Impending Bottle Bombs?

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vast_reaction

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So, my first batch has been in primary for 12 days. OG was 1.082, and it is now holding steady for the last 4 days at 1.026. BeerSmith estimated a FG of 1.017. I can't taste any residual sweetness, so I just don't know if this d@mn thing is done or not.

I am racking to a secondary tomorrow with some apples (it's a wheat beer) and I was wondering if I should re-pitch a small amount of yeast. I asked about this possible stuck fermentation previously, and never came to any solid conclusions. Yeast was WLP039 - Nottingham platinum series, fermentation took place at an ambient 68-72, in a 7.8 gallon plastic "ale pail" in my closet. Dropped from 1.082 to 1.030 in 3 days, then pooped out at 1.026.

Is there a need to repitch?



EDIT: I just read a post on attenuation and did the formula. I have achieved 68% attenuation, which sounds fairly normal. Maybe this one just finished a little high?
 
EDIT: I just read a post on attenuation and did the formula. I have achieved 68% attenuation, which sounds fairly normal. Maybe this one just finished a little high?

Yep, that's my thinking. 68% for that yeast may not be out of line, but I'd still expect 72-75%. It's got "medium" alcohol tolerance, which may be the issue here. You're already at over 7% ABV.

My concern is that the apples won't ferment, if the yeast is done and you'll have a pretty sweet beer that later won't carbonate.

I'm not sure what I'd do here. I might repitch, just because of the alcohol level you have here. You'd need an alcohol tolerant strain, though.
 
Don't transfer to secondary until you've got a nice healthy starter going. US-05/the liquid versions should be pretty neutral and can handle alcohol up to 10%+. If you want to stick with English strains, go with WLP007.
 
Yep, that's my thinking. 68% for that yeast may not be out of line, but I'd still expect 72-75%. It's got "medium" alcohol tolerance, which may be the issue here. You're already at over 7% ABV.

My concern is that the apples won't ferment, if the yeast is done and you'll have a pretty sweet beer that later won't carbonate.

I'm not sure what I'd do here. I might repitch, just because of the alcohol level you have here. You'd need an alcohol tolerant strain, though.

I don't feel that would be an issue here. I've used Nottingham on a 12% barleywine, worked like a champ. It just took 3 months to properly carbonate.

What's likely going to happen is you will get a small amount of fermentation from racking to secondary and rousing the yeast. Also, are the apples pre-boiled or pasteurized? Because peels have a ton of wild yeast in them.
 
I was thinking I'd slice and pasteurize them beforehand. I'm going to the HBS tomorrow for some ingredients for a new batch, so maybe I'll grab a pack of US-05 just in case. I appreciate the input from everyone. I'll keep ya posted on my progress.
 
In case anyone was wondering, I ditched the real apple plan, and instead added about 24oz of Apple Juice and 1lb of frozen peaches, heated together to about 170 for 15 mins. I cooled and pitched that, along with half a pack of US-05, and within 15 minutes I have a new Krausen in my secondary, and I'm bubblin' away. This will be a tasty wheat... peach ... apple brew.
 
Sounds great! What temperature are you keeping it at? I'd suggest in order to get your FG down (you know, taking care of the original problem :D) keep it relatively cool for the first day or two (60-65*F) and then get the temp up to over 70*F... and may encourage the yeast to become more active without the chance of high-temperature off-flavors (which typically occur during the height of fermentation.)
 
Unfortunately, I am not yet equipped for temperature control. :(
I ferment in my closet, which has an ambient temp of 68-70*F. I've never seen the temperature strip any higher or lower. Now that my primary is clear, I'm already plugging away on a Milk Chocolate Stout. The grains are steeping at 155 as we speak. I think this might be slightly addicting...
 
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