stuck fermentation

So yea, first batch (english brown ale kit) has been sitting at a sg of 1.020 for the past three or so days...from the numerous other posts on here, i'd assume i have to repitch more yeast.

the og was about 1.040 (suggested was 1.040-1.048) but the fg, obviously, was supposed to be much lower, in the 1.010-1.012 range.

thoughts/comments?

I am probably in no way qualified to answer your question as my first batch is still in primary. But I too thought mine was stuck. I started at 1.041 and after a week it was 1.020 then two days later still 1.020. I should have a FG of around 1.010-1.012.
After reading several posts on the board I decided to just give it some more time before I racked to secondary, and day before yesterday (day 15 I think) I go to check my gravity one last time and there is airlock activity. I open her up and there is an inch and a half of kreusen (I had none at all before). I decided not to disturb it by testing again. So I'll wait a little longer and check again in a few days.

Anyway. In my completely novice opinion I'd say give it some time see what happens. I may be totally wrong, but that's what I did in what sounds like a similar situation.

What temperature is it fermenting at, and what yeast are you using? Some higly flocculant yeasts settle out and stop fermenting before they finish the job, and lots of yeasts don't like lower temperatures. Before pitching more yeast, I would give it a good swirl to re suspend the yeast, and move it into a warmer room if the temperature is below about 65. If that fails, then pitching some more yeast may be a good idea.

-a.

You might try giving your bucket or carboy a gentle swirl to get the yeast going. Sometimes it works, sometimes not. I've made a lot of batches and only had to repitch one time. I thinks it should be the last resort.

Did you by chance use Munton's yeast?

its munton's dry yeast. i cant remember which one in particular, standard Brewer's Best kit. its in a swamp cooler thats at 68 degrees.

actually, i didnt notice any krausen when i checked it after 5 days so yea. it stopped for a while and then picked up again? hmmm....interesting.

thanks for the advice. ill let it sit a bit longer and well see how things go.

Munton's has it's place but it's not my favorite as I have never gotten it to go below 1.020.

You have two options. First is to bottle as is. It's a little high but I bottled a dozen batches that high with Munton's and never had a issue.

Or you can re-pitch using a different yeast to get it a little lower. I'm sure your beer will be good either way.

ok, thanks! i think i will work on my patience and hold off for a few more days then continue on with the process.

So I just checked my batch again. The kreusen has fallen and my FG is now 1.011
Think I'll rack it to secondary tomorrow.

This is a Midwest Classic ESB extract kit, used munton's dry yeast. Boiled and pitched on 10/2.
The recipe called for 3.5oz hops I put in all 4oz. It tastes kind of good now. Nice and hoppy with some fruity overtones. Hopefully will be even better after bottling and conditioning.
OG 1.041
FG 1.011

I have a stout that is in the midst of stuck fermentation. I also used Muntons, but the premium gold variety. Anyway, quickly fermented down to 1.020 and then stopped. I roused the yesterday and will give it a few days. But I've got pack on non-Muntons ready to go if the SG doesn't drop.

Must be the weekend of the Stuck Fermentation. I have a hefeweizen that seems to be stuck at 1020 also. The ideal FG is 1013. I used WLP300. It's been a week, I'm hoping that the rousing I gave it today will get it past the 1020 mark. If not, I have some dried yeast that I can pitch to finish it off.

Stuck fermentations are really quite rare. Some ferments take a long time, that's all. Many variables can affect a ferment, some of which even veteran brewers cannot control.

Don't assume your ferment is stuck if the gravity is above what your recipe sheet says. Yeast are a living organism, but they cannot read. Sometimes the yeast can do their jobs perfectly well, but finish higher than the sheet says.

Gentle rousing can make all the difference. Most ferments don't need it. Sometimes, though, a rouse wakes up premature flocculation and kicks up some more activity.

Cheers,

Bob

In the past, I've had some extract batches that just wouldn't get below 1.020 no matter what I did. I may have carmelized some sugars in the wort, or had not-so-fermentable extract. Still, allow it some time, and maybe it'll drop a few more points.

so i found out something fun about the muntons standard yeast (the kind found in my kit). this could explain the problem. in fact, i'm hoping its the cause. that way, i know i didnt screw up too badly on the rest of it.

"For recipes demanding the use of sugar our Standard Yeast is ideal. If all malt brewing is undertaken we would recommend that you use our Premium Gold Yeast as our Standard Yeast will struggle to ferment some of the more complex sugars which are more prevalent in all malt recipes" - Muntons' website

awesome. hey, you live and learn, right?

Live and learn, indeed.

BUT - here's something to put on the "learned" side of the ledger - yeast will ferment the complex sugars. Eventually. It's going to take time for them to enzymatically reduce and then metabolize the sugars it reduces, but it will happen. Eventually.

Bob

BobNQ3X said:

Live and learn, indeed.

BUT - here's something to put on the "learned" side of the ledger - yeast will ferment the complex sugars. Eventually. It's going to take time for them to enzymatically reduce and then metabolize the sugars it reduces, but it will happen. Eventually.

Bob

Click to expand...

For the most part I agree with this, however, those Munton's yeast kits I talked about above sat in the secondary for several months and never changed FG.

The part about what happens when using malt with the standard Munton's makes sense to me. I wish I had learned that before. Oh well, I gave up using Munton's a couple years ago so not much of a issue for me.

My batch got stuck around hour 12. It was going along nicely then wham, no beer for you!!
I think the cayanne pepper might have killed it.

JustSchrager said:

My batch got stuck around hour 12. It was going along nicely then wham, no beer for you!!
I think the cayanne pepper might have killed it.

Click to expand...

Why in the world would you think fermentation was stuck after 12 hours?

Fermentation can take up to 72 hours to even start let alone finish.

Curiously, I think that my new batch is faltering after 12hrs... on Munton's Gold. But then again I usually use a strong Safale (which goes *crazy* for a few days). This is my first time on Muntons so I guess that it has a different palate ...

However, I can see that the lid on the ferm bin is still bulging even though the air lock is no longer bubbling. These air-locks will only bubble at a certain pressure above the leakage on the (plastic) bin and the 'manometer effect' of the air lock.

I bet that inside, the wort is fizzing gently away ...

I'm looking forward to my new brew, first for a long time, and sometimes you just need to let these yeasties have a good time - each to their own character!

BTW, experienced guys, do you transfer off into a second ferm bin (to vacate from the first dead yeast) and then rack/prime much later? I've always wondered whether this is necessary? I seem to remember (faultily?) that some used to say that this can rouse the better yeast. Is that right?

YeastGardener.

Fermentation stopped altogether after 12 hrs. It's been days now.

Good news though. My beer is way too spicy to drink, but it makes a FANTASTIC marinade.

My Wheaty got stopped around 1.020, so I took it out of the ice water bath (was at about 66 degrees), let it sit a day and it was down to 1.014. Fine with me. Measuring the gravity is temperature dependent, so if you measured it before putting it in the typical wheat beer fermentation cooler you could have an incorrect reading...possibly.