stuck ferment

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lupulin

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I am having a problem with a stuck fermentation.

I made a really big RIS, 1.120 og about 2 months ago. I made a lower gravity beer (1.057) to get a really nice yeast cake to rack onto and everything was fine. Fermentation started really fast and vigorous. It sat on the yeast for a month to let the yeast do all they could to clean up the beer.

When I racked to the secondary, I took a gravity and it only came down to 1.040. I got 2 qts. of fresh yeast from a local brewery right out of their tanks to pitch into the secondary to see if that helps. Very little airlock activity since. I racked the beer off of the yeast after another month and took another gravity, still 1.040 :(

Do you think the yeast just can't take the alcohol and it is done? Both times, the yeast was 1056. I am planing on letting the beer age off the yeast another 6 months so I am in no hurry. What should I do? Something, nothing, I don't know.

It is sitting in my basement, and it holds a pretty constant 63-64*. I think that is all the pertinent info.
 
I have never made high gravity brews so take my advise with a grain of salt.

What was your actual grainbill? perhaps your unfermentables are keeping the gravity up, or like you suspect the 1056 isn't up to a high gravity situation. Try pitching a champange yeast if this is the case of the latter. Were there enough nutrients in your wort to sustain the long ferment?
 
here is the recipe:


24lb domestic 2 row
24lb marris otter
4.5lb roasted barley
2.0lb flaked barley
2.0 flaked oats
1.5lb Chocolate malt
1.5lb Cyrstal 90
2 cup organic coffe added to mash
4lb Dark Muscovado Sugar (end of boil)


I didn't end up using Muscovado sugar, I used some other sugar I got at the Mexican grocery store that I forget the name of. It looked like the sugar home brewers buy that is shaped like a cone, but it was in a bag and they looked like just the bottom 1.5" of the cone if that makes any sense.
 
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