Stuck Fermentation w/ Mauribrew

[mattywwilson]

I recently brewed an AG Milk Stout with an OG of 1.062. The recipe says I should have a FG of 1.015. Sweet.

I live in Texas, so I've definitely had the obvious struggles of keeping a decent lower temperature for fermenting so I decided a while back to try the Mauribrew 514 Ale Yeast (supposedly able to handle fermentation temps of up to around 90 and boasts a quick fermentation of 3-7 days...questionable).

Long story short, my first week or so I kept the temps at around 60-62, which is low according to Mauribrew specs...checked gravity at 7 days which, I know is early, but Mauribrew says it to be true and it had only dropped to 1.038. So I raised the temp to room temperature (about 78) and let it sit for another week. I checked gravity again and it was damn near the same thing.

Question is....what's the dealio? Is the fermentation stuck? Am I out of yeasties? Milk stout go bye bye? Thanks in advance for any and all advice yall!

 

[BuckSwope]

What temp did you mash at? Lower mash = higher attenuation/drier beer while higher mash temps provide more unfermentables. Have you been rousing the carboy while raising the temp to get the yeast back into suspension?

 

[Devlosirrus]

I'm having this exact same problem. I pitched Mauribrew 514 into a brown ale at around 1.050 two weeks ago, with a projected FG of 1.012-1.014. I had a furious fermentation for exactly one day, and when I checked the carboy the next morning, there was nothing. No krausen, no bubbling, nothing. I took a gravity reading with my refractometer, which put the FG at 1.030. WAY off.

I've since tried rousing the yeast, adding yeast nutrient, and even adding more yeast of the same strain, but never got more than a few lazy bubbles. The FG has remained about the same. I bought a brew belt yesterday, which I plan to attach to the fermenter before adding nutrient and rousing one last time. I'll let you guys know how it goes.

 

[Devlosirrus]

Well guys, I have to admit, I feel more than a little silly. This is the first beer I've used with my refractometer, and it turns out I was just reading the thing wrong this whole time. After figuring out the original Brix reading from my notes and entering the data into Brewsmith, it turns out I've pushed my final ABV from 4.5% (projected) to 5.35%. Not only did the Mauribrew yeast do its job in a little over a day, it also re-entered suspension and continued to ferment every time I added anything to the fermenter. Whoops! My bad.

Matty, if you haven't bottled or thrown out that milk stout yet, you might just want to add some yeast nutrient, re-hydrate some more yeast, and add it to the fermenter. Since I totally botched the refractometer readings, I'm still not sure if my fermentation was ever even stuck. But, if it was (judging from the almost 1% increase in my final ABV), pitching more Mauri yeast seems to have solved the problem. Let me know if you're still toying around with your batch, I'd like to know how it turns out.

 

[brewchemistry]

If the yeast goes through a temperature gradient of 10 or so degrees. I've noticed it goes into a shock period and will require some slight re-pitching. Try and hold your temperature as steady as possible for the best performance of yeast.