from mashing too high in temperature.
2) Fermentation temperature being too low, causing yeast to prematurely flocculate.
3) Inadequate yeast cell count or using an insufficient starter.
4) Inadequate aeration before the yeast is pitched.
My process:
1) I have a thermometer that, grrrr, is about 3 degrees too high. When I mashed at 153, I was actually mashing at 150 F. But this would make the beers more fermentable, not less.
2) I use a water bath and aquarium heater to regulate temperature. I start these belgians in the mid-60's and let them rise to 70 over the course of a week.
3) I used a 3/4 gallon starter for 1.08 brew. I may not have allowed the yeast enough time to eat all the starter wort. I let it work for 48 hours or so, but this belgian yeast had not flocculated completely. I decanted most of the beer and pitched.
4) I aerate using a wine degassing wand in my drill motor. I froth the beer for at least 5 minutes.
My guess is that I am not pitching enough yeast. I am thinking of buying a stir-plate (I don't have access to computer parts). Any help would be great. I hear people talk about primary fermentation on their tripel finishing in a week, and I am sooo jealous.
Thanks for any help!
From what I read there are four ways of getting a stuck fermentation in beer:
1) Inadequate fermentables from mashing too high in temperature.
2) Fermentation temperature being too low, causing yeast to prematurely flocculate.
3) Inadequate yeast cell count or using an insufficient starter.
4) Inadequate aeration before the yeast is pitched.
My process:
1) I have a thermometer that, grrrr, is about 3 degrees too high. When I mashed at 153, I was actually mashing at 150 F. But this would make the beers more fermentable, not less.
2) I use a water bath and aquarium heater to regulate temperature. I start these belgians in the mid-60's and let them rise to 70 over the course of a week.
3) I used a 3/4 gallon starter for 1.08 brew. I may not have allowed the yeast enough time to eat all the starter wort. I let it work for 48 hours or so, but this belgian yeast had not flocculated completely. I decanted most of the beer and pitched.
4) I aerate using a wine degassing wand in my drill motor. I froth the beer for at least 5 minutes.
My guess is that I am not pitching enough yeast. I am thinking of buying a stir-plate (I don't have access to computer parts). Any help would be great. I hear people talk about primary fermentation on their tripel finishing in a week, and I am sooo jealous.
Thanks for any help!