Fermentation stuck at 1.020

[Dev-Ale]

First brew for me. Seems to be a lot on this subject and unfortunately i have fallen victim as well. I am brewing an irish stout with BG=1.043-1.045 and FG=1.010-1.012. We are at 9days since fermentation bubbling stopped and at about 5days thereafter i checked the FG...=1.020. At 9days checked again...FG=1.020. Should i gently stir and leave it alone for a few more days, or just accept and move on to bottling. Past posts seem to indicate beer was fine and tasty with stuck FG=1.020. thoughts?

 

[NordeastBrewer77]

Was it an extract beer? Extract beers often finish around 1.02. If the gravity is stable for a few days, you're probably good to bottle.

 

[Obliviousbrew]

You are fine go ahead an bottle

 

[Double_D]

If I think something is stuck I'll just transfer the whole thing yeast and all to another fermenter. That way it rouses the yeast without aerating. You'll know within a couple days if it's finished after that. But even for an extract beer that sounds a little too high. Especially considering the OG.

 

[meat803]

Same thing happened to me the first time I brewed an all grain irish stout. 1.018. Honestly was the best stout I have ever made and I have yet to be able to duplicate it. Wyeast irish ale was used that time. Right now I have an irish stout in the primary stuck at 1.020 as well, SA-04 yeast. I roused the yeast but no airlock activity.

You could repitch some SA-05 and see if it eats some of the left over sugars.
You can rouse the yeast and set at a warmer temp. As mentioned above, xfer to secondary and dont be scared to grab some yeast in the siphon.
Last is to just give it a few more days and then proceed as usual. The irish ale that was stuck at 1.018 was the best damn brew I ever made.

 

[harrymanback92]

I've had this problem and fixed it by making a simple syrup and than pitching the sugar to the fermenter. I've heard this is "bad" but haven't had a good explanation as to why it's bad. The stout I did this with stalled from 1.089 to 1.030. When I added sugar, it went down to 1.018. The alcohol did get pretty "hot"so I aged it and now it's one of the best beers I've made.

I dont know if you should do this, but it certainly worked for me; maybe someone can explain why it's not good to add sugar when yeast is stalled.

 

[Dev-Ale]

thanks to all. brew was from extract; however, i did gently stir up fermentation vessel and sure enough, additional fermentation occurred for about another 24hrs (albeit at a much slower pace of bubbling). i suspect that did the trick. thanks again.