My Very Own Stuck Fermentation Thread...

Hello, everyone. I'm hoping someone out there may have a bit of advice they can share regarding stuck fermentations.

I've got a huge beer I'm working with right now (1.166 OG) that has firmly bottomed out at 1.048.

Initially, it was at 1.129 with adjunct additions up to the OG of 1.166 when fermentation started to slow.

Yeast used was WY1028 followed by WLP099 pitched at 1.040 along with the adjuncts. Adjuncts were added one every 24 hours after the 099 pitch.

I've repitched 099 twice with starters each time, the second at high krausen on a starter at 1.100 after having been stepped up twice. Temp has been increased to well above the recommended range and still nothing. It's just too sweet right now.

I'm out of ideas here other than blending or trying a different yeast strain completely, but if 099 can't handle it, what can? Any experiences or suggestions?

Additional info:

Mash temp: 152
Grain bill: 25lb
Addition 1: 2lb table sugar, 1 lb D-90
Addition 2: 1lb table sugar, 1lb D-90
Addition 3: 0.5lb brown sugar

I can provide additional info if there are any specifics I haven't mentioned already.

Thanks for looking!

Oh and I've been rousing the yeast at least once a week. Been in primary for 5 weeks now.

Well at 16% I would think it will be tough to bring it down. It could have a large amount of unfermentables. it would be alot of work but maybe amalase and then kill the yeast with the stuff they put in wine. this is after you reach whatever gravity you want. But you would need someone smarter than me to explain if that is possible or not. What I suggested might work if you are kegging but forget it if you are bottling.

What size of starters did you make?

1.166 is massive! Barley wine? What is it?

Did you already taste it? How do you know it's too sweet?

Don't know how to help here.

@ChelisHubby - That's thinking outside the box. If nothing else works and there aren't any other suggestions, that'll be the next thing I try. I can rack some over to a gallon jug as an experiment too. Could even use the amylase, bottle, and pasteurize to kill the yeast when it's to the level of conditioning I want. Monitor with the plastic bottle test of course.

@garcia - For the WY1028, it was stepped up using a 4 and then a 6 liter starter (used two smack packs and two gallon jugs). For the WLP099, it was stepped up using a 2 liter starter at 1.040, another 2 liter at 1.070, and a liter at 1.100. The idea was to get the yeast acclimated to an alcohol rich environment and to pitch at high krausen without affecting the flavor of the beer too drastically.

It's an imperial stout of sorts. Little more lightly hopped than some (think Black Tuesday). I've tasted the samples and while there are some really good things going on, it's waaaaay too sweet. Extremely thick too. Almost like drinking heavy cream!

Thanks for the replies everyone. Please keep them coming. I'd love to salvage this one since I've got so much invested already.

No other suggestions? Im willing to try most anything.

Please help me save this batch without diluting it! Thanks!

You've a 15.5% beer that reached 71% apparent attenuation. That much alcohol in a zero oxygen environment is a nearly impossible task for any new yeast to work.

It’s done, stop wasting money on more yeast. Drink as is, or dilute it if it is too syrupy. Not sure what you expected with that kind of OG.

If I were in your shoes I'd rack it on top of a fresh cake of something like 099 that was just used in a 1.040-1.050 OG beer. If that didn't work than Id just keg and force carb and bottle from there. Not saying it's going to work but that's what I'd do.

@g-star - I'm afraid you're right, but as much as I've already got invested in this batch, well, I'm willing to throw just a little more at it in an attempt to make it drinkable. As for my expectations, I live in GA, so there's no hope of getting any brews like Black Tuesday, so I figured I'd give it a go myself. It's a learning experience with the chance for something nice to come out of it. Dilution, however, is on the short list of things to try when all avenues are exhausted.

@DrinksWellWithOthers - Thanks for the suggestion. I'll try this in a gallon jug after rebuilding a starter to the gravity you're talking about. This would be a good time to try the beano trick too. First one and then the other though.

Easycreeper said:

No other suggestions? Im willing to try most anything.

Please help me save this batch without diluting it! Thanks!

Click to expand...

Champagne yeast - Lalvin 1118. It has a higher alcohol tolerance. It may not work but could be worth a try. Combine with some amylase to give it its best chance.

@BlueHouseBrewhaus - Much appreciated. I'll add this to the list of things to throw at the gallon I'm going to draw off. Fortunately enough, I've got some 1118 in the fridge.

DrinksWellWithOthers said:

If I were in your shoes I'd rack it on top of a fresh cake of something like 099 that was just used in a 1.040-1.050 OG beer. If that didn't work than Id just keg and force carb and bottle from there. Not saying it's going to work but that's what I'd do.

Click to expand...

Update:

I started with your suggestion, @DrinksWellWithOthers, using a gallon jug with a 1.050 starter. After 6 days, I've dropped 7 points and 4 in the last two.

Trying to go in order of least drastic measures to most. Based on what I'm seeing right now, I'll be brewing a smaller version of this beer and fermenting with 099 and racking the current beer onto the yeast cake when it's done. Good thing I've got some time off coming up!

Going to continue to monitor the half gallon I moved over and add amylase next if it gets stuck again. After that, 1118 gets pitched.

I'll update again with results as soon as I have them.

Thanks for the help!

DrinksWellWithOthers said:

If I were in your shoes I'd rack it on top of a fresh cake of something like 099 that was just used in a 1.040-1.050 OG beer. If that didn't work than Id just keg and force carb and bottle from there. Not saying it's going to work but that's what I'd do.

