Need opinion ASAP! :/

The quick and dirty:

Brewer's Best Dortmunder. Used WLP029 since I don't have lagering capabilities. This is day 10. Bubbling got up to about 1/sec in the airlock and has reduced to about 1/min, if that. Temp is 62. Same temp my kolsch went at with the same yeast but had no issues there.

So, I transfered. Took a gravity reading and it's only 1.020, down from 1.040(yeah, super low there)...

So now, it's in the secondary and I was wondering if I should have just left it alone.

Should I put it back?? LOL?

If you've already transferred it, then you should definitely not put it back. Leave it alone and relax. However, you should read up on some of the threads here regarding the necessity of a secondary.

Put it back on the yeast? I wouldn't do that. There's more risk of infection in the transfer than anything else. If you're really off (what was the target FG?) You could add more yeast to the secondary.

Keep an eye on it. But, in the future, don't transfer until it's done fermenting (3+days of a stable SG). In fact, I don't transfer anymore unless I want to dryhop or put some fruit in...

The more I see threads on here, the less I want to secondary.

I'm going to wash this yeast. Should I just put some of it back in? Too much of a noob to have heard of adding yeast to the secondary.

There is most likely enough yeast still in suspension that if left alone will keep working at lowering the gravity. Just leave it be for a couple weeks and you should see your gravity drop. You're at the bottom range of that yeast temperature wise so it will take longer for the yeast to do their job.

BTW - It's been generally accepted throughout the homebrew community that transferring to a secondary is no longer recommended unless you wish to add some fruit or maybe even dry hop.

I agree that secondarying is not recommended, but if you like it, keep on doing it.

You could probably transfer it back with very little risk of infection, but I wouldn't bother. Lots of brewers rack off a batch for bottling then pour the new batch on top of the old yeast cake with no problem. I'd just let it sit a week in the secondary then check another gravity reading.

Rahahb said:

So, I transfered. Took a gravity reading and it's only 1.020, down from 1.040(yeah, super low there)...

Click to expand...

You probably figured this out by now, but try taking a gravity reading before transferring it next time.

Yeah, I need a wine thief to make that easier. In a 6.5 gallon carboy, taking a grav reading in the carboy isn't happening. lol

Flywheel said:

Keep an eye on it.

Click to expand...

By this you mean monitor the gravity? What can I do if the gravity hasn't changed in a few days? Haven't checked it so I don't know what's going on with it at the moment.

Rahahb said:

By this you mean monitor the gravity? What can I do if the gravity hasn't changed in a few days? Haven't checked it so I don't know what's going on with it at the moment.

Click to expand...

Yep, monitor the gravity. If it doesn't move and stays at 1.020 for a while, then you might have to take action, but for now, just watch it.

sometimes these extract batches just stall at 1.020. I had similar problems with Brewers best kits. I agree with the others about not using a secondary. I take an initial gravity reading and then another between 2-4 weeks depending on beer style

as for putting it back or adding yeast, I wouldn't. leave it alone and let the yeast in suspension finish it up. try increasing your temps a couple degrees to help the yeast work..

From the White Labs site...
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 65-69°F (18-21°C)
Does not ferment well less than 62°F(17°C), unless during active fermentation.

--------

I'm curious what happened to cause your OG to be so low.

Rahahb said:

Yeah, I need a wine thief to make that easier. In a 6.5 gallon carboy, taking a grav reading in the carboy isn't happening. lol

Click to expand...

might be able to find a long enough baster as a local bed, bath and beyond or something. or i would think you could sanitize and use your siphon to take a sample, i'd think that this would end up being a bit wasteful but not a huge loss for a few readings.

Still at 1.020.

Forgot to mention I used washed yeast. The wlpo29 is the yeast I used for the Koelsch I just brewed. Don't know if that matters or not. The OG of the Koelsch was 1.046. This beer was way low at 1.040.

I thought it was because I added too much water, but when I transfered to the secondary, I only had 4.5 gallons. So I'm pretty clueless as to why the OG was so low on this one.

How long do I leave it alone if the gravity isn't changing? It's still at 1.020.

Rahahb said:

How long do I leave it alone if the gravity isn't changing? It's still at 1.020.

Click to expand...

Since this is day 17 your pretty close to wanting to take action. As ThePearsonFam mentioned you might want to warm it up a bit into the 65-69° area, giving your carboy a few gentle swirls to stir up the yeast.

MaltMonster said:

Since this is day 17 your pretty close to wanting to take action. As ThePearsonFam mentioned you might want to warm it up a bit into the 65-69° area, giving your carboy a few gentle swirls to stir up the yeast.

Click to expand...

I raised the temp to 72 on 4/2 and took my last reading last night. I can leave it here a few more days and continue to monitor.

I used this koelsch yeast(liquid - wlp029) on my last batch and it fermented out fine at even colder temps. Didn't see that as a problem but I'm still learning.

Reading on stuck fermentations, I wonder if I underpitched. I ended up with 2 pints, and 1 quart jar of washed yeast. Each had about 1/4" of yeast. It looked like it was at least as much as what came in the vial to begin with so I thought I was good to go. And the yeast was only in the fridge for 18 days.

According to Mr Malty, you'd need 230ml of a 'thin' yeast slurry for a 5gal hybrid beer with an OG of 1040. There's 946ml per US Quart. Not sure what defines 'thin' vice 'thick' in this case, but I think JZ mentioned 'thin' is a shaken starter with the yeast in suspension. I'm guessing that's about what you had, maybe a bit less. If you poured the entire quart in, then you're probably fine.

Thanks for the info.

How long should I leave it at 1.020? If it doesn't change, then what? Just bottle and roll with my 2.7% beer?

Opinions on what to do?