I'm currently brewing NB's Black IPA kit. I started with the American Ale II yeast pack and tried making a 1.040 starter, but the starter never took off (first time I've ever had that happen). So I then bought another American Ale II pack at my LHBS, and while it swelled, I ended up not being able to brew that day. So I bought a third smack pack and forgot to make a starter before the only day above freezing we had; it only swelled partially after a few hours. I pitched it and fermentation took off; things were moving along nicely after 12 hours.
Tonight I went to rack the beer to secondary and to dry hop. Gravity read 1.040. I checked my refractometer to ensure that wasn't the problem and it read 1.002 with my sanitizer water, so I am positive I have stuck fermentation. While the beer smells really boozy, it certainly looked pretty syrupy. I went ahead and racked it to get it off the trub but did not add the hops. I suppose I need to repitch. I'm considering ditching American Ale II after all this mess and going with a Trappist yeast or something in which I have faith (especially since I love big Belgians most of all).
Any suggestions on next steps?
Tonight I went to rack the beer to secondary and to dry hop. Gravity read 1.040. I checked my refractometer to ensure that wasn't the problem and it read 1.002 with my sanitizer water, so I am positive I have stuck fermentation. While the beer smells really boozy, it certainly looked pretty syrupy. I went ahead and racked it to get it off the trub but did not add the hops. I suppose I need to repitch. I'm considering ditching American Ale II after all this mess and going with a Trappist yeast or something in which I have faith (especially since I love big Belgians most of all).
Any suggestions on next steps?