Big beer stalled?

So lots of topics similar to this that I have seen but still would appreciate some advice. Brewed my first big beer (Old Ale) OG = 1.102 February 6 (2 packets Notty) I racked to secondary on March 7 and took a gravity reading at 1.046. I took another reading 2 days later and it was the same so I prepared a 1 L starter with WLP013 London Ale and pitched on March 13. There have been no signs of additional fermentation and the gravity reading is still 1.046. Fermentation temps were around 70 degrees, up to about 73 during active fermentation for a few days. Should I wait on it (agitate every day), try another yeast infusion or another solution?

I was hoping to add some oak chips soaked in bourbon to it and let it age for another 2 months but not sure when to do that if I am stalled out.

Thanks all.

Hmmm... what temp did you mash at? You might just have a lot of unfermentables in your beer. I wouldn't agitate every day or your beer will never clear. You're at about 7.3% ABV though it is going to be really sweet. In general I imagine it will be a very heavy beer but I wouldn't say that's particularly bad. I doubt you're going to ferment much more. For this particular beer I think the longer it ages, the better it will be.

Is this an extract beer? Between a low fermentable extract, and a low attenuating yeast, you might be about done.

you could try amylase...

It was all grain, mashed at 155 deg.

13 lbs MO
3 lbs Munich
1 lbs Crystal 120
16 oz. Molassas

So it sounds like the combination of the higher mash temp and maybe the yeast I am probably done. I thought the nottinghan dry yeast would be higher attenuating and I was hoping to have a little lower FG, but thats ok. I am planning on aging it for a while so hopefully everything blends nicely and comes together over time. Thanks guys. Ill try again next time with a lower mash temp and maybe try a liquid yeast with massive starter that is very high attenuating.

next time mash at around 152F.

Well that pound of molasses is relatively unfermentable assuming it's dark. 155 is also pretty high but not unreasonably high, but yeah that will contribute to more unfermentables in the beer. Your apparent attenuation is at 53% which is definitely low, but I don't think there's much that can be done now unless you added fermentables to the beer which i highly discourage. Let this bad boy age. It's going to be awesome.

It will probably make a good digestif.

velosim said:

So it sounds like the combination of the higher mash temp and maybe the yeast I am probably done. I thought the nottinghan dry yeast would be higher attenuating and I was hoping to have a little lower FG, but thats ok. I am planning on aging it for a while so hopefully everything blends nicely and comes together over time. Thanks guys. Ill try again next time with a lower mash temp and maybe try a liquid yeast with massive starter that is very high attenuating.

Click to expand...

enzymes could help you get a few points http://www.brewery.org/brewery/library/enzymes595.html

+1 on the amylase enzymes. I've tried it out on an extract recipe that finished high, got me another 9 points.

thumbs up on the enzymes.

+1 to amylase

amylase enzyme brought my Imperial Stout (og 1.090) from stuck 1.044 to 1.024 (still slowly dropping)

If I use AE from my LHBS ($5 for 1 oz.) how much to use and what procedures for sanitizing etc...

I couldn't find these specifics on any of the other AE threads, just discussions about Beano v AE and such.

Am i going to lose too much body to my ale or will it more likely just correct for my too high mash temp?

Thanks everyone.

velosim said:

If I use AE from my LHBS ($5 for 1 oz.) how much to use and what procedures for sanitizing etc...

Click to expand...

about a teaspoon. just pitch it straight in because beta amylase breaks down at like 147F so you cant boil it...

So I threw in 1 teaspoon of AE on March 18 and got bubbles in the airlock within about 12 hours. Gravity came down to 1.022 (from 1.046) and fermentation seems to have stopped (same gravity last 4 days). 1.022 seems just about perfect giving me an ABV of 10.5%. I racked to a carboy on top of oak chips I soaked in Makers Mark where it will stay for another month or two until I get some good oak flavor in there.

Thanks for the advice everyone, seems to have worked out perfectly.