Is my Porter Stuck?

Hello everyone, newb here on my second batch (but the first with fresh, quality ingredients). Brew day went well and now I'm concerned that my fermentation is stuck after 3 days.

A little background, extract Porter recipe (LME & DME), steeping grains, bittering & finishing hops. Original gravity a little light at 1.044 (recipe said 1.049), oxygenated 4 15-sec blasts, pitched at 80 degrees 11.5 gram packet of rehydrated & sugar tested Safale S-04 (it rehygrated in 1/2 cup sanitized water for 1 hour and was very active).

Saturday: pitched at 80 degrees at 18:00. Sunday: at 9:00 and 73 degrees, the airlock was bubbling very good every 2-3 seconds; at 17:00 temp and bubbling action the same as earlier in the day. Monday: at 10:30 and 72 degrees, airlock bubbles had slowed to once every 18-20 seconds; at 21:00 and still 72 degrees, airlock bubbles had ceased. Tuesday: at 18:00 and 70 degrees, airlock bubbles ceased and internal "cup" had fallen down indicating no internal pressure. So I took a gravity reading of 1.018 which reflects 58% attenuation and 3.5% ABV. There was krausen residue along the perimeter of the primary and a little stuff floating. A taste test of the sample was suprisingly good, but still a bit watery.

I think this might turn out well, so long as I can get the gravity down some more.

Two questions (but of course, any other feedback/comments are welcome):

What can/should I do to ensure this ferments to completion? (I have a spare packet of S-04)

The recipe reflected OG/FG of 1.049/1.013. Since my OG was slightly lower - measured at 1.044 - should I adjust my FG target down to 1.008?

I'm a little confused about your question. What is your gravity right now? I highly doubt it will drop to 1.008. My porters finish around 1.015-1.024 range. just check your hydrometer. IMO your ferm. temps are a little on the high side but it will turn out fine.

You're fermenting high. I'd cool it off to 70, give it a swirl, and check it again in three weeks.

The current gravity (as of 1 hour ago) is 1.018

mightynintendo said:

You're fermenting high. I'd cool it off to 70, give it a swirl, and check it again in three weeks.

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I let it cool by iteslf after pitching at 80, hence why it was at 74 about 15 hours later when it seemed to be going strong. My home temp runs around 69-70, so I should be fine from here on out. I'll give it a swirl and let it be. I was planning on 2 weeks then bottling, but if the extra week makes the difference, 3 weeks it is....

oldschool said:

I'm a little confused about your question. What is your gravity right now? I highly doubt it will drop to 1.008. My porters finish around 1.015-1.024 range. just check your hydrometer. IMO your ferm. temps are a little on the high side but it will turn out fine.

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Current gravity is 1.018 (as of an hour ago)

Well three weeks is my standard for primary. Everyone has their own way, three weeks is my way. Then I give it a week in the keg under CO2 or bottle with priming sugar and store at 35-42 degF (depending on what my lagers are doing at the time) before sampling it with any level of seriousness or judgement. 3 weeks gives your yeast plenty of time to finish their work without risking off-flavors from autolysis, avoids the (mostly, unless you're adding fruit, dry hopping, or something gay like that) unnecessary secondary, and the cold conditioning gives the beer a chance to really clear.

mightynintendo said:

Well three weeks is my standard for primary. Everyone has their own way, three weeks is my way. Then I give it a week in the keg under CO2 or bottle with priming sugar and store at 35-42 degF (depending on what my lagers are doing at the time) before sampling it with any level of seriousness or judgement. 3 weeks gives your yeast plenty of time to finish their work without risking off-flavors from autolysis, avoids the (mostly, unless you're adding fruit, dry hopping, or something gay like that) unnecessary secondary, and the cold conditioning gives the beer a chance to really clear.

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Well 3 weeks isn't much longer than 2, so I'll let it sit. I've already given it a good swirl. It should stay at 70 from here on out... the first batch did. Thanks a bunch!

