Really stuck fermentation

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DocDriza

DocDriza

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So I have this imperial pumpkin pie ale I'm working on and I'm experiencing some stuck fermentation. I tried to rouse the yeast gently and pitched more yeast but nothing seems to be working. The OG was 1.104 is stuck at 1.050. I used a starter of WLP 550. When I decided to pitch more yeast, the LHBS didn't have the WLP 550, so I used WLP 545. Should I rack it on to more fresh yeast?

So I'm not sure where to go from here... I'm stuck... pun intended
 
Temp? Oxygen? You're already at 7%+ abv and that can make it harder for the yeast to get going, not to mention other ingredients that may have an impact...
 
d3track said:
Temp? Oxygen? You're already at 7%+ abv and that can make it harder for the yeast to get going, not to mention other ingredients that may have an impact...
Click to expand...

I started on the high end of the range at about 78, but then with the newly pitched yeast ~70. I was pretty sure I created enough oxygen. I also added some yeast nutrient to the wort and the starter. Is there anything else I could try?
 
Two things you can try that I can recommend... create another starter and when its at high-kreusen, pitch some of your problem beer into it let it keep going, and when its ready, pitch all of that into your fermenter.

If its still at high kreusen when you pitch along with tempering the yeast starter with some of your stuck wort, you should be able to get it going.

If that does not work, you could try Champagne yeast to get it down, although I'm not a fan of doing this. Personally, if it was me, if the first method I suggested doesn't work, I would say its a lost batch.
 
Bowtiebrewery said:
Two things you can try that I can recommend... create another starter and when its at high-kreusen, pitch some of your problem beer into it let it keep going, and when its ready, pitch all of that into your fermenter.

If its still at high kreusen when you pitch along with tempering the yeast starter with some of your stuck wort, you should be able to get it going.

If that does not work, you could try Champagne yeast to get it down, although I'm not a fan of doing this. Personally, if it was me, if the first method I suggested doesn't work, I would say its a lost batch.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestion. I went to my LHBS to pick up some things for a brew I'm doing, and when bringing up this subject one of the guys brought up WLP 099. I'm going to give that a try.
 
Did you use an hydrometer or a refractometer to measure the gravity?
 
For those that care, the WLP 099 worked brilliantly. Its bottled at 13.82% ABV. Tastes great when I was bottling.
 

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