Wyeast British Ale II - incomplete fermentation?

[hightechlofi]

Brewed 10 gallons of an old ale OG 1.073. I then split the batch into two cornies and pitched one with British Ale II, and the other with Scottish Ale (both wyeast). I am pressure fermenting both. I pitched last Thursday (a week ago) and measured the gravities this morning. The Scottish ale is down to 1.017, but the British ale II is only at 1.048. Do I just need to give it more time, or could this have been a bad pack? I activated it, and while the smack pack fully inflated, it did not seem to be near as firm as other smack packs (it felt less pressurized). I know I should have done a starter, but ran out of time. And as the two cornies are from a split batch of the same wort, I don't think that is the issue. Any ideas, recommendations? Should I buy another pack of it and repitch?

 

[Muchacho]

Make sure that the yeast is not all floating in the krausen. I have found that yeast to be very flocculant and require periodic rocking of the carboy to keep it in suspension. Shake it up and warm to 68 or so.

 

[hightechlofi]

That is a great idea, I have not tried shaking it yet. I am in Texas, so the fermentation is already on the warmish side, 71-73f. Thanks!

 

[hightechlofi]

So after shaking it a few times to get the yeast back into suspension, I am still only at 1.041 tonight. So, improved, but not a whole lot of activity. What do you think, give it more time or get another smack pack?

 

[PDX_T]

when you say pressure fermentation what pressure and how do you draw your samples? just curious.

 

[hightechlofi]

I started at about 5psi for the first few days, then let it build up to 10psi, then stepped up to 25psi after about 5 days. To grab a sample, all I do is hook up a picnic tap to the out port of the cornie. The dip tubes are cut about 3/4" so I don't get too much trub.