I'll preface this by saying I've read tons of threads about stuck fermentations and haven't been able to find the answer. I don't doubt its out there somewhere, but I've thrown in the towel.
Ok, so on July 10th my 14.5 gal Fermenator arrived. Up until now I've used either plastic buckets or glass carboys for fermentation vessels. I've brewed dozens of beers successfully using this equipment, but the allure of the SS conical drew me in. On Saturday, July 12th I decided to test out my Fermenator with a Brown Ale. Here is the recipe;
10 gallon batch
18 lbs 2-row
1.5 lb Brown malt (homemade in the oven)
1.5 lb aromatic malt
1.0 lb caramunich
1.0 lb biscuit
4 oz EGKs, additions at 60, 30, 10, and 5 minutes.
I mashed at 157 degrees for 60 minutes, boiled wort for 60 minutes. Chilled using 50' immersion chiller. Began to drain wort into Fermenator.
This is when I ran into my first problem. The hop screen on my 20 gal Boilermaker kettle got clogged, so I decided to siphon it out instead (I now no longer use the hop screen). Usually I get ample aeration pouring down a funnel into a carboy, but siphoning into the conical didn't aerate much at all. I took a spoon and tried to agitate the wort, but looking back on it I doubt I did enough (I plan on purchasing either an aeration stone or bottle O2 soon). I pitched a nice healthy starter of WL California Ale yeast into the O.G. 1.055 wort and thought I was good to go. Within 12 hours it was bubbling away nicely.
A week later and the F.G. is stalled at 1.030. This must be due to a lack of aeration. I re-pitched some yeast but had no success. I don't think aerating it would be a good idea at this stage in the fermentation, but I'm not sure what to do. I've ordered an assortment of dry wine yeasts that should be arriving early next week, would pitching one of these be helpful? Should I build a big starter and add it to the Fermenator? I'd appreciate any suggestions. Thanks.
Ok, so on July 10th my 14.5 gal Fermenator arrived. Up until now I've used either plastic buckets or glass carboys for fermentation vessels. I've brewed dozens of beers successfully using this equipment, but the allure of the SS conical drew me in. On Saturday, July 12th I decided to test out my Fermenator with a Brown Ale. Here is the recipe;
10 gallon batch
18 lbs 2-row
1.5 lb Brown malt (homemade in the oven)
1.5 lb aromatic malt
1.0 lb caramunich
1.0 lb biscuit
4 oz EGKs, additions at 60, 30, 10, and 5 minutes.
I mashed at 157 degrees for 60 minutes, boiled wort for 60 minutes. Chilled using 50' immersion chiller. Began to drain wort into Fermenator.
This is when I ran into my first problem. The hop screen on my 20 gal Boilermaker kettle got clogged, so I decided to siphon it out instead (I now no longer use the hop screen). Usually I get ample aeration pouring down a funnel into a carboy, but siphoning into the conical didn't aerate much at all. I took a spoon and tried to agitate the wort, but looking back on it I doubt I did enough (I plan on purchasing either an aeration stone or bottle O2 soon). I pitched a nice healthy starter of WL California Ale yeast into the O.G. 1.055 wort and thought I was good to go. Within 12 hours it was bubbling away nicely.
A week later and the F.G. is stalled at 1.030. This must be due to a lack of aeration. I re-pitched some yeast but had no success. I don't think aerating it would be a good idea at this stage in the fermentation, but I'm not sure what to do. I've ordered an assortment of dry wine yeasts that should be arriving early next week, would pitching one of these be helpful? Should I build a big starter and add it to the Fermenator? I'd appreciate any suggestions. Thanks.
