Is my yeast stuck or is my beer dead?

[TheBeerGuy]

I brewed a stout 16 days ago and I used a pkg of S-04 dry ale yeast which I made this recipe with before. My SG was 1.068. I saw some good fermentation from the airlock for the first week and then it slowed and stopped by day 10 which is typical for this beer. I took a gravity reading and it was only 1.040. I know this is too high and there are a lot of unfermented sugars in the beer yet. There were no colonies on the top and it looked clear in the sample I took. I cleaned and sanitized everything as I usually do but could not figure out the reason for the stuck fermentation. I called my LHBS and they suggested a tablespoon of yeast nutrient in 2 oz water and another package of dry yeast after a good stir to add some O2 to it. I did this on Saturday morning (2 days ago) and as of today there is still no movement from the airlock. I have been measuring the temp of the beer and it is pretty steady at 66-68F which is good for the yeast. Is there anything that I could be missing as I don't want to drink it so sweet with lower alcohol (about 3.5%). What else can I do to kick the yeast into eating my sugars and finishing my beer?

 

[Aristotelian]

By any chance are you using a refractometer rather than a hydrometer?

 

[kh54s10]

Since you pitched the new yeast in a hostile environment, I would wait another couple of days. Also check that your hydrometer is accurate, that you are taking readings at the temperature it is calibrated for.

You could try a more aggressive yeast, if nothing happens with the current pitch.

As a last thing, taste the beer before you decide it is too sweet, I have had high FG (not that high) and thought "Oh No!", though a little sweeter than I wanted, it was good.

 

[TheBeerGuy]

Aristotelian, I am using a hydrometer taking a reading at the calibrated temperature.

kh54s10, I have tasted the beer and it is good. I will wait a couple more days and maybe I'll just keg this one and drink it as it is, it's not bad just not where I wanted it to be.

 

[cladinshadows]

If you want to dedicate some serious time and effort to this batch you could consider brewing a separate batch with a more attenuative yeast (like a blonde or cream ale with WLP001/WY1056/US-05) and then transferring this Stout onto that yeast cake after primary is over.

That's certainly what I would do because a 1.040 / 3.5% abv batch would not be something I'd want to drink, but obviously that's just personal preference.

 

[TheBeerGuy]

What I did is I made a small starter of 1.020-1.024 and pitched S-04 yeast into that to get it growing and living. I will leave this on a stir plate for the next day or two and after that I will pitch it into my stout. I also am going to cold crash the stout now and rack it into another fermenter and then add the starter yeast in it. Hopefully the yeast won't be too strained and continue to ferment this beer out.

I am a little disappointed since this was my entry for the AHA competition this year and now I don't think it'll be ready.

Thanks to everyone who helped. Any more advice please let me know.

 

[phendog]

If you aerated finished beer, even if the FG is too high, I fear it's going to get worse due to oxidization.

 

[kh54s10]

What I did is I made a small starter of 1.020-1.024 and pitched S-04 yeast into that to get it growing and living. I will leave this on a stir plate for the next day or two and after that I will pitch it into my stout. I also am going to cold crash the stout now and rack it into another fermenter and then add the starter yeast in it. Hopefully the yeast won't be too strained and continue to ferment this beer out.

I am a little disappointed since this was my entry for the AHA competition this year and now I don't think it'll be ready.

Thanks to everyone who helped. Any more advice please let me know.

Dry yeast is engineered to not need a starter. It is often said that pitching the yeast into a wort will kill off as much as half of the yeast. So you may get back to the cell counts that the pack contained in the first place.

I suppose it is worth a try but I would just add the yeast to the fermenter without the cold crash or transfer. IMO, that risks more than it would help. (chance of oxidation and/or infection).

Have you checked that the hydrometer is accurate?

 

[TheBeerGuy]

Dry yeast is engineered to not need a starter. It is often said that pitching the yeast into a wort will kill off as much as half of the yeast. So you may get back to the cell counts that the pack contained in the first place.

I suppose it is worth a try but I would just add the yeast to the fermenter without the cold crash or transfer. IMO, that risks more than it would help. (chance of oxidation and/or infection).

Have you checked that the hydrometer is accurate?

I did check the hydrometer and it is accurate. I realize that dry yeast does not need a starter but I re-hydrated the first pitch and then I pitched a second right on top of the beer after aeration and it did nothing. I do not want to risk infection but I am not too sure how to kick it in the butt to start to eat and finish the ferment.