Porter Stopped Fermentation

BrewSwag 728
Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
upperNY01brewer

upperNY01brewer

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 14, 2010
Messages
398
Reaction score
6
Location
Hamlin, NY
I brewed up Nothern Brewers Bourbon Barrel Porter on 01/08/13 with a O.G. of 1.074(was shooting for 1.065) and for the last 2 days it has held @ 1.040. I transferred over to the secondary and added my oak chips and bourbon but Im thinking of just adding another pack of yeast to get it down. Put the recipe through BeerSmith and it shows that it should be down to 1.016.

I didn't do a starter as this brew day kinda was a last minute thing when my buddies called and wanted to have a brew day, hey who am I to say no especially when they show up with some Founders Breakfest Stout.

But does anyone see a problems with adding the additional yeast ?:confused:
 
You could add more yeast, it's called Krausening in a lager and it might help you get your gravity down. I would say try it and report back with the results.
 
You transferred WAY too early. At not even a week into it, you should have left it in primary. Now that its off the yeast cake things will go much slower. Give it a month and then see where the gravity is.

In the future wait for a batch to actually finish before you do anything with it. If the instructions told you to move it that soon, ignore them from now on.
 
Golddiggie said:
You transferred WAY too early. At not even a week into it, you should have left it in primary. Now that its off the yeast cake things will go much slower. Give it a month and then see where the gravity is.

In the future wait for a batch to actually finish before you do anything with it. If the instructions told you to move it that soon, ignore them from now on.
Click to expand...

Yea I followed the instructions, and I was telling myself not to(should have listened to the inner voices):mad:
 
Did you take any hydrometer readings before you transferred? You should do 2 readings 3 days apart and if you get the same reading go ahead and transfer. I typically leave my beers alone for 2 weeks before I even take my first reading. So as Golddiggie has said, finishing will be slow now that you transferred. You can try gently rocking the carboy to stir and keep the yeast susspended.
 
upperNY01brewer said:
Yea I followed the instructions, and I was telling myself not to(should have listened to the inner voices):mad:
Click to expand...

What yeast did you use?? I tend to let brews with an OG of 1.070-1.080 go for 4-6 weeks before I do anything else with them. Sometimes that's a transfer to serving keg, other times it could be to add some oak cubes. But to move after just a week is bad information for them to give you. Especially with the SG coming up at 1.040. I would have left it in primary for at least the full month, take a reading (if it's a yeast I've not used more than a few times before) and then decided.

I'd reach out to NB and see what they'll do for you. At this point, their faulty instructions have lead you to a trouble brew (at the very least).

BTW, this is one of the reasons I hate kits so much. Or, at least, the instructions they give people. 99% of the time you can simply ignore them once you pitch the yeast. At least when it comes to fermentation time, or time from pitching yeast to bottling/kegging the batch.
 
Golddiggie said:
What yeast did you use?? I tend to let brews with an OG of 1.070-1.080 go for 4-6 weeks before I do anything else with them. Sometimes that's a transfer to serving keg, other times it could be to add some oak cubes. But to move after just a week is bad information for them to give you. Especially with the SG coming up at 1.040. I would have left it in primary for at least the full month, take a reading (if it's a yeast I've not used more than a few times before) and then decided.

I'd reach out to NB and see what they'll do for you. At this point, their faulty instructions have lead you to a trouble brew (at the very least).

BTW, this is one of the reasons I hate kits so much. Or, at least, the instructions they give people. 99% of the time you can simply ignore them once you pitch the yeast. At least when it comes to fermentation time, or time from pitching yeast to bottling/kegging the batch.
Click to expand...
I used Wyeast (1728) Scottish Ale yeast and like I mentioned being not truly ready for the brew day( peer pressure got the best of me) and I didn't do a starter. I know there is always suspended yeast left during the transfer to secondary, but is advisable to repitch another pack of yeast ? The reason Im asking is that this beer is for one on my buddies who's moving away and since he help with this I'd like to see that he has some to take along with him so my window of opportunity is that that I wont have the time to wait a month to see if it continues to drop down to a proper FG.
 
upperNY01brewer said:
I used Wyeast (1728) Scottish Ale yeast and like I mentioned being not truly ready for the brew day( peer pressure got the best of me) and I didn't do a starter. I know there is always suspended yeast left during the transfer to secondary, but is advisable to repitch another pack of yeast ? The reason Im asking is that this beer is for one on my buddies who's moving away and since he help with this I'd like to see that he has some to take along with him so my window of opportunity is that that I wont have the time to wait a month to see if it continues to drop down to a proper FG.
Click to expand...

