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Could you post your gravity readings up to this point?

Ok, well it has now been four days since I aerated and added energizer and the fermentation has continued to slow down (gravity went from 1.034 to 1.030); so fail on the aeration method. I decided to switch off my fermentation fridge and let it start to warm for the diacetyl rest, so hopefully...

I like to chill the beer down, swap the in/out posts so that I'm sending CO2 down the dip tub, set the pressure to 30 or so and pressurize the keg. Then I disconnect and shake the keg for a minute or two. Repeat 4-5 times. Then I'll set the pressure and leave it overnight. Usually it's fully...

@Smidey Thought so.

Give it at least another week, then taste it again. More than likely you will still have time to dry hop for 5-7 days and then quickly force carbonate it.

Are the DME and the rice syrup the only fermentables? Or do you also have more extract? Also, what yeast are you using and what is your pitching procedure? I see three potential issues. First, I believe that DME has less head forming ability than either grain or liquid extract. Second...

I should really stop posting until I've decided if I'm done answering, but I just read your post again. Next time you take a sample, add 1 tsp. or so of baker's yeast, or any dry yeast, and leave it at 70F for a few days. Then take a gravity reading of that sample; that should tell you where...

But just in summary, I would recommend raising the temperature a bit more and then maybe think about repitching. If you can get a few more points, they you might be able to just move into the D-rest, which could get you the rest of the way.

A few of us were recently discussing this. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/slow-lager-fermentation-240390/

Ideally you would move from a lower OG to a higher OG, from less hoppy/bitter to more hoppy/bitter, and from lighter to darker beer. Of course, depending on the styles you may not be able adhere to all three of those, so they're just guidelines. The most important criteria is probably the...

I thought it was 100 gallons/person/year. Did it go up to 200 gals?

I'd be interested to know how the washing worked with finings.

Yeah, I generally don't secondary either, unless I'm dry hopping or fining... Maybe give it a try in the primary and then report back?

I don't see any problem with doing 3 gallons in a 6 gallon fermenter for the primary; in fact, I'm also brewing a party gyle 3 gallon barleywine batch this weekend and will be fermenting in a 5 gallon carboy. When you rack to secondary, especially if you're dry hopping, I would recommend...

Again, this will just be more supposition, but whenever I use finings, I almost always rack to secondary first; that way I leave 97% of the yeast and trub behind and the finings can really do their job and clear out that last 3%. It's worked well for me in the past and solves the issue of...

I usually pop one open after about a week, just to see how they are doing. Sometimes they are already carbonated after a week, although often the flavor will continue to develop and improve after that.

Don't lose all hope yet, it may yet turn the corner and/or taste differently when the yeast drops out and the beer is cold and carbonated. Depending on your fermentation temperature, you could raise it a few degrees to encourage the yeast to clean up after themselves.

That's great! Keep us posted.

@jjward101 - What do you mean by rice solids? Rice husks?

On the recipe side, adding wheat malt, carapils, flaked oats, or flaked barley can all increase head formation. I add 2-3% wheat to most of my beers just for that purpose. Also, the amount of hops in the recipe can affect head retention, because the iso-alpha acids can help stabilize head...