Another stuck fermentation thread!! Repitch my slurry?

[Atticus1019]

So here's the deal. I've never had a stuck beer before... Until now. I know why it's stuck, I overshot my OG and let my dad transfer to primary while I had to go save my wife from a flat tire. Didn't even think to tell him about aeration until I started suspecting a stuck fermentation last week. It's been in primary for 3 weeks and 2 days. It's been stuck at 1.036 since last Wednesday. So here's the breakdown of where I'm at vs where I'm supposed to be:

Target OG - 1.102
Target FG - 1.021
----------------------
Actual OG - 1.112
Current FG - 1.036

I pitched a MASSIVE starter of Wyeast 1056 and fermented at 64 for 7 days and then raised the temp to 66 for the last 2 weeks.

I realize that with such a high alcohol presence pitching a fresh starter would be pointless my question is, would it be possible to wash and repitch the yeast from this batch? I racked it into a secondary vessel tonight just to get it off of the cake and trub and I saved all of the trub in a sanitized growler in the fridge to wash tomorrow. Really my question is just how do I save my beer?

 

[Atticus1019]

Anyone?

 

[David_Trucks]

I'm too new to help you and I have a similar problem. I googled it and found this (among plenty of other things). Not sure if it helps, but good luck. http://realbeer.com/spencer/FAQ/stuck-fermentation.html



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[David_Trucks]

Better yet, read this. It helped me with my problem. I think I'm going to pitch more yeast. http://www.beersyndicate.com/learning_resources/beer_tutorials_view.asp?id=45


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[shtoive87]

Maybe try the krausening technique where you add some fermenting beer to it to try to restart fermentation.

 

[Cider123]

Well, that's a pretty high OG as you already know. You can only expect so much from many strains of ale yeast. Check the % attenuation of your yeast and see if 1.036 is that % of your OG. If it is then you've arrived my friend. 1.021 might have been the expected FG of your expected OG.

If you determine that it has stalled early, then perhaps:

check that your in the correct temp range(many brews have suffered from an inaccurate thermometer)
give the brew a swirl, not a shaking. You want to expose the caked yeast not add oxygen
If those things are done and still no go, then consider re-pitching.

 

[Cider123]

Well, that's a pretty high OG as you already know. You can only expect so much from many strains of ale yeast. Check the % attenuation of your yeast and see if 1.036 is that % of your OG. If it is then you've arrived my friend. 1.021 might have been the expected FG of your expected OG.

If you determine that it has stalled early, then perhaps:

check that your in the correct temp range
give the brew a swirl, not a shaking. You want to expose the caked yeast not add oxygen
If those things are done and still no go, then consider re-pitching.

 

[AerationStation]

Looks like it might have stalled out on you. Your expecting about 80% attenuation but your getting about 68%. It could be a recipe thing (large percentage of specialty grains that provide unfermentables) but it would have to be something like an RIS for that to be a possibility.

If you're going to repitch get a starter going to high Krausen and then pitch that in. I wouldn't suggest a champagne yeast (they aren't used to the oligosacchrides in beer wort) but I've had moderate success using a lager yeast ( wlp830) at high Krausen and fermented warm to get my fg down.

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[Atticus1019]

Thanks all. 1056 claims to be a 73-77% yeast so I'm pretty certain they pooped out due to lack of oxygen. I'm trying to rejuvinate my original yeast that I've washed and made a new starter with. I'm going to slowly step it up with a bit of the beer over the next few days. The starter is beings kinda sluggish takings off though so I'm worried I will need to use fresh yeast.

 

[BigFloyd]

If you pitch more yeast, it needs to be a starter at high krausen to have any realistic chance of helping. If you get new yeast, try making a starter with some WLP099.

 

[ArcaneXor]

If it's underattenuated, WLP099 will fix it with minimal flavor impact - that yeast is amazing.

If the problem is unconverted starches, amylase enzyme added to the fermentor will fix it.

The nuclear option is using White Labs Ultra-Ferm enzyme.

 

[Atticus1019]

What are opinions on a starter of WLP099 vs the starter I made with my harvested 1056 from THIS batch of beer.. The 1056 were slow to wake up but are gradually working themselves into a frenzy on top of my fridge. There is some trub, beer, fresh wort, and of course the yeast in the growler I'm using to hold the starter so the yeast would be somewhat acclimated to the beer that they would be going back into. Would this be to my advantage or would they likely crap out on me again once they're back in my alcohol-fest of a beer? I've never used the WLP099 before and I've heard it's a beast to work with but the advantages are enticing if it wouldn't alter my flavor profile too much.