1.103 stalled @ 1.042

[brewsme]

I'm hoping I can get some expert advise on how I can get this beer to finish fermentation.

Here is the recipe:

Brewed on 2/9/2013
15lbs Two Row Pale, .5lbs British Light Crystal, .5lbs Medium Crystal
Columbus [13.9%] 1 oz @ 60 minutes
Columbus [13.9%] 1 oz @ 55 minutes
U.S Goldings [5.5%] 1 oz @ 15 minutes
Willamettes [4.9%] .5 oz @ 5 minutes
Whirlfloc @ 15 minutes
2lb Light Brown Sugar @ 5 minutes

White Labs California V in a 2qt starter.
SG = 1.103
Fermented @ 68*f

I've made this IIPA several times in the past, the only difference being the recipe calls for 1cup brown sugar and I added 2lbs. The last time I made this recipe I added 1lb brown sugar with an SG of 1.087 and it finished at 1.010...no problems. The fermentation seemed to go very well and after the fermentation slowed (~2 weeks) I moved the carboy to a closet in the house to finish @ ~72*f. When I took a sample reading after 3-4 weeks to my surprise it was a 1.052. I shook the carboy daily to try to get the yeast active again and it only dropped a couple points after a week of doing this (1.050).

I've read here about people adding champagne yeast to finish beers that stalled fermentation so I ordered White Labs Champagne WLP715. I transferred to a secondary so I could get my primary back and pitched the yeast directly into the secondary without a starter. Two weeks later and it's sitting at 1.042 and the airlock doesn't appear to be bubbling. If I shake the carboy it will foam up but quickly goes away after about 30 minutes.

I have since read about the importance of aerating high gravity beers but I'm not sure if it's too late for that now.

Any ideas?

Thanks in advance!

 

[MachineShopBrewing]

Couple of questions-

Was your starter stirred?
How old was the vial of yeast when you added it to starter?
What was your mash temp?
How are you taking your gravity readings?


Champagne yeast won't really help you at all. It lacks the ability to ferment more complex beer sugars. About the only thing you could try now is adding an active starter of something like the high gravity yeast WLP099 or maybe some 001. This may help kick off a renewed fermentation and get it to finish out.

 

[brewsme]

The 2qt starter was stirred on a stir plate.
I don't remember the actual date on the vial (I still have it at home) but I think it was best before may 2013. When I plugged in the date into mr malty it had a 98% viability.
The mash temp was 150*f for 60 minutes and the temp is maintained in my RIMS system.
I have precision hydrometers I purchased from AHS for taking readings. I remove a sample each time with a wine thief.

Thank you for the information on champagne yeast - the info on AHS' site about the yeast is misleading:
A classic yeast used to produce champagne, cider, dry meads, dry wines, or to fully attenuate barley wines and strong ales. The last part is what got me to purchase.

I was looking at the White Labs high alcohol yeast and thinking I should try it next but thought it best to check here for suggestions first. What do you mean with an active starter?

 

[jmf143]

An active starter is a starter pitched at high krausen rather than after it has been chilled and the spent wort decanted.

 

[brewsme]

An active starter is a starter pitched at high krausen rather than after it has been chilled and the spent wort decanted.

Makes sense - Thanks!!

 

[SpeedYellow]

I recently had an identical experience, OG 1.104, FG 1.040, Wyeast 1056. I wasn't sure if it was done or stalled, but I couldn't get it going again, so I said screw it and force carb'd a glass. Turned out just fine. Fortunately had 75 IBU or else it could be too sweet. My high FG was due to high mash temps of 158f.

 

[Calder]

Research the wine yeast. A lot of wine yeasts are 'killer' yeasts, in that regular ale yeasts will die in their presence. If this is one, you are probably going to hve to kill it off before adding anything else.

If you go with a new yeast. Make a large starter, and aerate the starter well. Add some of the beer to the starter to get it working on the beer, and then after a few days add the whole starter to the main batch. Do not aerate the main batch.