I've had 1728 go to 12.5% before, so I don't think the yeast is the issue. Granted I left my batch on the cake for about 3 months before I moved it over to aging vessel. I also used a starter and pure O2 to oxygenate the wort. Since it sounds like you didn't do either of those things, you should have let it go much longer. While there's still some yeast in suspension, you left a LOT behind. You now have very little to rouse up and try and get to finish the beer.

Was this an extract or all grain batch? If all grain, are you 100% sure your thermometer (for the mash) was/is accurate.

I still say to get a hold of NB and find out what they'll do for you. Since you followed their instructions on the batch and it's in FUBAR land right now, they should do something to help out.

Since the batch is already buggered, I'd wager that the chances of it being ready for him to take some (assuming you want it in bottles for then) is slim to nil, for less than a month. You could let him take some, but you could be sending him off with beer grenades (with the pins pulled).

99.95% of the time trying to rush a beer through the process results in far less than optimal brews. Either they take much longer due to the rushing, or they fail horribly due to being rushed. IMO, if you had given this batch another week, or three, you'd probably be more on target. You could have checked it after a couple of weeks to see what the SG was and then taken steps if needed. Since you didn't, your options are very limited.
 
Golddiggie said:
I've had 1728 go to 12.5% before, so I don't think the yeast is the issue. Granted I left my batch on the cake for about 3 months before I moved it over to aging vessel. I also used a starter and pure O2 to oxygenate the wort. Since it sounds like you didn't do either of those things, you should have let it go much longer. While there's still some yeast in suspension, you left a LOT behind. You now have very little to rouse up and try and get to finish the beer.

Was this an extract or all grain batch? If all grain, are you 100% sure your thermometer (for the mash) was/is accurate.

I still say to get a hold of NB and find out what they'll do for you. Since you followed their instructions on the batch and it's in FUBAR land right now, they should do something to help out.

Since the batch is already buggered, I'd wager that the chances of it being ready for him to take some (assuming you want it in bottles for then) is slim to nil, for less than a month. You could let him take some, but you could be sending him off with beer grenades (with the pins pulled).

99.95% of the time trying to rush a beer through the process results in far less than optimal brews. Either they take much longer due to the rushing, or they fail horribly due to being rushed. IMO, if you had given this batch another week, or three, you'd probably be more on target. You could have checked it after a couple of weeks to see what the SG was and then taken steps if needed. Since you didn't, your options are very limited.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice, I will take it to heart, and use this as a learning lesson.:mug:
 
upperNY01brewer said:
Thanks for the advice, I will take it to heart, and use this as a learning lesson.:mug:
Click to expand...

About all you can do at this point. You could get lucky, with giving it more time. You might try pitching in fresh yeast (make a starter though). If you do that, chances are you'll need to oak it again since you could lose the oak additions right out the airlock.
 
Golddiggie said:
About all you can do at this point. You could get lucky, with giving it more time. You might try pitching in fresh yeast (make a starter though). If you do that, chances are you'll need to oak it again since you could lose the oak additions right out the airlock.
Click to expand...

If I was to pitch fresh yeast do you think a starter is really needed ? OG was 1.072 and is down to 1.030 and am shooting for 1.016, Ive never been in this position before so this is all uncharted territory for me.
 
upperNY01brewer said:
If I was to pitch fresh yeast do you think a starter is really needed ? OG was 1.072 and is down to 1.030 and am shooting for 1.016, Ive never been in this position before so this is all uncharted territory for me.
Click to expand...

So it's dropped another 10 gravity points since you racked it? If so, then I'd just leave it along for a few more weeks and pull another sample. Pulling it off the cake simply slowed down the process. The yeast is doing all it can, just give it more time before trying to add more yeast.
 
Golddiggie said:
So it's dropped another 10 gravity points since you racked it? If so, then I'd just leave it along for a few more weeks and pull another sample. Pulling it off the cake simply slowed down the process. The yeast is doing all it can, just give it more time before trying to add more yeast.
Click to expand...

I'm sorry I meant 1.040, so no it hasn't dropped another 10 gravity points.
 

Similar threads

B
Possible Contamination Question
Replies
13
Views
748
J.Miller
J
D
Stuck fermentation on an imperial stout
Replies
8
Views
469
G_robertus
G
B
The Starting Gravity That Got Away
Replies
1
Views
511
Broken Crow
Broken Crow
Luxy
Fermentation...
Replies
6
Views
379
Rish
R
S
Rotten Egg smell on last days of ferment
Replies
2
Views
865
Skinah
S
SSBrew 300

Latest posts

Back
Top