BBFCreatureFM
Active Member
I think I may have a stuck fermentation?
I made 8 gallons of all-grain Belgian Blonde sticking fairly close to Revvy's recipe (scaled up). I hit my pre-boil numbers, but I boiled for too long and way overshot my OG, which was 1.081. Rather than dilute it with water, I just split the batch and pitched a 2L starter made with two vials of Abbey Ale (White Labs WLP530). I've read that this yeast is tolerant of higher alcohol (up to 15%), so I figured I was okay even though my wort was sweeter than planned.
The fermentation went gangbusters and needed blow-off tubes for three days. I fermented a bit above the optimal temperature, maybe 72 degrees ambient temp. But now (two weeks later), my gravity has only dropped to 1.045. I added apricot puree to one of the two carboys, so that one has new sugars and new airlock activity. I also slightly agitated both carboys. I'm going to wait a few days and check the gravity on the non-apricot carboy to see if it has in fact stopped at 1.045.
Is it possible that I overstressed the yeast by having too active an initial fermentation? Or maybe I overpitched? Can either of these things cause a stuck fermentation? I expected a bigger drop after two weeks. It is going to be a sweet blonde, if that much residual sugars remain. Is there anything that I can do, if in fact it's stuck at 1.045 when I test in a few days?
Most likely, I just need to sit on it and not worry.
I made 8 gallons of all-grain Belgian Blonde sticking fairly close to Revvy's recipe (scaled up). I hit my pre-boil numbers, but I boiled for too long and way overshot my OG, which was 1.081. Rather than dilute it with water, I just split the batch and pitched a 2L starter made with two vials of Abbey Ale (White Labs WLP530). I've read that this yeast is tolerant of higher alcohol (up to 15%), so I figured I was okay even though my wort was sweeter than planned.
The fermentation went gangbusters and needed blow-off tubes for three days. I fermented a bit above the optimal temperature, maybe 72 degrees ambient temp. But now (two weeks later), my gravity has only dropped to 1.045. I added apricot puree to one of the two carboys, so that one has new sugars and new airlock activity. I also slightly agitated both carboys. I'm going to wait a few days and check the gravity on the non-apricot carboy to see if it has in fact stopped at 1.045.
Is it possible that I overstressed the yeast by having too active an initial fermentation? Or maybe I overpitched? Can either of these things cause a stuck fermentation? I expected a bigger drop after two weeks. It is going to be a sweet blonde, if that much residual sugars remain. Is there anything that I can do, if in fact it's stuck at 1.045 when I test in a few days?
Most likely, I just need to sit on it and not worry.