Old Ale (1.070) might be stuck....

[megavites]

Well,
I’m not going to call it a stuck fermentation yet but my 1.070 Old Ale has slowed waaaay down on fermentation. I’ve swirled and warmed the ferm. cab. up to 70 deg. but that hasn’t kick started things. I used the Wyeast 9097 strain (ale yst w/Brett.) I’m pretty sure of two things: I did not aerate the wort enough and I should have made a starter. That being said, I don’t think I can get another pkg of this yst strain, as it was limited production. I do have a White Labs English Ale tube in the fridge. I’ll take a reading tonight and again in a few days. If I where to pitch a new starter, would the consensus be to pitch with the same yeast or could I just use the WL English Ale yeast and pitch at high krausen?

 

[Tonedef131]

Why do you think it is stuck? What is the current SG?

 

[flyangler18]

How long has it been fermenting?

Remember, Brett is a super attenuator and will down what the Saccharomyces can't handle.

 

[Limited Visibility]

What makes you believe it is stuck... bubbling? Whats the hydrometer say

 

[megavites]

I'll confirm tonight.

If its truly stopped, would adding a 1-2qt starter of WL002 Eng. ale yst
be the way to go? Would the WL002 be close enough or would it hurt
the flavor profile?

 

[Tonedef131]

WLP002 isn't a really strong attenuator, so it probably wouldn't do anything. I brewed a beer with Wyeast 9097 a couple months ago and it fermented fast and hard, went from 1.080 to 1.019 within 3 days or so.

I am not sure why you think it stopped early when you haven't taken a reading yet, but don't worry about it. You want this beer to finish somewhat high because the Brett will take it down even further and it's a style that is supposed to have some residual sweetness left over.

 

[megavites]

Tone,
you hit the nail on the head. My fermentation stopped at day 5. Today at day 6 I'm at 1.020(71% attenuation). I'm really surprised that it got down that far that quick because it didn't seem like a very active ferment.

I guess I got excited because its the first time with this yst and I felt I screwed up the aeration. So I think I'll let it sit another wk in primary and then rack to a secondary glass carboy and hide it away in the closet for 6 months minimum.

I'm open to any other suggestions on when to bottle this.
My big question is how will it carb up after 6 months? I've never used carb tabs before.