First all-grain barley wine; fermentation stuck at 1.060; starter before repitch?

[Micha]

Hi there folks,

I'm waiting for an OG-1.120 barley wine (31# Marris Otter, parti-gyle) to reach 1.025, but the fermentation has stopped at 1.060 after 1 week -- it is now 2 weeks in the primary with no change. I'm guessing this is due to a greater mash temperature than needed (around the 160F mark). I'm going to repitch some WL San Diego (sim. california) yeast, and I'm wondering if I need to make a starter for this one. Package says a starter is needed for OG-1.070 beers, but it is now at 1.060, though with less fermentable sugars.

Your take?

Thanks!

 

[StoneHands]

I'd definitely make a starter. Your yeast will be stressed enough once you pitch since there is alcohol present already. Make a starter and pitch at high krausen if you can.
Or, take it a step further, make your starter (say 1L) and then after it gets going for a bit, put maybe another 1L of your fermenting barley wine in there with it, let it go for a bit and pitch it at high krausen.

 

[frazier]

Why did you mash so high? And why choose such a problematic style for your first AG? Most BW recipes I've seen have you mashing at 150, and/or using sugar to keep the wort highly fermentable. Attenuation is always a concern with bigger beers.

You are already at close to 8% ABV. Good luck getting virgin yeast to take hold.

 

[Micha]

@StoneHands: Thanks! I'll go with the incremental starter; you're right, dealing with the alcohol will be a lot of work for this yeast...

@frazier: I didn't mash at 170F on purpose. This is not my first all-grain, this is my first BW (and my first parti-gyle). Thanks for your input.

 

[frazier]

Micha - sorry if my comments were - shall we say, unhelpful. One other idea you might consider is amylase enzyme. I've never used it myself, but others on the forum have successfully used it to bring a stuck fermentation back to life. Try searching, and good luck!

Cheers!

 

[StoneHands]

Micha,
I hope you can get this down. I've had OK luck getting a few points out of a actively fermenting starter (you have a long way to go though). Another option would be to rack it onto a full yeast cake if you have that available. I'd make amylase a last resort.

 

[dcp27]

hows the partigyle doing? if the other portion also has a high FG i don't think adding more yeast is going to help you. if so, amylase or brettanomyces may be your only options to get low enuogh

 

[GotPushrods]

If absolutely nothing else works... and I mean nothing.... plan double Z would be to add a small amount of Beano to the fermenter.

Imagine Jack Nicholson in The Shining, with crazy eyes and a chainsaw going at your unfermentables. It's the nuclear option but it can work.

You might end up with a 1.004 BW, but trying is better than dumping.

 

[Micha]

Thank you all for your kind comments and suggestions! I pitched a two litter starter of WL San Diego (which was gradually fermented with the barley wine, hence the 2 litters) on Thursday night. Last night, I checked the gravity and it dropped to 1.045; which is a great gain.

@GotPushrods: So now I'm thinking about this Beano thing. Is there a way to remove the enzyme while the job is done; or maybe it'll deteriorate quickly? If so, I may consider Beano'ing half the batch, ferment it and mix it with the other half (or the other way around: mixing then fermenting). Any hint?

Edit1: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f13/when-how-use-beano-112926/#post1245834 says that the Beano deteriorate at 135F; so I may go and give it a shot this way : extract 2.5 gal, beano it, wait (for what, God knows!), 135F for 15 minutes, back in the fermenter, stir, wait

Edit2: Ok, I read some more, about amylase enzyme and things. What I plan to do is to let it sit for the next few days; maybe re-repitch. Next, I'll consider amylase. Or Beano. Looks like the advantage of Beano is that it denatures at lower temps than amylase.

Thanks!