Stuck IPA...should I bug it up?

[breez7]

Brewed an IPA about two weeks ago that got too cold one night and pissed the yeast off. The beer has been stuck at 1.023 for over a week now and I'm thinking about adding some dregs from my favorite Jolly Pumpkin beer. Should I do that or just buy a pure culture of brett? I'm worried about it being too bitter considering I don't know exactly whats in the Jolly beer...

My recipe here: www.brewersnotepad.blogspot.com

 

[wcarter1227]

I personally wouldnt add Bugs to an Ipa. The bugs are going to bring the gravity down for sure and I know thats what you want but they will also take a while to do so and may dry the beer out more than you want. Also you may lose quite a bit of the hops due to having to age the beer a while.

I would move the beer to a warmer area of the house, give it a whirl to rouse the yeast back up and give it a few weeks. if that doesnt do it then you can always try repitching some new yeast

 

[kopher]

Also I think at least some of the bugs wont like all those IBUs...

 

[HexKrak]

When you link to your blog, it's best to link to the actual recipe you're talking about.

Is this the one you're talking about?

I'd warm it up to the upper 60's low 70's and see if that kicks things back into action, and if it doesn't you could try some fresh yeast.
It might just be done, but with a mash of 150*F I'd definitely expect it to go lower.

Just how cold did it get?

 

[breez7]

Sorry, ya thats it, wasn't really sure how to do that. I've had some good IPAs that have used brett in them and I feel like this is my chance!

 

[HexKrak]

Sorry, ya thats it, wasn't really sure how to do that. I've had some good IPAs that have used brett in them and I feel like this is my chance!

If you're looking to experiment, go for it!
I might split the batch and try brett in 1/2 and try to kick the other one back into action by some other method (heat, new yeast, yeast nutrient, etc, etc).

And to get the right post, just go to your blog, click on the headline of the post and copy that url instead.

 

[breez7]

cool thanks! I've had it at 68* ambient for about a week and have roused the yeast twice. It got down to 60* which for S-04 I didn't think would be a prob but I think it was just too much of a swing too fast.

I've got a bunch of extra carboys laying around and even more IPAs so I think I might just experiment with this one. Will the dregs from one bottle be enough if I let it sit for a year or so? The bottle was just purchased a week ago from Jolly Pumpkins brew pub (had a friend driving right by) so the bugs should be fresh.

 

[breez7]

Just racked to secondary (which I almost never do) and it tasted really good so I might just let this one sit for another couple weeks and keg as is. I guess my sour experiment is going to have to wait...