Help!! Stuck fermentation

[Placervillebrew]

A bit of advice please
I had a chance over the last week to taste and or sample the whatever beer i made, I have no descriptor its not a kolsch its not a true wit (no coriander no orange peel) its nothing more than base malt 10 gal batch 18lbs American premium two row and 3.5lbs wheat berries 1.5lbs aromatic simple right you with me I wanted a clean lawnmower beer for summer. my homebrew shop only had Belgian white labs 500 and 510 I purchased both and made a starter with the 500 and thought it may be enough yeast but after checking the date against Mr maltys yeast calculator it was weak so I pitched in the 510 also while it was on the stir plate and Viola! More yeast right! After initially checking the progress it had dropped from 12 Plato to 4 plato Totally fine , even tasted clean! Yay but after another week its stuck still at 4 plato I have no hydrometer it broke,and after two refractometer checks it is right at 4 Plato which appears to be 1.015 , that's all fine and dandy but with the low mash temp 150° I wanted to dry it out a bit more. I have two things in mind either ramp the heck up in temp to reactivate the remaining yeast it has been fermenting at 70, I would get it to 80 or so. Or go and get new yeast and repitch and hope it finishes out lower. Sorry for the long description I hope I didn't leave anything helpful for you to know out, cheers and good luck with you next batches. , Jeff

 

[JakeFegely]

Since your hydrometer broke and you are using a refractometer, my first question is to make sure that you are adjusting the refractometer reading for the alcohol. Refrac's can be read directly before fermentation starts, but once fermentation starts, you typically need software to adjust the reading to actual.

Since there may be some question as to how far it has attenuated, have you tasted it? Is it too sweet? Does it need further attenuation?

If it needs further attenuation, raising the temp is a good starting point. Those Belgian yeast can easily go into the upper 70's. You can also rouse the yeast (in a sanitary way). Adding yeast is a third option - ideally you should start that yeast in a starter and pitch it when active.
Good luck,
Jake

 

[Double_D]

I wouldn't call 150 for the mash temp low. That's pretty middle of the road. If it's been there(your 4 degrees plato) for a week I'd say it's done fermenting. If you used wheat berries as opposed to wheat malt and didn't do a cereal mash I wouldn't expect you to have gained much in the way of fermentables from the wheat. There wouldn't have been any way for you to gelatinize the starches for them to be broken down by the alpha/beta amylase. Chalk it up as a learning experience.

 

[Double_D]

Or it could be a calibration thing.

 

[Placervillebrew]

Would a double whammy, put me at any risk,? 1 ramp up to 77 or 78. And or 2 get another vial of yeast and make a starter and stir plate for a 24-36 hour period and pitch give it a week and check out what's up. Its a bit sweet right now doesn't have the overall mouthfeel of a well finished beer.

 

[Double_D]

I think that sounds like a good plan. I like to blend yeasts. And I've read a few of the big guys finish their beers off with different yeast.