Stuck fermentation of Belgian Quad... maybe

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thisisxxmyIPA

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I made a belgian quad (AG). The OG (adjusted to include the sugar additions) was 1.119. The est FG (in beersmith) was 1.024. However, I did use 1/2 lb of caravienne and 1/2 lb of cara-pils, and I've noticed beersmith isn't great at recognizing the unfermentable sugars in a recipe. My gravity right now is at 1.040, and has been for about two weeks. This is after the addition of heat, champagne yeast, amylace enzyme, and yeast energizer. I got it to drop from 1.042 to 1.040 But now hasn't moved in about two weeks.

My question is - is this thing DONE? Or should I attempt to make a big starter and repitch?? BTW, I originally used Wyeast 3787.
 
I made a belgian quad (AG). The OG (adjusted to include the sugar additions) was 1.119. The est FG (in beersmith) was 1.024. However, I did use 1/2 lb of caravienne and 1/2 lb of cara-pils, and I've noticed beersmith isn't great at recognizing the unfermentable sugars in a recipe. My gravity right now is at 1.040, and has been for about two weeks. This is after the addition of heat, champagne yeast, amylace enzyme, and yeast energizer. I got it to drop from 1.042 to 1.040 But now hasn't moved in about two weeks.

My question is - is this thing DONE? Or should I attempt to make a big starter and repitch?? BTW, I originally used Wyeast 3787.

What was your mash temp?
 
Well...is it possible that your hydrometer or thermometer are messed up? Otherwise it does seem that you have a stuck fermentation. What temp are you fermenting at currently? If you're below 70, you could turn on a heating pad and raise the temp to see if it will attenuate down.
 
Both seem to be reading correctly. Been fermenting around 74 for two weeks. I'm just wondering if the unfermentable sugars are causing the grav that I'm reading now to be higher then the est. Or should I repitch a huge starter?
 
Well...it might be helpful to post your entire recipe. 0.5 pounds of caravienne and carapils won't cause a beer mashed at 154 to end up at 1.040. Did your fermentation temperature ever dip way down. I know that in Brew Like a Monk it says that a lot of the Belgian yeasts can stall out and quit if the temp drops.

Post your recipe and let's go from there. This is kind of puzzling.
 
You are over 10% alcohol. I did a tripel with that yeast, it was right around 11%, and it never really fully carbed up. My best guess is the yeast gave up before finishing all of the easy sugars due to the high alc %.
 
i just did the math. 1.040 from 1.119 is 67% attenuation. What yeast were you using. If its in the range of attenuation for that yeast then I wouldn't worry about it.
 
Hey thanks guys! The attenuation for 3787 is 74-78%. It may have gotten a bit too low temperature wise, and likely gave up do to that and the already high ABV. It looks like I'll be pitching a big starter to finish up and keep it fermenting in the higher range. The tolerance is 13% for this yeast. So this plan should work, right?
 

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