Stuck fermentation

So I have have an imperial stout that has been going for about 4 weeks. My OG was super high at about 1.104 and when I racked it the reading was about 1.040. Its been in secondary for about 2 weeks and hasn't gone down at all. 1.040 seems way too high for it. I was considering pitching some champagne yeast to finish it off. Does this sound like a good idea? I can post the recipe later today when I have a real keyboard in front of me. The yeast I used was wyeast London ale.

 

It really depends on your recipe and process. That is about 61% attenuation, which while low, would not be unheard of with that particular yeast (depending on recipe). Things like mash temperature, all-grain vs. extract, wort sugar composition, amount of crystal malt, starter size, oxygenation techniques, etc. all have enormous impacts on the attenuation you'll experience.

 

More info is really needed to determine what should be done next. First of all, you shouldn't have transferred it to secondary when it wasn't done fermenting.

 

Yeah I took my gravity reading after transferring that was my bad. It was an extract recipe that had about 10 lbs of extract and 1 lb of brown sugar. For specialty grains I had some crystal 60 I think and some dark malts for color. I can't remember how big my started was but it needed a blowoff for about a week and was bubbling strong for about a week and a half.

 

What kind of extract? Was it light or dark?

 

It was 5 lbs dark and 5 lbs amber dry malt extract.

 

The dark and amber do have unfermentables in them that will give you a higher FG but not 1.040. I think you have a stuck fermentation. Did you make a starter for your yeast, and if so, how big was it?

 

I didn't write down the volume of my starter. I am pretty sure tho that it was about a liter. The initial fermentation took off very quickly for some time. Yeast was going through the blowoff for a few days even. I was thinking of getting some champagne yeast because it can handle the high alcohol that's in there right now.

 

Yeah, for a beer that big you need a much bigger starter. Give the champagne yeast a try and see if it will lower it much.