Stuck Fermentation?

[Stigers784]

I brewed a white ipa a little over two weeks ago. Fermentation seemed to go well and I wanted to take a look after a week. From what i could tell everything looked fine.
After a little over two weeks in primary I wanted to see where it was at so I decided to take a sample with my hydrometer. When I took off the lid it looked like the krausen was forming again. I went ahead and took a sample anyways and it said it was at 1.020. My o.g. is 1.054. It tasted ok but looked incredibly cloudy/murky. I put the lid and airlock back on, turned up the temp in my room a little and gently agitated the beer. that was yesterday afternoon and since then it's been bubbling pretty consistently. Did I have a stuck fermentation? Will it be ok to bottle after the third week in primary or should I rack it for another 2 weeks to let it clear up?

 

[flars]

Your fermentation may have stalled or it is just proceeding slowly. This can be a characteristic of the yeast used. You won't be ready to bottle until the fermentation is done. Let it go in the primary until hydrometer readings a few days apart show that there is no longer any fermentation activity. Racking the beer off the yeast cake may cause it to stall again. You can let the beer clear in the primary. No problem associated with leaving the beer on the yeast cake longer.

 

[Stigers784]

Thanks for the advice, I appreciate it!!

 

[JeffNYC]

Same thing happened to me (first time in 66 batches) for my current batch. I had a great start to fermentation looking like it finished vigorously in the first day, left it for nearly two weeks and was about to keg it. Noticed yesterday some activity through the air lock (slow bubbles). I took a sample and came out 1.02, very cloudy. Tasted OK thankfully. Curious why it stopped, then recently restarted. Temperature has been pretty consistent at roughly 72F.

P.S. American Amber Ale, 1.058 OG, using S-33

 

[Stigers784]

I used the exact same yeast for my white ipa. Must just be a characteristic of that yeast.

 

[Yooper]

I brewed a white ipa a little over two weeks ago. Fermentation seemed to go well and I wanted to take a look after a week. From what i could tell everything looked fine.
After a little over two weeks in primary I wanted to see where it was at so I decided to take a sample with my hydrometer. When I took off the lid it looked like the krausen was forming again. I went ahead and took a sample anyways and it said it was at 1.020. My o.g. is 1.054. It tasted ok but looked incredibly cloudy/murky. I put the lid and airlock back on, turned up the temp in my room a little and gently agitated the beer. that was yesterday afternoon and since then it's been bubbling pretty consistently. Did I have a stuck fermentation? Will it be ok to bottle after the third week in primary or should I rack it for another 2 weeks to let it clear up?

So many extract batches will finish at 1.020, so I'm assuming you used extract in your recipe?

It sounds fine, but next time do NOT agitate/stir/aerate a beer once the SG has dropped. It will create some oxidation issues.

If the SG hasn't changed in a few days, I'd bottle it to avoid further oxidation.

 

[Stigers784]

I brew all grain biab. Thanks for the tip. I'm still fairly new to home brewing (about a year) so any information is much appreciated!!

 

[JeffNYC]

May be an issue with the yeast. Was the first time I used it, quite a coincidence you had the same issue. Probably will keep to S-05...

 

[Stigers784]

Yea next time i brew this beer, I think I'll use Imperial yeast B44 whiteout.