Stuck fermentation?

I brewed a strong winter ale extract kit with an OG of 1.086 I didn't have time to make a starter so I pitched two vials of WL dry English ale yeast. My FG is supposed to be 1.017 but after three weeks its stopped at 1.030. Is there anything I can do to get this to finish?

It might not be stuck, it might just be done. Take a gravity each day for a couple of days and see if they change.

What temperature did it ferment at? I've begun fermenting my beers at 62 to 65 ambient for a week and then bringing them to where the ambient is 72 F. I find that their FG is lower than projected so that beers that should end at 1.014 really are done at 1.006.

1.030 is a bit high. I had the same issue with a big beer I did. 1.090 and it stuck at 1.030 as well for a week. My ambient was around 65 and my ferment bucket read 68. Try swirling it around a little to get the yeast back in suspension and maybe try bringing up the temp to 70 or so. If that doesn't work, you may have to re-pitch. That's what I did and it finished my batch. It's in the keg now carbing up. Still a bit sweet, but I think it turned out as good as to be expected with the issues I had with the fermenting.

By the way, mine was in primary for 3 weeks before I even touched it realizing it was stuck fermentation. So, mine had over a month in the primary.

As far as rep itching goes I only have some some US05. What's the rule on mixing yeast strains?

On my stuck fermentation, I mixed strains. It's in the keg now carbing and I pulled a taste yesterday. Pretty freaking good if I do say so myself. However, I haven't made this beer before so not sure what it is supposed to taste like. Others will probably chime in, but I'm not sure how much of a different flavor a new yeast will introduce into the beer. If it's the last thing to do if stirring to get the yeast into suspension, raising the temp a little, time....if nothing worked and you can't pitch the same type of yeast you did to begin with...I say go for it. Nothing to lose really. Just my .02 though

I've had good luck with adding some yeast nutrient and a bit (2-3oz) of sugar to get the yeast working again. I boil the sugar in a cup or two of water with some baker's yeast (for the nutrient, a tablespoon or two boiled is great), then add that directly to the fermentor, rouse the yeast something fierce, and keep the temps above 70F to get it to come down. Depending on your recipe/process, the beer may only come down another 5 points or so, or it might just be done.

The WLP007 is really flocculant, though, so it can't hurt to rouse it up, however you're at 80% attenuation already, so it may be done.

Mdessert said:

I brewed a strong winter ale extract kit with an OG of 1.086 I didn't have time to make a starter so I pitched two vials of WL dry English ale yeast. My FG is supposed to be 1.017 but after three weeks its stopped at 1.030. Is there anything I can do to get this to finish?

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I too just had a stuck fermentation and I was using the same yeast (WL007). My OG was 1.109 and I should have used two vials with a starter and instead I used one. Anyway, my gravity was stuck at 1.033 for several hydrometer readings. I swirled the carboy, I added yeast nutrient, I even added packaged amylase without any results. Then, I bought one vial of WL099 (high gravity yeast), made a 1L starter, and pitched. My FG is 1.013 (about 10 points lower than the original recipe specified for, but the beer tastes great). So, that would be my suggestion. You could probably also pitch another vial of WL007, but I'd make a starter this time around. Hope this helps.

Do you really need a starter for a re-pitch at 1.030? Or is that just to make sure the yeast are healthy?