tomakana
Well-Known Member
I've got a Dunkelweizen fermenting now, and for the last 5-7 days it's been stalled at 1.020 when Brewer's Friend is projecting 1.013. It was one of my first partial mash attempts, and I didn't get great efficiency (OG was 1.049 vs expected of 1.054), but I figured I'd just go with a lower ABV brew.
I used a slightly older packet of Bavarian Wheat dry yeast that I had available - fermentation started fine and was at a steady 72F, good krausen for 4-5 days and everything seemed fine. Checked gravity at 10 days and got 1.020 with a hydrometer. Checked again at 15 days and there was no change. Checked again at 18, then decided to rack to secondary to see if that would wake the yeast up a bit and noticed that I have much less of a yeast cake than I've seen in the past for this size brew (2.5 gal). No funky smells or tastes (it's actually fairly good).
If the yeast was older, is it possible that it was good enough to get the fermentation started, but then just petered out before it was done? I've always thought that once yeast began dividing and fermenting, that it would be OK, if a little slower?
Anyway, should I just let it keep going for a while and see if it drifts down after the racking, or grab some fresher yeast and try to kick start it?
Thanks.
I used a slightly older packet of Bavarian Wheat dry yeast that I had available - fermentation started fine and was at a steady 72F, good krausen for 4-5 days and everything seemed fine. Checked gravity at 10 days and got 1.020 with a hydrometer. Checked again at 15 days and there was no change. Checked again at 18, then decided to rack to secondary to see if that would wake the yeast up a bit and noticed that I have much less of a yeast cake than I've seen in the past for this size brew (2.5 gal). No funky smells or tastes (it's actually fairly good).
If the yeast was older, is it possible that it was good enough to get the fermentation started, but then just petered out before it was done? I've always thought that once yeast began dividing and fermenting, that it would be OK, if a little slower?
Anyway, should I just let it keep going for a while and see if it drifts down after the racking, or grab some fresher yeast and try to kick start it?
Thanks.
