Fermentation stuck... Safale or not to Safale

So I am doing Paulaner Heffe clone. To start with I had problems with seemingly easy recipe. I did partial mash recipe with Wyeast 3056.
My OG came out at 1.048 (by recipe I should have been at 1.054) and 10 days later beer is stuck at 1.020. It has not changed in the last 5 days.

I have a packet of Safale 05 and wonder if I should hit the beer with some or is there something else I could do to wake it up?

if you're using liquid extract, that's not much off the mark

Yes, I did use LME.

I am concerned though with the 1.020. 3.8% ABV beer is freaking water.

What was your ferment temp? I had this yeast stuck because the temp dropped close to 60f. Raised it up to about 70F and it fermented out. BTW, that yeast is usually crazy at normal ferment temps...like you're afraid it won't stop!

I really doubt that a brew would be stopped at 1.020 because it was extract when the OG was only 1.048. I brewed a lot of brews with LME and DME, and never ended anywhere near that high.

One more question, did you use a starter, or just pitch the smack pack?

You probably did not get an accurate OG reading. In my experience, LME especially Alexanders doesnt ferment out and 1.020 is common. I would bet your beer is done. Try some dry extract next time and use some yeast nutrient.

1. I used Briess Bavarian Wheat LME
2. Room was in constant 72F temp
3. Used a smack pack

I do not imagine that the yeast would have a hard time with that small a beer. I think it is done and the high FG is due to the LME. Also, what temp did you mash at?

IMHO, pitching more yeast now will not likely help, especially the S-05. If you decide to pitch anything, I would recommend using a lager yeast - they can ferment more types of sugars than ale yeasts, so you might be able to get a few more points.

What dry lager yeast would you suggest and at what temp should I hold it?

Another question is re. introducing another yeast, how will it change the flavor profile?

BTW, I was mashing at 150, as the recipe suggested.

agurkas said:

What dry lager yeast would you suggest and at what temp should I hold it?

Another question is re. introducing another yeast, how will it change the flavor profile?

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I think any lager yeast would would equally well for this purpose (assuming of course, there is anything left for them to ferment). You shouldn't need to worry about any flavor contributions at this point - the bulk of fermentation is done and little, if any, flavor will be produced now.

I wonder if dumping it into secondary would agitate the yeast and I could get another 0.005 out of it.

Yeast is just do damn expensive.

How much water did you mash with and how much grain did you use?

agurkas said:

I wonder if dumping it into secondary would agitate the yeast and I could get another 0.005 out of it.

Yeast is just do damn expensive.

Click to expand...

It could, if there were actual sugars in there for the yeast to metabolize. My gut tells me that there are not as 1.020 is a common end point for a lot of extract beers (run a search for "1.020" on these forums - you will find many posts with a similar predicament). That said, I suppose it is worth a shot to see if it does anything, but just be careful not to introduce too much oxygen in the process.

I would always recommend a starter with liquid yeast. Your higher OG is likely caused by the yeast and not the LME. If you pitch a lager yeast, as previously suggested, I would suggest making a starter and pitching at high krausen.

Don't want to claim one yeast is better than other, but I seem to have much better luck with doing starters with White Labs. Wyeast I just can't make work for me properly.

Probably will stick to DME partial mash for a while and stay with White Labs.