Imperial Stout. Stuck fermentation.

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SeldomSeen

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Hi all.
I think I have a stuck fermentation with an Imperial stout recipe I did.
It's a Brooklyn Brewerey Chocolate Stout clone.

OG was 1.090
FG is supposed to be in to 1.020-1.025 range.
When I Racked from the primary to the secondary (after 2 weeks in the primary) my SG reading was 1.032 @ 64 degrees.
I checked the secondary after a week, and I was still at 1.032 @ 64 degrees..
After 2 weeks.. Again 1.032 @ 64 degrees. Wort tastes VERY sweet.
I am using Wyeast American Ale Yeast 1056. I am at work now so I can't post up the recipe.
I repitched another smack pack of the same yeast on Friday, but I have not seen anything resembling fermentation. Should I have made a yeast starter with aereated wort before repitching?

I will post the recipe when I get home.
 
this is why you should never rack your beer into a clearing vessel until primary fermentation is FINISHED.

if it tastes sweet, then it probably isn't quite finished (even for an RIS)

you could repitch or throw in some champagne yeast to wrap it up.
 
You could try moving the fermenter to an area where the beer can warm up up to the low 70's and then swirl the wort to rouse what yeast is left. That may restart the yeast and get it to finish the job.

If that doesn't work, I would do one of two things.

1) Brew another beer using 1056 and then rack the stout onto the yeast cake.

2) Sanitize a quart jar and visit your local brewpub or microbrewery. Ask them for some yeast slurry. Pitch that into the stout.

In my experience, it takes a lot of yeast to restart a fermentation.
 
here is the recipe I used"


Ingredients

Amount Item Type % or IBU
6.00 lb Amber Dry Extract (12.5 SRM) Dry Extract 46.69 %
3.00 lb Light Dry Extract (8.0 SRM) Dry Extract 23.35 %
1.00 lb Wheat Dry Extract (8.0 SRM) Dry Extract 7.78 %
1.50 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) UK (3.0 SRM) Grain 11.67 %
0.90 lb Chocolate Malt (450.0 SRM) Grain 7.00 %
0.25 lb Wheat, Flaked (1.6 SRM) Grain 1.95 %
0.20 lb Black (Patent) Malt (500.0 SRM) Grain 1.56 %
3.00 oz Goldings, East Kent [4.20 %] (60 min) Hops 24.8 IBU
0.50 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (15 min) Hops 2.7 IBU
0.50 oz Goldings, East Kent [4.20 %] (15 min) Hops 2.0 IBU
0.50 oz Cascade [5.50 %] (5 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep) Hops -
0.50 oz Williamette [5.50 %] (5 min) (Aroma Hop-Steep) Hops -
1.00 tsp Irish Moss (Boil 10.0 min) Misc
4.00 oz Malto-Dextrine (Boil 5.0 min) Misc
10.00 gm Gypsum (Calcium Sulfate) (Mash 60.0 min) Misc
5.00 gal Salt Lake City, UT Water
2 Pkgs American Ale (Wyeast Labs #1056) Yeast-Ale
 
I checked the SG last night after repitching the yeast last friday.
My SG is 1.030. But I'd chalk the drop in SG to reader error.

I don't think that pitching the beer onto a yeast slurry from the microbrew is a good idea. Just too much potential to contaminate this (expensive) beer.

I was thinking about getting a 'brew belt' to help boost the temp and perhaps pitching a third dose of yeast. But this time using a Safale US-05 and perhaps making a starter with that?

The wyeast shows that it should tolerate up to 10% alchohol which is the target of this recipe. The SG shows that it's a little over 7% right now.

Push comes to shove, I suppose I could make another half batch of this and then pitch the beer onto the yeast cake after that one has finished fermenting.

Thanks for any input.
 
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