Fermentation almost stopped at Gravity 1.050

[kingoslo]

Hello my friends,

I have made a brew SG 1.094 that has fermentated down to 54 over about 2-3 days. Over the 4 following days, the beer has only fermeted from 54 down to 50. Very slow.

I tried to take the lid off, and airate the beer a bit, thought that this may be the problem.

Looking for some help how to make this batch start fermenting again.

Thanks,

Marius

 

[mitch171]

Did you add yeast nutrient? If not in the future do that. Other than that just give it time, they are probably very tiered yeasties so they may take a little longer. Aeration at this point won't do much (I believe) because they are past the reproduction phase.

 

[phatuna]

Hi King, I would leave it for several weeks and then check again. going from 54 to 50 is indeed fermenting.
If you want, you can gently shake your primary to get the yeast suspended again. I would personally just leave it be.

BTW, what temp are you fermenting at? what kind of yeast?

 

[Runyanka]

Try not to airate the beer. Once fermentation has begun, you risk the chance of oxidizing your beer! You can gently swirl your fermenter around to see if you can suspend the yeast some. Larger beers such as what you brewed take longer to ferment out. What recipe and yeast did you use? Also, did you make a yeast starter? Thats a rather large beer to not have one.

 

[kingoslo]

Try not to airate the beer. Once fermentation has begun, you risk the chance of oxidizing your beer! You can gently swirl your fermenter around to see if you can suspend the yeast some. Larger beers such as what you brewed take longer to ferment out. What recipe and yeast did you use? Also, did you make a yeast starter? Thats a rather large beer to not have one.

I made a liter starter pured into 1 gallon starter. Pitched the whole thing after 18 hours.

I have never used yeast nutrient in my life, and knows little about its purpose.

This is the recipe I attempted. Fermented at 17 degrees C:


Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 18,93 L
Boil Size: 22,71 L
Estimated OG: 1,091 SG
Estimated Color: 20,2 EBC
Estimated IBU: 39,0 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75,00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes

Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
5,45 kg Pale Malt (2 row) (8,0 EBC) Grain 74,86 %
0,30 kg Cara-Pils/Dextrine (3,9 EBC) Grain 4,12 %
0,25 kg Aromatic Malt (51,2 EBC) Grain 3,43 %
14,80 gm Goldings, East Kent [4,00 %] (90 min) Hops 5,9 IBU
23,05 gm Saaz [2,00 %] (90 min) Hops 4,6 IBU
29,30 gm Hallertauer Hersbrucker [1,60 %] (90 min)Hops 4,7 IBU
23,10 gm Saaz [2,00 %] (45 min) Hops 4,0 IBU
17,30 gm Goldings, East Kent [4,00 %] (45 min) Hops 5,9 IBU
30,05 gm Hallertauer Hersbrucker [1,60 %] (45 min)Hops 4,1 IBU
29,60 gm Goldings, East Kent [4,00 %] (15 min) Hops 5,5 IBU
30,05 gm Hallertauer Hersbrucker [1,60 %] (15 min)Hops 2,2 IBU
23,05 gm Saaz [2,00 %] (15 min) Hops 2,1 IBU
0,50 tsp Anise, Star (Boil 15,0 min) Misc
0,50 oz Coriander Seeds (Boil 10,0 min) Misc
1,00 items Vanilla bean (Secondary 2,0 weeks) Misc
0,83 kg Candi Sugar, Medium Amber (20,0 EBC) Sugar 11,40 %
0,45 kg Corn Sugar (Dextrose) (0,0 EBC) Sugar 6,18 %
1 Pkgs Belgian Witbier (Wyeast Labs #3944) Yeast-Wheat

 

[kingoslo]

Hello,

Another week has passed, and it has only fermented from 1.050 to 1.048. At this rate it will not be done fermenting until next year.

Can anything be done?

What may I have done wrong?

 

[Reustonium]

what temperature did you mash at?

 

[david_42]

Fermenting a big beer at the low end of the yeast's temperature range can be a problem. Now that the simple sugars have fermented, try raising the temperature to 20-22C. According to Wyeast, that yeast is good for 16-24C.

Yeast can be strange. My Blackberry wine went from 1.109 to 1.040 in a week, then sat at 1.040 for 4-5 days. It took off again and is down to 1.020.

 

[phatuna]

King, how is this coming along??

 

[kingoslo]

Its gone down another 4 the last two wks, I almost forgot about it. I mashed at 148*F.

Kind regards