Imperial stout w/ OG 1.088 and FG 1.030

Hi All,

First time poster here but been lurking for a while. I am a relatively new brewer. My recent brew was my 6th batch but that's over the past two years so I've never really got into a good rhythm. I'm hoping to get more serious about it an brew twice a month now.

I recently brewed what was basically a Old Rasputin clone (from BYO mag not Beer Captured). This is an extract brew. I hit the target OG at 1.088. The FG is listed at 1.022. I should note that I pitched two packets of Safale US-05 (which I did not rehydrate prior to pitching). At that time I pitched, my apartment was pretty cold (about 64 degrees). After the beer had been in primary for two weeks, I got sick of being cold and turned the heat up. It is now 68 in here. In total the beer was in primary for 4 weeks (2 at 64 and 2 at 68).

The gravity I am getting is 1.030. It was the same a week ago. As a result of the gravity being steady I figured that was as good as I could do and I racked half to a bottling bucket yesterday and bottled it. In the other half, I tossed some rye-aged oak chips. So, half the batch is bottled and half is still in primary (now with oak) going on its fifth week.

A co-worker who is a great homebrewer has told me I should have pitched more yeast and given another week before bottling.

So my questions are twofold (one for each half the batch).

1) On the half that is already bottled, what should I expect? It will be worty-sweet since it didn't fully attenuate?

2) How should I handle the second half that is still in the fermenter? Should I pitch more yeast? If so, should I do that in the same vessel or rack to a new one and then pitch it?

Thanks in advance to all!

That's only 66% attenuation which is low for that strain. Regarding the bottles, I'd be more worried about bottle bombs than a too sweet brew. If those yeast wake up and finish their job, those bottles will go boom. The second half in the fermenter you should warm up slightly to see if that increases activity and let it go for another week or two.

Before re-pitching, I'd probably give my fermenter a swirl and move my temps up to 70. I'd give it a week to see if it re started. If not, then I'd re-pitch.

I have only been brewing for a few years, but I have only had to re-pitch once. I have had two "stuck" fermentations which I successfully re-started by swirling the fermenter.

Any tips on how to stir/swirl the yeast while avoiding oxidation?

The only way i can think of is to swirl your fermenter w/o opening it. That way there is a pocket of C02 at the top. If not you can try purging the top of the fermentor with fresh CO2 from a kegging system while you swirl.

Don't open your fermenter, just dont splash it either. Just swirl gently to try to get yeast back up into suspension.

Oxidation is a valid concern, but I can't say that I have ever had a beer so afflicted with oxidation so as to significantly reduce the quality of the beer.