Airlock activity but stuck fermentation!?

[Brew_Meister_General]

My airlock has been bubbling away about once every other minute for the past week and yet my gravity has remained at 25!

I would love to bottle it so I can start brewing again but just seems like a recipe for disaster.

I should also mention that I pitched Amylase (due to unconverted starch) about 3 weeks ago at an SG of 32 but even that doesn't explain why the gravity has remained stagnant for the last week.

 

[Yooper]

Are you using a refractometer? If so, grab a hydrometer reading.

Airlock activity doesn't mean fermentation is occurring, because you could be having warmer weather or higher barometric pressure for example.

But if you're using a refractometer, that could explain the "stuck" fermentation.

 

[Qhrumphf]

You are reading with a hydrometer and not a refractometer, correct?

 

[Brew_Meister_General]

Are you using a refractometer? If so, grab a hydrometer reading.

Airlock activity doesn't mean fermentation is occurring, because you could be having warmer weather or higher barometric pressure for example.

But if you're using a refractometer, that could explain the "stuck" fermentation.

You are reading with a hydrometer and not a refractometer, correct?

Yeah I did it with a hydrometer and my fermenter has been in the same place at the same temperature (20-21c) for 5 weeks now.

My only explanation is that there is there is an inconsistency of sugars throughout the fermenter, perhaps due to its conical shape.

Because strangely enough when I swirled my fermenter a couple weeks ago my stuck fermentation then dropped from 32 to 26 after a few days, also increasing the frequency of CO2 before dropping to its current low rate.

I was thinking of trying it again in a few days once any oxygen I let in gets purged out of the fermenter.

It's a weird one!

 

[Yooper]

Yeah I did it with a hydrometer and my fermenter has been in the same place at the same temperature (20-21c) for 5 weeks now.

My only explanation is that there is there is an inconsistency of sugars throughout the fermenter, perhaps due to its conical shape.

Because strangely enough when I swirled my fermenter a couple weeks ago my stuck fermentation then dropped from 32 to 26 after a few days, also increasing the frequency of CO2 before dropping to its current low rate.

I was thinking of trying it again in a few days once any oxygen I let in gets purged out of the fermenter.

It's a weird one!

Yes, that is weird. I know the amylase should have 'broken up' the starches into fermentable sugars and it is actually hard to stop for most brewers from what I've read about it. It's a puzzle for sure.