Click to expand...

So your suggestion is continuing to work on the small sample I pulled over. It's now down to 1.036!

My plan is to brew a barleywine this weekend, splitting the yeast between WY1028 and WLP099. OG is expected in the range of 1.119. Can I rack on top of the yeast cake for this beer or do I need to start with a smaller beer? I'm afraid the yeast may be a little stressed from the bigger beer...

Thanks, everyone.

Easycreeper said:

So your suggestion is continuing to work on the small sample I pulled over. It's now down to 1.036!

My plan is to brew a barleywine this weekend, splitting the yeast between WY1028 and WLP099. OG is expected in the range of 1.119. Can I rack on top of the yeast cake for this beer or do I need to start with a smaller beer? I'm afraid the yeast may be a little stressed from the bigger beer...

Thanks, everyone.

Click to expand...

I wouldn't rack on top of this cake. If you wanted to rack a 1.119 beer onto a cake I'd make it a 1.035-1.050 beer.

Glad to hear things are working. I'd consider it a win to get it as far down as 1.036. Personally I wouldn't push too much further. The best imperial stout I've made finished at 1.032.

I tempted to say Wyeast 3711 even though that rate up to 12% only. Stuff seams to ferment anything in my experience.


Probably won't work though

Queequeg said:

I tempted to say Wyeast 3711 even though that rate up to 12% only. Stuff seams to ferment anything in my experience.


Probably won't work though

Click to expand...

Anything is worth trying if it gets stuck again after racking onto a WLP099 cake.

Thanks for the suggestion! I'll put it on the list of things to try.

I have read 3711 being used on beers around 14%. From 1.122 to 1.016, but I think asking it to process a 17% beer might be a bit much.

You could always freeze concentrate it, rack off the high alcohol fraction, pitch 3711 to the low alcohol fraction, ferment and rack the to to the final container.

Queequeg said:

I have read 3711 being used on beers around 14%. From 1.122 to 1.016, but I think asking it to process a 17% beer might be a bit much.

You could always freeze concentrate it, rack off the high alcohol fraction, pitch 3711 to the low alcohol fraction, ferment and rack the to to the final container.

Click to expand...

And another outside the box suggestion! That's a good suggestion if all else fails.

You guys are good at thinking 'round corners!

Thanks for the suggestion.

^Ugh. How many times can one person use "suggestion" in just four sentences. Need to exercise that vocab just a bit...

DrinksWellWithOthers said:

I wouldn't rack on top of this cake. If you wanted to rack a 1.119 beer onto a cake I'd make it a 1.035-1.050 beer.

Glad to hear things are working. I'd consider it a win to get it as far down as 1.036. Personally I wouldn't push too much further. The best imperial stout I've made finished at 1.032.

Click to expand...

Took your advice and brewed a smaller beer separately. It was a porter, so some of the flavors parallel those in the RIS. So far, its working like a charm, however slowly.

I've seen constant weak fermentation going on a week and a half now. Not sure where the gravity is for the last week, but after 4 days, it was sitting at 1.044. That's about a point per day. Looks like nearly three weeks to reach the terminal 1.031 the test sample got down to.

Guess it's a waiting game now. WLP099 is slooooooow!

Oh and the porter came out pretty decent. Still green, but promising nonetheless.

Another update to come when it's finally finished.

Back with an update. Three and a half weeks later and it's down to 1.037. Still seeing small bubbles break the surface all over, so it's still going. Starting to get impatient here... Guess this is going to take a long time to finish out. Sigh. The 1.031 the test sample got down to looks to be waaay out on the horizon somewhere.

Easycreeper said:

Back with an update. Three and a half weeks later and it's down to 1.037. Still seeing small bubbles break the surface all over, so it's still going. Starting to get impatient here... Guess this is going to take a long time to finish out. Sigh. The 1.031 the test sample got down to looks to be waaay out on the horizon somewhere.

Click to expand...

1.031 is 74% attenuation, I doubt it will drop significantly more. Also i never saw a grain bill from the previous posts, how much unmalted barley did you use (i.e. roasted barley, black barley, etc)?

rwing7486 said:

1.031 is 74% attenuation, I doubt it will drop significantly more. Also i never saw a grain bill from the previous posts, how much unmalted barley did you use (i.e. roasted barley, black barley, etc)?

Click to expand...

Thanks for the reply. I'm perfectly happy with 1.031 if the larger portion of the batch will make it there. Grain bill as requested:

20lb Maris Offer
1.5lb Chocolate
1lb Special B
0.5lb Roasted Barley
0.5lb Crystal 60
0.5lb Blackprinz
1lb Flaked Barley
Various adjuncts. All comprised of simple sugars.

Interested in your take on the grain bill.

Final update on this. Got down to 1.036 in the main portion of the batch. There may have been some dilution to factor in on the smaller portion...

Finished just over 17% by the standard calculation and over 21% by the alternate calc. Not sure which one to go by in this instance.

It's still a little too sweet, so I'm going to try to bitter it a little somehow. Maybe some isomerized hop extract will do the trick.

Thanks to all of those who provided feedback and guidance. You've all been a tremendous help.

You must make wine as well..you have a lot of patients..

Made one batch a while back and was bored with it immediately. Not enough going on in the process to keep me interested.

And yes, waiting on wine to finish takes forever! That batch and this one have been teaching me a new meaning for patience late in life...