What do I do? - (stuck fermentation)

Williams 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
duskb

duskb

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jul 11, 2008
Messages
350
Reaction score
4
Location
Los Angeles
I posted last week about an IPA that got stuck at 1.026. After following the advice of several in here I shook up the fermenter and got the ale down to 1.022 after 6 days. The beer has not moved after multiple readings.

At this point I need to get the ale transferred because it's been on the cake for almost 3 weeks. The store I got the recipe from said 1.016/8 isn't uncommon for this beer but 1.022 is too high.

Any thoughts?
 
Did you get the temperature up to 72 or higher? That might restart the yeast if its gone to sleep, metaphorically speaking.

Also, what kind of recipe is this, an extract or all-grain? That matters, because if its an all-grain, its possible that the mash was too high and there's a lot of unfermentables in your beer.

Or, did you use a lot of crystal malts, that might also add unfermentables.

If you've shaken it up, and the temperature is 72 or above and the fermentation is truly stopped, then I suppose you could re-pitch some more yeast. But if it were me, I'd probably rack it to secondary and let it sit for a good three more weeks, just to see what happens. Then if fermentation was done, I'd bottle it, 1.022 or not. But I'm not a big stickler for beer styles - I like to try different things.
 
If there isn't any sugar already in the recipe, you might boil up a little sugar, maybe 1 pound or so in a cup or two of water, and add it to the fermenter. That should help dry it out a little bit although it may not necessarily lower the gravity.
 
I was thinking the same thing as far as the high mash temp, what pappers said. If it's extract, some extracts have a lot of unfermentables, hence the high finishing gravity.

Rack it to the secondary for awhile and then keg/bottle. It's probably about done as far as fermentation. Unless you pitch a heartier yeast.

~r~
 
Pappers said:
Did you get the temperature up to 72 or higher? That might restart the yeast if its gone to sleep, metaphorically speaking.

Also, what kind of recipe is this, an extract or all-grain? That matters, because if its an all-grain, its possible that the mash was too high and there's a lot of unfermentables in your beer.

Or, did you use a lot of crystal malts, that might also add unfermentables.

If you've shaken it up, and the temperature is 72 or above and the fermentation is truly stopped, then I suppose you could re-pitch some more yeast. But if it were me, I'd probably rack it to secondary and let it sit for a good three more weeks, just to see what happens. Then if fermentation was done, I'd bottle it, 1.022 or not. But I'm not a big stickler for beer styles - I like to try different things.
Click to expand...

It's an extract. Recipe below

Pale 9 lbs.
Crystal 10L 8 oz
Crystal 60L 4 oz
Victory malt 4 oz
#1 Columbus (13.4%) 1.6 oz 60 min
#2 Cascade (7.4%) 1.0 oz 15 min
#3 Cascade 1.0 oz 0 min
Starting Gravity:1.067
White Labs WLP001

I pretty much did what folks suggested in my OP. I put it in a warmer room shook it up and waited. As you can see the yeast did go back to work but not by much.

Since I don't know what the heck I'm doing and I need to get the beer off the cake I'll transfer it to a keg tonight and let it sit for several weeks. I'm not in a rush for it but I also don't want to make it worse by leaving it on a stagnant cake either.
 
My bet is that the extract you use, had a high amount of unfermentables .. I ran into that once in awhile when I did extracts. I'd just rack it, let it sit for awhile then drink it and enjoy it for what it is and move on to the next batch.

Make notes on your recipe about what happened and modify the recipe next time, either try a different yeast, alter your procedure or use different brands of extracts. They all have different amounts of fermentables and the fermentable ratio even varies by batch.

This is what often times leads people to want to start all grain brewing because they have more control over their finished product.

With that said, unless something else is wrong with your beer, it should be fine to drink.

cheers

~r~
 
3 weeks on the cake is not a big deal. If it were me, i'd make a starter with some new yeast and pitch it while it is actively fermenting, just to make sure it's a fermentables issue. 1.022 is on the higher end, but not undrinkable. It might be a little sweet, but I've had 1.019 IPAs that have been very good.
 
+1 on 3 weeks not being too much. I always let my beer sit 3 weeks in the primary unless I'm going to dry hop or flavor it. Letting it sit on the cake longer supposedly clears it out a bit more too, and I do know that my beers have cleared quite nicely by sitting in the primary 3 weeks.

If it were me (and that by no means qualifies as any sort of seasoned advice, since I've only been brewing 2 months) I would taste it. If you like how it tastes, then keg it. You're not trying to win any competitions or show off to us folks here, you're trying to make beer that YOU like to drink.
 
C4PNJ4ZZ said:
3 weeks on the cake is not a big deal. If it were me, i'd make a starter with some new yeast and pitch it while it is actively fermenting, just to make sure it's a fermentables issue. 1.022 is on the higher end, but not undrinkable. It might be a little sweet, but I've had 1.019 IPAs that have been very good.
Click to expand...

I'm AT 3 weeks as of today and typically I NEVER go beyond it. I know that 3 weeks is a guideline but guidelines were established for good reason, folks have been burned when not adhering to it.

It would be easy for me to brew up a quick starter and pitch it in there in a day or two but we are talking at LEAST 6 more days before anything could happen. At that point we are pushing 4 weeks in the fermenter and the beer has already changed in flavor between tuesday and today (I'm getting a meaty yeastlike flavor in the aftertaste that wasn't there last week).

As I said my original plan was to just keg this stuff and be done with it...my secondary is being used now so I'm either relegated to finishing this in a keg or tempting fate.

Thoughts?
 
4 weeks is no problem. Do an autolysis search on here, it's been discussed at length. Basic Brewing did a podcast where they tested primary lengths up to and beyond 4 weeks and actually found benefits in some cases and no difference in others. Most will agree with me that another week really won't have a negative effect on the quality of the brew. I do a 3 week primary on all my beers and have never had a problem with any off flavors.

But, if it tastes good, keg it.
 
Almost all of my beers sit atleast 3 weeks in primary. No problem with a little extra time.

Just had a saison that I had to ease down the final gravity and it was in there 6 weeks and would have let it set longer but I needed the carboy.
 

Similar threads

Roxhambrewshed
What would you do? Keg transfer help.
Replies
12
Views
538
Bassman2003
B
Mallerstang
Restarted stuck fermentation - what now?
Replies
4
Views
577
OakIslandBrewery
OakIslandBrewery
amr
Stuck (?) fermentation - Sierra Nevada Pale Ale Clone
Replies
10
Views
1K
VikeMan
VikeMan
D
My liver getting a 2nd fermentation !
Replies
4
Views
505
Drunken Monkey
D
nyoksol
Stuck fermentation-- how can I rescue it?
Replies
11
Views
995
dmtaylor
dmtaylor
InkBird 300

Latest posts

Back
Top