Altbier might be stuck....what do you think?

I brewed a german altbier this weekend, I had a a lot of spalt hops! Anyways, I cant tell you a exact reading because my daughter broke my hydrometer right before I was going to pitch my yeast. 1.066 is what brewQ tells me. So I pitched a yeast slurry from an brown ale I made. Cooled down the wort to about 78 first. This was at about 7:00pm saturday night, about 12:00pm sunday I noticed some good activity in the blow off. About 6:30pm sunday the activity had stoppped. Now I know that no bubbles doesnt mean not fermenting, but could it be stuck? I swirled the primary softly to stur up some yeast before I went to bed sunday. Woke up this morning (monday) and no activity. I think I will let it sit today and check it when I get home. I have more yeast to pitch if that what I need to do. Any suggestion? Could it be stuck? Give it time? I have read a lot of threads about stuck fermentation and just figure I would ask. Any help will be helpfull! Thanks yall!!!:rockin:

It's not stuck until the hydrometer reading stays the same (and is not at final gravity) for a few days.

If you had it in the mid 70s, it may have pretty much fermented out considering you pitched a healthy starter of yeast from the other batch.

Really, gravity is the ONLY way. Other than that, it's all speculation.

wjjohnson said:

I cant tell you a exact reading because my daughter broke my hydrometer right before I was going to pitch my yeast.

Click to expand...

Then buy a new hydrometer. There is no magical gnome on the interwebs that can read the sugar content of your beer through a text post.


* deleted the rest of my post because we are all friends and I just have been talking to retards all day and will not take it out on you *

Well I am going to get a new hydrometer, the HBS was closed at the time it broke and not open on sundays. I will get a new one on the way home. I problem is I didnt get a reading before I pitched the yeast, so I am going off the Qbrew software. So in other words I dont know my OG, I can only guess since I broke my hydrometer BEFORE I pitched the yeast. I just wanted to know if I should wait any longer before pitching in more yeast. I have never had a beer ferment out completly in a few hours. Even with a hugh starter. I will get a reading today and see were I am at. I heave heard that if you wait too long to re-pitch yeast on a stuck brew you could risk infection. That was my main point. Thanks for the help, I'll update as soon as possible!

check the gravity today, then again on Wednesday morning. You should have an idea of what your FG whould be. If you get 2 identical readings in a row, well above your target FG, it is stuck. If it is at 1.015 or so, it is probably fermented out.

If you pitched a yeast slurry at 78 degrees, you probably had a very hot and active fermentation. That's why it would go so quick- fermentation temperatures could have easily exceeded 85 degrees and it would finish up very quickly.

High temperatures aren't really great for altbiers- I ferment my altbier with German ale yeast at 60 degrees. You may notice quite a bit of fruitiness and even some fusels from the high temperature, and some yeast strains have more fruitiness at high temperatures than others. What strain did you use?

Make sure you have a good seal?? If you had a lot of activity, it may have loosened your cork or something.

Well I pitched the yeast at 79 but i had it in a tub of ice water. I checked the temp about 30 min later and was 67 and has held at 68-69. I live in Arizona and its 109 today- so thats pretty good! I am going to stick the fermentor in my frig and lager or cold condition it for about 3 weeks after fermentation. Thats what I read to do with altbiers. I will get a reading to night and tuesday and wednesday and see were things are at. I used a yeast slurry from a brown ale wich started out as 2 paks for nottingham yeast. I washed it and keep it cold. As far as I know the temp in my brew room is 70 and with it being in a ice tub is should be close to 65 thru out the day. I will double check all my hoses and stoppers. Thanks for all the help!