Stuck Dubbel

Hey guys, I brewed a Belgian Dubbel 4 weeks ago. The S.G. is now stuck at 1.031. Based on Beersmith, my expected F.G. is 1.017. My O.G. was 1.071, the yeast was WLP530. I have taken gravities on 3 consecutive days, no change. The beer is currently in secondary, and yes I did use a starter, though it was probably undersized. I fermented at 68F for the first week, since then it's been 70-72F. So, the question is, what do I do? I was thinking about buying some dry yeast and pitching that. What do you think, and if I should do that does it matter which yeast I choose? Thanks in advance!

Cheers,
Mark

Try:

1. Warming it up. Your yeast should ferment above 80, but you may want to try getting it up to 75F. Warmer temps will produce some esters -- which is often desirable in this style -- but if you are trying to avoid them then just let it get up to 75F and then bring it back down if fermentation begins.

2. Shake the **** out of it. I know aeration is a concern, but remember that unless you've messed with the beer a lot, there is still a layer of CO2 on top preventing oxygen -- the culprit -- from getting to it. Sometimes rousing the yeast will unstick fermentation. I, and many others, find this the most effective method without any negative effects to flavor.

3. If you try this method two days in a row and still have no success with unsticking fermentation, get some more yeast and repitch.

Thanks for the tip, I'll give it a shot!

Update - I shook up the carboy to try to reactivate the yeast, did that 2 consecutive days. That didn't work. So bought some Nottingham dry yeast, made a starter, and then pitched. My S.G. has dropped from 1.031 to 1.029. It has been a week. Hmmm, not a big change. Am I screwed here? Do I just bottle in another week (which is the next time I'll have then time)? Or are there any ideas on how I can get better attenuation at this point?

Thanks,
Mark

There are still a few things to try:

Warm it up. Most Belgian yeasts are happy at _warm_ temps (80+ F), and you're unlikely to get off flavors this far into fermentation.

Pitch a big starter of Chico or another neutral, high attenuating strain when the starter is at high krausen.

Rack your beer onto a Chico yeast cake from another fermentation.

I would recommend strongly against bottling it---you have a lot of sugar waiting to be fermented, and if the yeast decide they're hungry and start munching again you will most assuredly get bottle bombs.

Seriously, warm it up.

Don't bottle it, it's not done yet. Get your hands on a new vial of that yeast, brew up a half batch of a low gravity Belgian Pale Ale or something as a "starter" and pitch the yeast you grew into the dubbel. It's what I did when my trippel got stuck and the "starter beer" was fantastic!

My apt is 75 degrees, how high should I go? 80?