Secondary Ferment stalled ..I think ?!?!

Hi all
I put a John Bull Bitter and a Geordie Yorkshire on nearly 2 weeks ago

Now i had a temperature drop at the start and for the first 3 days it was at like 15 deg..So i moved both bins to my porch ..where it a cosy 22-24 (although the wife hates them there) ..they were there for a week

...now on Saturday I came to drop them both to secondary ferment

1. The Geordie looks to have performed better and is NEARLY at the right gravity on the hydrometer. so i primed again with 1/2 cup sugar and resealed in new fermenting bin (push lid)

2. The john bull is NOWHERE close to gravity though though ..so i dropped it to a new bin with airlock and primed with 1/2 cup sugar but ...no damn bubbles in airlock ..NOTHING ..what can i do ??

I dont want to lose a good barrel ..Please help

try pitching more yeast in the John Bull. it sounds like your yeast either never got started or it stalled out early. If it was just stalled, racking it to a new fermenter is pretty much going to STOP it completely (you've taken the beer away from the the yeast.)

-walker

thanks ..I will try it
any recommendations for type of yeast ?

hey manchester what part of manchester are u from.....that is if ur from manchester lol

Any dried ale yeast should finish it: Cooper's, Safale04, Nottingham. I keep a few extra packs in the fridge.

ok yes ..i am from manchester...from Sunny Longsight (joke)

Anyway ..i followed the advice. and i pichhed in some more yest from another john bull kit. and airlocked the bin..it bubbled like hell for a few hours and then nothing. I left it another week and did the old hydro test and STILL not near the mark...my geordie is in the barrel almost ready ..what can i do to save my john bull, 2 ferments, 2 yeast drops ..2 weeks at perfect 20-22 degrees...should it be this hard ?

ManchesterGold said:

ok yes ..i am from manchester...from Sunny Longsight (joke)

Anyway ..i followed the advice. and i pichhed in some more yest from another john bull kit. and airlocked the bin..it bubbled like hell for a few hours and then nothing. I left it another week and did the old hydro test and STILL not near the mark...my geordie is in the barrel almost ready ..what can i do to save my john bull, 2 ferments, 2 yeast drops ..2 weeks at perfect 20-22 degrees...should it be this hard ?

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No.
Are you sure your yeast is healthy? Make a starter?

ManchesterGold said:

ok yes ..i am from manchester...from Sunny Longsight (joke)

Click to expand...

Beautiful! Dickenson Road in Summer. Warm rain.....

ManchesterGold said:

Anyway ..i followed the advice. and i pichhed in some more yest from another john bull kit. and airlocked the bin..it bubbled like hell for a few hours and then nothing. I left it another week and did the old hydro test and STILL not near the mark...my geordie is in the barrel almost ready ..what can i do to save my john bull, 2 ferments, 2 yeast drops ..2 weeks at perfect 20-22 degrees...should it be this hard ?

Click to expand...

Are you sure that it's not just finished? You haven't mentioned readings but i'm sure if it didn't drop much more after further yeast was added (which fermented a little bit more - proving it was viable and not at fault) i reckon it's done.

Thanks Caplan, maybe you are right
maybe I AM worrying too much

on the hydrometer is various numbers ..i can't recall them sorry - but what i do recall is the 2 marks .."start beer" and "bottle beer" - now i presume i am trying to get to the "bottled one"..but its only HALF way ..if you know what i mean.

I could put it into a presuure barrel ..but would it be any good ?..or very weak
when i strted it it was right on the "start beer" mark..i checked

if you guys think it would be ok to barrel it i will, I trust your experince...or will it just sit there in barrel conditioning for 3 weeks and take up space anothe rone would use.

Has anybody ever had a GOOD beer that went in pressure at "halfway"

ps ..the first yeast went in DRY..but the second i mixed with warm water and let stand for 15 minutes and then stirred it in (if that helps)

thanks

ManchesterGold said:

on the hydrometer is various numbers ..i can't recall them sorry - but what i do recall is the 2 marks .."start beer" and "bottle beer" - now i presume i am trying to get to the "bottled one"..but its only HALF way ..if you know what i mean.

I could put it into a presuure barrel ..but would it be any good ?..or very weak
when i strted it it was right on the "start beer" mark..i checked

if you guys think it would be ok to barrel it i will, I trust your experince...or will it just sit there in barrel conditioning for 3 weeks and take up space anothe rone would use.

Has anybody ever had a GOOD beer that went in pressure at "halfway"

ps ..the first yeast went in DRY..but the second i mixed with warm water and let stand for 15 minutes and then stirred it in (if that helps)

thanks

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It's done - just keg it. And the time conditioning would do the beer good anyway!
Get away from those kits though and read the the best homebrew how to (for free!) - www.howtobrew.com then get yourself down into Stockport to that homebrew shop on the main A6 (opposite the Bamford Arms Pub) and see what they can offer regards ingredients!