Slow fermentation

[PerArdua]

I made olllllo's Alaskan Amber clone on May 12 and have suffered very slow fermentation. My OG was 1.066 and when I checked it on the 24th it had only gone down to about 1.030. I gave the beer a nice swirl to see if that would get it going again but to no avail. As of 10 minutes ago the hydrometer is still reading 1.030. My beer's temp has kept at 64/65 degrees throughout the whole process.

So, should I repitch?

 

[brettg20]

What yeast were you using? You can try to raise the temp to between 70-75 and give the carboy another swirl (don't splash though)

 

[PerArdua]

Wyeast 1338.

As this is only my 2nd batch I don't really have any way of raising the temp short of covering it in blankets.

 

[brettg20]

I have never really used Wyeast, always preferred White Labs. This is a liquid yeast right? You can try re-pitching after making a starter...but that may be too much of a hassle for you if this is only your second batch.

 

[defenestrate]

if you brew AG what temp did you mash at? did you make a starter? did you aerate oxygenate?

 

[PerArdua]

I did an extract and I did indeed aerate. And yes it was a liquid yeast.

As far as re-pitching with a starter would I just go ahead and make a regular starter like I would on brew day and pour it in? Would I want to aerate again?

Thanks for the help guys!

 

[brettg20]

I would make a starter and pitch it (entire starter) in the primary when it is at full activity (usually for me it is anywhere from 12-18 hours. I wouldn't aerate the carboy anymore but you want to with the starter via stir plate or swirling your starter every so often to prevent the yeast from settling on the bottom to make sure you have good yeast growth/activity.

Since you brewed 3 weeks ago if this doesn't work I think it is safe to say that you aren't going to get it down anymore. If that's the case enjoy it and try to learn from what you can improve on next time to prevent this...I have had a couple of my stout's get down to only 1.025 recently. While they may have only been around 4%, they still tasted great and I learned from what I did and didn't do and that is what brewing is all about.

Cheers!