Can't get stout to finish...

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mullimat

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I brewed a chocolate raspberry stout last week (kit from AHS) and it never really got a lot of airlock activity. I added some of their alcohol boost to it during the boil and came out with an SG of 1.069. I have been checking it the last few days and it has been stuck at 1.020. It's supposed to get down to 1.012 according to the kit instructions. Fermentation temps were around 68 and i even slowly brought them up to 72 to see if that would help and it hasn't. What should i do to get it to finish out? At the OG it's at now i would be happy with it but i would like to get it to what it's supposed to be. Could the alcohol boost have something to do with it? Should i repitch like a half or 3/4 pack of dry yeast (reason i say that is because that's all i have and i'm saving a 1/4 packet for bottling my rochefort 10 clone :mug: )? Any thoughts?
 
Give the primary a swirl (not a shake!) to rouse some yeast back into suspension and check it again in a few days. There is plenty of yeast in the primary already, no need to pitch more at this point.
 
Have you tried swirling it gently to rouse the yeast up a bit? I had a stout that got stuck recently (my fault, I underpitched), and I took my racking cane, sanitized it then stuck it into the carboy and stirred up the yeast off the bottom to rouse them up. Fermentation picked back up and it finished out nicely.
 
I had a stout with a little boost SG was 1.071 and I never got it below 1.020 even with bringing the temp up and swirling once a day for 3 or 4 days. Thats still over 6% ABV.
 
I tried swirling it the first day i tried to up the temp and it did a little as far as airlock activity but it hasn't done much since. Tasting it now it tastes great so i'm not too worried about it going lower but it would still be nice to get it down that extra .008. I mean it isn't that big of a deal. But at 1.020 it still makes me feel like it's not quite finished.
 
What was your mash temp and yeast strain? By my calc, you have 70 % attn. That may be close to the end. 1084 is 71-75%...

But if you don't like it, you can always try some dry yeast. Just get it started before you pitch it for best results. But if there isn't any fermentable sugars left, it won't do much for you.
 
Mash Temp was about 155 and my yeast was White Labs London Ale WLP013. I guess i'll just stick with it the way it is. No worries.
 
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