Ambient (room) temp is going to be 5-10F lower than the temp inside the fermentor during an active fermentation. Yeast produce a lot of heat during fermentation so it's important to keep the ambient temp down a good deal below where you want it to be inside the beer.

I'm a little unclear on what the purpose of rehydrating the yeast in sugar water is. Even if given an hour, there won't be much activity (especially not noticeable activity) before you pitch it in.

Gremlyn1 said:

Ambient (room) temp is going to be 5-10F lower than the temp inside the fermentor during an active fermentation. Yeast produce a lot of heat during fermentation so it's important to keep the ambient temp down a good deal below where you want it to be inside the beer.

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Now that you mention it, it seems I've read that somewhere. Thanks for reminding!

Gremlyn1 said:

I'm a little unclear on what the purpose of rehydrating the yeast in sugar water is. Even if given an hour, there won't be much activity (especially not noticeable activity) before you pitch it in.

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I was just following Palmer's instruction. It had about an two inches of froth on top of the water line - wouldn't that indicate activity?

I'd have to see it to really be able to tell, but I'd be very surprised to have any visible signs of anything in such a short period, especially with dry yeast.

1.018! I bet it's done. Like others have said, let it cool, check it agian in three days, if it doesn't change then it's done. But even if you declare it finished just let it sit another week or two before you bottle it. may turn out a little better.

mightynintendo said:

You're fermenting high. I'd cool it off to 70, give it a swirl, and check it again in three weeks.

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+1...the gravity won't drop much more if any; but give it a couple more weeks to clean up any off flavors produced by high ferment temp...I personally try not to go in the primary until about 3 weeks...I'm sure the beer will be great. you want a little sweetness to that style. Just give it at least 2 more weeks and bottle/keg it.

good luck!

cheers

Thanks everyone for the great feedback! I have another yeast question that isn't directly related to this thread, more of general yeast knowledge. Do the yeast actually "swim" around? I have the picture in my head that once they settle to the bottom (is that flocculate?) then they are done. If it's true they are done once they settle to the bottom, then how do they "clean up" the off flavors?

There are actually trillions of yeast at this point...about 250+ billion / 8oz of slurry (on bottom). So once the kreusen falls and it looks "done" there are still 100's of millions of renagade yeastezz doin some cleaning in suspension

This is why you can leave a beer in a secondary for months until its crystal clear, transfer off the yeast cake, prime with sugar and there still is enough yeast in suspension to carb up the beer.

Everybody and every beer is different, but most beers will taste a lot better if bottled at 3 weeks and bottle conditioned for 3 weeks...if kegging, it carbs up a little quicker.

lagers of course take longer...

StuckinATL said:

Thanks everyone for the great feedback! I have another yeast question that isn't directly related to this thread, more of general yeast knowledge. Do the yeast actually "swim" around? I have the picture in my head that once they settle to the bottom (is that flocculate?) then they are done. If it's true they are done once they settle to the bottom, then how do they "clean up" the off flavors?

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No yeast do not swim. Flocculate describes solids suspended in a liquid that clump together. A yeast that is more flocculant will be more prone to clump together, these clumps overcome buoyancy more quickly than stand-alone yeast and thus sink to the bottom more quickly. Again no, the yeast is not "done" when it sinks to the bottom, it has simply been pulled out of suspension so it does not have access to the sugars floating in the beer.

Excellent information! Thanks goose and mightynintendo!

During fermentation, if you have a clear fermentor, you'll see a lot of movement inside the beer. Yeast are not motile organisms, meaning they can't move themselves by consuming energy, so the movement seen is created by heat and gas production. This will die down after active fermentation is over, but the yeast don't immediately fall out of solution and sit on the bottom (a lot will have, but there is always a good quantity of yeast left suspended), and nor does the beer sit completely immobile in the fermentor. That's how the yeast get to clean up after their little party