underpitch or stuck ferment?

I brewed a english IPA 12 days ago. It started at about 1.065. Checked it last night and its at about 1.035. It has fermented between 68-74. my sample was very cloudy and full of setiment, so I dont know how reliable my reading is. I used 1 pack of 1098. I usually let my beers go a moth in the primary but I may dry hop this one. Also the sample taste had a real bitter acidic finish, like it stings the back of yout throat. I was thinking yeast maybe, which made me think it might be stuck. Im thinking to rack to secondary to clean it out. Should i pitch more yeast or just let it do its thing. Really dont want to loose this one. Thanks. Cheers!!

Looks like the attenuation for 1098 is 73-75% so your final gravity should be around 1.017. You can try racking to a secondary and a lot of time that stirs of the yeast and gets them eating again. In my experience I shake up my primary a little when I feel like the fermentation is stuck and that gets them going. I have also tried to add more yeast without great results.

Did you make a yeast starter? I have started making yeast starters for all my beers no matter what the starting gravity is - it gives you a more complete faster fermentation and then you normally don't have to worry about stuck fermentations.

CKOLLIAS,No starter. I have been using smck packs with great result until now, just dont know if I underpitched a little. I need to start using starters for sure. Ill try racking tonight. thanks for the heads up. Also I forgot to add I added whole leaf hops at flame out, But didnt bag them(too much consumption on brew day). So alot of hop debris made it into the ferneter. I dont know if this makes any difference

I'd avoid racking if you are that far off your FG. I would say you did underpitch - anything above 1.06 should have a starter. Try looking at MrMalty to figure out how big.

For now, based on what you've told us, I'd say rock the fermenter a bit to resuspend yeast that may have settled out. Let it sit, maybe swirl/rock once a day. Check the gravity again in 4 or 5 days if you are still stuck, then repitch yeast (at this point you could rack to secondry, but I'd just leave it).

Not enough information to make a call. First off, is this an extract batch or all grain? If all grain, it could be a problem with your mash temperatures. IME, rousing the yeast or re-pitching is not very effective if at all in most instances. A starter is always a good idea, but it is also no guarantee that the beer will finish out and not using a starter does not typically doom your brew to a high FG.

It was a allgrain with batch sparge. Mash temps were a little high and the mash was a little thin due to strike temp being way hot( still tuning my euqipment). had to add .5 gallon to get temp down. Was shooting for 52 ended up about 56 or 58. dont have my notes right in front of me. OG was low. should have been.075.

Seanwallner said:

It was a allgrain with batch sparge. Mash temps were a little high and the mash was a little thin due to strike temp being way hot( still tuning my euqipment). had to add .5 gallon to get temp down. Was shooting for 52 ended up about 56 or 58. dont have my notes right in front of me. OG was low. should have been.075.

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Sometimes the average grain bed temperatures can be considerably higher than what you think they are. The reason that I mentioned this is because I have been there and once I got a handle on my mash temps the problem vanished. I had been using a dial type bi-metal thermometer which went wacko on me for no apparent reason and from then on would not hold calibration. It was also very inconsistent. Since then, I've used single vials, smack packs and dry yeast on occasion without problems, but I do normally make a big starter.

if you're mash temps were that far off id consider throwing in some sugar to help dry it out and hopefully get the yeast working again or getting some amylase from the LHBS and adding it to your fermenter.

Thanks for the input guys. Still milling it over..... Keep the input comming

For now pitch a pack of Windsor to help it finish off (or another pack of 1098 if you wish).

For future brews refer to the pitching rate calculator at www.mrmalty.com and make sure you get enough yeast pitched.

Shook it a little yesterday after taking another SG sample. it came down a few points but it appears the yeast has completely dropped out. might have to pitch more yeast at this point. Ill check it again tonight and yes I will start using MR MALTY. LHBS said one pack would be ok even though I thought it was low

Also if I use Amylase instead how much do you add. I have a 5 gallon batch. Thanks

Seanwallner said:

Also if I use Amylase instead how much do you add. I have a 5 gallon batch. Thanks

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it should say on the bottle, but IIRC its either a tsp or tbsp. just sprinkle it in and you should notice some foaming within a day or so. just let it do its thing for at least a week.

also, when you're talking about shaking the fermenter, I hope you mean gently rocking/swirling. you don't want to be introducing any oxygen at this point.

Yeah dcp27 Just rocking side to side. IYO would you reccomend the yeast or the amylase and If you repitch does it need to be oxgenated or just pitch on top?

i've had success with both, but id probably go with the amylase. its cheap and its worked everytime ive needed it (thankfully thats been very rare). plus, if the problem is your mash temps, more yeast isnt going to fix that.

if you go the more yeast route, pitching an aerated starter while active is ideal since you're adding it to a pretty harsh environment, but ive had some success with just sprinkling in some notty too.

Cool, I think Ill try the amyalse tonight after work. Thanks

Added the amylase at 8pm friday evening. By sunday morning ferment was up and active. Ill let ya know where it finishes. Thanks for the advice

Checked FG today. Finished at 1.013. Tastes great. gonna dry hop it awhile. Mission accomplished. Beer saved. Thanks for all the help