US-05 Yeast refuse to keep eating - what now?

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Jimmy Von Tripel

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I did a Bourbon Vanilla Imperial Porter recently. The O.G. was 1.104 and the yeast seem to have finally quit at 1.027. Its been a few days now with no activity and the gravity is not dropping anymore.

I oxygenated the hell out of those buggers at the start and they fermented very strong for a long time. I even agitated the carboy and swirled the beer on occasion but they just don't want to eat anymore. I even moved the carboy into a room that was about 3-4 degrees warmer and that helped for a few days. But they seem to be totally out of steam at this point.

I would like the gravity to go down another 7 points to 1.020. Any advice on how to do this? Because I dont have anymore US-05 yeast I was thinking of using T-58 to eat some more of the sugar. But I dont want the yeast to bring the gravity down too far. That would suck to end up with this beer being dry.

There is one other thing I thought of as a reason why the FG may be so high. I did a 100 minute boil so that may have created some extra carmalization making less fermentable wort for the yeast.

Anyhow, would love to hear what anyone has to say about this.
 
From 1.104 to 1.027 is around 74% attenuation. Considering you have high abv brew I don't think you won't get any lower with US-05. You should probably use some Belgian strain which are said to be alcohol tolerant.
 
What is your recipe? You might have hit the bottom on this one depending on what fermentables were in the wort. US-05 attenuates pretty good but it might have crapped out in that higher alcohol environment.
 
74% attenuation is not too far off from what you would typically expect to see. I know US-05 can hit upwards of 80%, but that doesn't happen all the time.

Was this an AG batch, or extract? If AG, what was your mash temp? What temp are you fermenting at now? You could try to raise temps a bit (the problems with higher fermentation temps, fusels, etc., are mostly during the early stages of fermentation, reproduction, not late in the process). Move the fermenter around a bit to get the yeast in suspension, then raise the temps a bit.

Last resort would be something like champagne yeast, but then you're looking at likely drying out TOO far.
 
Jimmy Von Tripel said:
I did a Bourbon Vanilla Imperial Porter recently. The O.G. was 1.104 and the yeast seem to have finally quit at 1.027. Its been a few days now with no activity and the gravity is not dropping anymore.

I oxygenated the hell out of those buggers at the start and they fermented very strong for a long time. I even agitated the carboy and swirled the beer on occasion but they just don't want to eat anymore. I even moved the carboy into a room that was about 3-4 degrees warmer and that helped for a few days. But they seem to be totally out of steam at this point.

I would like the gravity to go down another 7 points to 1.020. Any advice on how to do this? Because I dont have anymore US-05 yeast I was thinking of using T-58 to eat some more of the sugar. But I dont want the yeast to bring the gravity down too far. That would suck to end up with this beer being dry.

There is one other thing I thought of as a reason why the FG may be so high. I did a 100 minute boil so that may have created some extra carmalization making less fermentable wort for the yeast.

Anyhow, would love to hear what anyone has to say about this.
Click to expand...

Interesting.. I just did Denny's Bourbon Vanilla Porter with US-05 myself. Today I was ready to rack it over to the secondary after 2 weeks. Even swirled it a couple of times in there. My gravity was 1.027 as well. My starting gravity was only 1.089. I attributed it to the fact that my mash was a little higher in temp than I intended I think. I'm hoping it drops another couple in the secondary and am just going to deal with a full bodied imperial porter.. Kind of what I enjoy anyway.
 
Hello all,

Thanks for the quick replies.

The recipe:

"Denny Conn's Bourbon Vanilla Imperial Porter"

Type: All Grain
Batch Size: 5 gal
Total Grain lbs: 17.75
Anticipated OG: 1.086 (Actual OG was 1.104)
Anticipated IBU: 31.8
Mash: 150ºF for 70 min
Sparge Water: 165ºF
Boil Time: 90 min

Grain Bill:
Maris Otter 11 lbs.
Munich Malt 2.5 lbs.
Brown Malt 1.5 lbs
Chocolate Malt 1.25 lbs.
Crystal 120L 1 lb.
Crystal 40L .5 lb.

