Still have not reached my desired FG

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mgidaho

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I brewed myself up 6 gallons (was supposed to by 5gal) of a Russian Imperial Stout in the beginning of December using a partial mash recipe. As far as I can tell everything went fine during the making of the beer. All ingredients came in when they were supposed to, I aerated the beer and had the airlock bubbling within 12 hours. I actually have never had a beer have such a vicious fermentation before. So I figured everything was going to come out well. I will admit that I missed the OG reading from the beginning. The recipe called for OG-1.096 FG-1.020 with an ABV of 10% and I came out to an OG of 1.080. In order for me to reach the same ABV my FG would have to be 1.005. Fast forward to today and my beer seems as though as the fermentation has stalled. I have tested my beer a couple of times and the gravity seems to be hanging out at 1.032 which is only about 6% ABV. Temperature is hanging out at about 65 degree Fahrenheit which might have had something to do with it. Recently I have tried lightly agitating the carboy every once in a while and it would provide a few new bubbles through the air lock but still no change. Today I also moved my beer into a secondary fermenter and I am wondering if I should maybe pitch another dose of Yeast? Curious to what everyone might think? Or I am open to any ideas that anyone out there would have since I am still fairly new to home brewing. Below I have posted the recipe so that you can see what I have put together in case that might help with problem solving. Any help would be greatly appreciated!!:drunk:

Russian Imperial Stout
Brewed on 12/9/10
OG-1.096(mine came out to 1.080)
FG-1.020 (mine is stuck at 1.032 and should be 1.005 to reach same ABV)
ABV=10%
8.75lbs light dried malt extract
2lbs amber malt
1.25lbs roast barley
1.25 black malt
30AAU Warrior hops 60 minutes
White Labs WLP002 English Ale Yeast
 
Well, a couple things... your OG was low because you overshot your volumne (6gals vs. 5gals). You're not going to get the beer to 1.005, at this point, you're going to expect to have a larger volume (6 gals) of a less-alcoholic beer.

If you have a stuck fermentation, racking to secondary is not going to help, since you're moving your beer off of your yeast.

You don't indicate how long it's been fermenting, or how long between hydrometer readings indicate that it's still stuck at 1.032, but assuming it is stuck and you racked it off the yeast, you will need to repitch to get the FG down to a more acceptable level.

You also don't indicate how much yeast you pitched, which is potentially why you got stuck. Did you just pitch the 1 vial of yeast, or did you pitch multiple vials, or did you use a starter? If you didn't pitch enough yeast to handle such a big beer, they're not going to be able to finish the job.

But you may be able to just pitch another vial (since the SG is down to 1.032, a vial is probably plenty, but a small starter wouldn't hurt) and the fresh yeast will finish the job. Make sure to aerate though if you do that.
 

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