can I expect any further fermenation?

[Burtlake1985]

So I moved my brew from primary to secondary to dry hop. The last week and a half it hasn't moved beyond 1.050 (OG = 1.115 while FG should be 1.022). As of yesterday it will be 4 weeks it's been in the primary. Yeast used was WLP001

So after transferring to my secondary should I "expect" any further fermentation? Because after a week of dry hopping I plan to bottle.

I already know that my main issue was most likely under-pitching and maybe under aeration...

Any thoughts/suggestions are welcome

Prohst

 

[morticaixavier]

So I moved my brew from primary to secondary to dry hop. The last week and a half it hasn't moved beyond 1.050 (OG = 1.115 while FG should be 1.022). As of yesterday it will be 4 weeks it's been in the primary. Yeast used was WLP001

So after transferring to my secondary should I "expect" any further fermentation? Because after a week of dry hopping I plan to bottle.

I already know that my main issue was most likely under-pitching and maybe under aeration...

Any thoughts/suggestions are welcome

Prohst

try doing a forced/fast ferment test. take ~ a pint of your beer in a sanitized mason jar and add a whole packet of us-05 or a whole tube of wlp001. aerate well and keep it warm for a couple days and measure the gravity again. If it's dropped then you should expect further fermentation in the whole batch.

This method will tell you the realistic limit of attenuation give that batch of beer with that yeast because you are doing everything you can for the yeast.

If it turns out there is still room for further attenuation then you've got a whole different set of problems. it's very difficult to get a beer that big to finish after you've removed it from the bulk of your yeast. particularly because you don't want to introduce more o2 at this point. your best bet is to find a local brewpub willing to send you home with a growler full of fresh yeast slurry from one of their fermenters and pitch the whole thing into the secondary. because you've got a whole working population of yeast you don't have to worry about it trying to build up a population in an environment that is extremely inhospitable. This should get your gravity down if there is any fermentable sugars left.

By the way, what's the recipe?

 

[twistr25]

How long was it sitting in primary? You should have checked it before moving to secondary, and should only move to secondary when you are very near to FG. If you moved it while it was still fermenting, taking it off the yeast cake killed your chances of it going any lower. So, by removing it from primary, the "expectation" for it to continue fermenting is pretty low since it is no longer "living" with the majority of the yeast.

You may be able to try to re-pitch, but might need another opinion on that given the stage you are at. (Sorry for the rhyme )

 

[Burtlake1985]

Recipe is: Extract

13lbs malt extract
1lb corn sugar
WLP 0001
I dont have the hop instructions but it's got centennial, chinook and columbus hops in it.

I had it in the primary for a month pretty much maybe longer, the 1.050 reading was steady for over a week.

 

[morticaixavier]

Recipe is: Extract

13lbs malt extract
1lb corn sugar
WLP 0001
I dont have the hop instructions but it's got centennial, chinook and columbus hops in it.

I had it in the primary for a month pretty much maybe longer, the 1.050 reading was steady for over a week.

was it Liquid or Dry extract? extra light? Amber? Dark?

unless it was dark extract that recipe should finish lower than 1.050 and I would not bottle without doing something to get the gravity down some more.

How big a starter did you make? and how did you aerate?

those are all fairly moot questions at this point but I still think you should not bottle that beer where it's at.

your best bet is to find a pub that will give you a growler of yeast to pitch OR brew a low gravity beer (around 1.040 or even a touch lower) with WLP 001 and then when that one is done gently rack the barley wine on top of that cake.

 

[Burtlake1985]

Liquid malt and it's light

My starter was 2L

Aearation was essentially shaking my primary.

Could I just make another starter and pitch?

 

[morticaixavier]

Liquid malt and it's light

My starter was 2L

Aearation was essentially shaking my primary.

Could I just make another starter and pitch?

the problem is that even with the ~200 billion cells in a 2 liter starter there would need to be significant reproduction in order to finish off the sugar and in presence of the amount of alcohol that's already there with no o2 to work with the yeast just aren't going to be able to reproduce enough to manage the trick. by pitching say 2 trillion cells (total WAG) then the yeast won't need to reproduce so they can settle down to eating the sugar.

it's frustrating because your stuck in this situation where there is not enough yeast to finish the job but enough to be risky in a bottle.

I suppose you could pitch some sour beer dregs in the beer and give it a year or so to see what happens.

 

[morticaixavier]

When I do a beer this big I like to pitch about half a yeast cake from a prior batch of smaller beer. it means there is less need for aeration because there needs to be less yeast growth.

 

[CraptainWirtz]

Are you using a hydrometer or refractometer for your gravity readings?

 

[morticaixavier]

Are you using a hydrometer or refractometer for your gravity readings?

good point a corrected refract reading would be ~1.013

 

[Burtlake1985]

I'm using a hydrometer.

I saved some of my yeast cake from this batch and plan on attempting to wash this batch... could I just put one of these jars in the current fermentor and let it sit?

 

[IL1kebeer]

Under pitching and lack of adequate O2 was likely the problem for the stalled fermentation. Your beer was BIG and extra steps were needed to be taken to get the yeast to finish. As you have witnessed, a 2L starter and shaking the carboy just won't cut it for a beer this big. I know that people on here will say that they have done it before, but more often than not it's the other way around (ending in a stalled fermentation).

Anyway, to attempt fix to this you can pitch an active starter (@high krausen) of an appropriate size. The yeast should go to work since they are already actively metabolizing sugars.

 

[morticaixavier]

I'm using a hydrometer.

I saved some of my yeast cake from this batch and plan on attempting to wash this batch... could I just put one of these jars in the current fermentor and let it sit?

it might work. try making ~ 1/2 gallon of mild wort just ~ 200 grams of DME and 2000 ml of water boiled for 10 minutes. then pitch the jar of yeast cake into that and shake very very well. when that hit's high krausen pitch the whole thing into your stalled batch. it'll water things down a bit but it might get it done.