Hop Schedule:
Magnum whole .65 oz @ 60 min
Goldings E.K. whole .40 oz @ 10 min

Whirlfloc @ 15 min

Yeast: US-05



I pitched the yeast at 71ºF, and set the carboy in a room that was 65º. Once the most active part of the fermentation was over I set it in a room that was 70º and that is where it is now.

Looks like I'll just leave it and maybe it will drop a point or two after a while. 1.027 shouldn't be too sweet for a big beer like this.
 
My guess is you're done and it'll be perfect. The extra time in the carboy can only help with this one, so just leaving it is a good idea IMO.
 
You guys and your super gravity beers...

Don't you know there's a hop and grain shortage going on?

2008, the year of the Munich Helles. 1.035 and 16 IBU's.

I say we homebrewers go green...

:cross: :cross: :cross:
 
Jimmy Von Tripel said:
Grain Bill:
Maris Otter 11 lbs.
Munich Malt 2.5 lbs.
Brown Malt 1.5 lbs
Chocolate Malt 1.25 lbs.
Crystal 120L 1 lb.
Crystal 40L .5 lb.
Click to expand...
With the amount of specialty grains in your recipe I'd say your fermentation is finished. It looks like 24 % of your grains are specialty malts that don't add much fermentables to the wort. I bet you will have a good beer there anyway. It is going to need a lot of time to improve though.
Keep us updated!
 
BierMuncher said:
You guys and your super gravity beers...

Don't you know there's a hop and grain shortage going on?

2008, the year of the Munich Helles. 1.035 and 16 IBU's.

I say we homebrewers go green...

:cross: :cross: :cross:
Click to expand...


LMAO......Look, I'm sorry, it can't be helped....some of us have OCUTBBB (obsessive compulsive urge to brew big beers).
 
RichtryingtobeaBrewer said:
With the amount of specialty grains in your recipe I'd say your fermentation is finished. It looks like 24 % of your grains are specialty malts that don't add much fermentables to the wort. I bet you will have a good beer there anyway. It is going to need a lot of time to improve though.
Keep us updated!
Click to expand...

Yah yah , this brew is for next faoul/vinter. I veill keep du all updated.
 
I would say you are done without a trappist or other High gravity yeast considering you are already above 10% ABV not many beer strains do well in that much alcohol.. though you could try a neutral champagne yeast that could finish off anything left to ferment.

LMAO......Look, I'm sorry, it can't be helped....some of us have OCUTBBB
Click to expand...
but you must ask yourself, at what point is it no longer a beer?
 
budbo said:
but you must ask yourself, at what point is it no longer a beer?
Click to expand...

Thats a good question. I think its beer if its made with barley (or any kind of fermentable grain) and it has carbonation in the finished product. So it's beer if its 3% and its beer if its 15 or 20%. Saying its only beer if its below 9 or 10% is just limiting what beer can be.

Now if by "beer" you meant something that is quaffable, something that goes down easily. That can still apply to a beer that is 10+%. I've tasted a lot of home brews over the years and it is really amazing how drinkable a high alcohol beer can be when its done right. Cold and carbonation can do wonderful things :D
 
Jimmy Von Tripel said:
I did a Bourbon Vanilla Imperial Porter recently. The O.G. was 1.104 and the yeast seem to have finally quit at 1.027. Its been a few days now with no activity and the gravity is not dropping anymore.

I oxygenated the hell out of those buggers at the start and they fermented very strong for a long time. I even agitated the carboy and swirled the beer on occasion but they just don't want to eat anymore. I even moved the carboy into a room that was about 3-4 degrees warmer and that helped for a few days. But they seem to be totally out of steam at this point.

I would like the gravity to go down another 7 points to 1.020. Any advice on how to do this? Because I dont have anymore US-05 yeast I was thinking of using T-58 to eat some more of the sugar. But I dont want the yeast to bring the gravity down too far. That would suck to end up with this beer being dry.

There is one other thing I thought of as a reason why the FG may be so high. I did a 100 minute boil so that may have created some extra carmalization making less fermentable wort for the yeast.

Anyhow, would love to hear what anyone has to say about this.
Click to expand...

I really struggle with how you got your OG that high with that recipe... I used the exact same recipe with 2 row instead of the marris otter and my OG was 1.089. I use a barley crusher and a 10gal cooler. Your efficiency must be off the hook... That's around 85% right?
 

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