My procedure...is faulty but where

Hi Guys,

My last 2 beers had problems fermenting, very sluggish fermentations, and one was really stuck. (My previous beers were FestaBrew beers...no problem with them but not my recipe either....and no boiling involved)

Here is what I did and corrected....
On my first attempt, it was a Scotch Ale, OG 1.060. I think I forgot to oxygenate the wort...the fermentation stopped at 1.034...I tried repitching yeast, I gave it 5 weeks...nothing...I added beano and it fermented.....(very dry). (The yeast was a Safale US-56 btw...2x11g rehydrated)

For my next attempt, I oxygenated very well my wort....Scotch Ale again, OG 1.077, yeast Safbrew S33, fermentation started right away....and then stopped at 1.050 ...So I increased the temp, I added 1 Notthingham pack which activated in a starter....fermentation restarted but very slooooowly....It's still fermenting.

I checked and checked again what I did wrong, and I wonder if my mistake is not the way I'm boiling my wort.

First of all, my stove is a vitroceramic stove, it takes a long tiiime for it to boil the 9L I'm boiling. So when I "made" my wort, I added the DME directly in the pot leaving it on the stove turned on....Could I have caramelized so much the DME that it's hardly fermentable? That's my new "theory" about my problems.......

Thank you for your help!
J.

To me, your problem seems to be too little yeast. Adding one package is not going to be sufficient for a beer with high gravities..

Suthrncomfrt1884 said:

To me, your problem seems to be too little yeast. Adding one package is not going to be sufficient for a beer with high gravities..

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The additional package was to restart it. Initially I pitched 2 Safbrew S33. And to unstuck it, I added one notthingham which was activated in a starter. (even now after adding the notthingham it's not a very active ferm)
Thks anyway...

are you pitching your yeast into wort that is too warm?
are you fermenting to cold?
What is the expiration date of the yeast that you pitched? (it is called 05 now, maybe the 56 was really old)

why don't you post one of your recipe's and your process step by step so we can give you more ideas.

phatuna said:

are you pitching your yeast into wort that is too warm?
are you fermenting to cold?
What is the expiration date of the yeast that you pitched? (it is called 05 now, maybe the 56 was really old)

why don't you post one of your recipe's and your process step by step so we can give you more ideas.

Click to expand...

I pitched 2 packages of US-05 at 20C (I said US-56 by mistake). Then I left the fermentor in a room at 18C. A couple of hours later the fermentation was very active...I was preparing myself to transfer it to a secondary, so I took a gravity reading, 1.034.

My recipe is for a scottish 80 export:
2 oz Peated Malt
2 oz Roasted Malt
5.5 lbs DME
1.5 Oz Fuggles (4%) 60 mins
0.3 lbs Malto-Dextrin (20 mins boil)
My notes are:
Steeped Grains for 20 mins at 65C. (1.5L)
Sparged grains with 65C water (0.75L)
Added the needed water to topup at 9L in kettle.
Water is on the stove....once it was boiling I Added the DME.
Took 2L of the kettle and then caramelized it to 1L then back to the kettle and topup with 1L...then brewing as usual

Boil Time after caramelized wort added: 1.0 Hours

The expiration date of the yeast was late 2010.

Thks for you help!

Have you tested your hydrometer in water?
How did the wort taste?

BeernuT100 said:

Have you tested your hydrometer in water?
How did the wort taste?

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Yes I did test both my hydrometer and my thermometer....just in case.
I didn't taste the wort so I can't say about it...anything in mind by asking that?
Thks!