how much can you shake the yeast?

[brewhaw]

with a stalled yeast I'm trying to get back to life to get my gravity reading to reach its target; how many times can you shake the fermentation bucket until unwanted effects may occur? I didnt plan on using a secondary. OG 1.075 FG 1.013 per recipe. my OG was 1.090( i did add extra sugar to increase abv 1) my current gravity is 1.034( which is down from 1.038 after i shook it 4 days ago. thanks

 

[earwig]

How long has it been fermenting? What makes you think it's stuck? You can swirl the fermenter a bit but shaking it will cause undesirable effects the first time.

 

[brewhaw]

fermenting for about 2.5 weeks now. Now that you ask me that i am not really sure why i thought it was stuck. i guess because per instructions somewhere along the way i read 2 weeks was the time for the target gravity to be hit. i talked to LHBS(who has been very helpful and informative) and austin homebrew(where the recipe came from) and told him where i was during the process and he suggested that i give it a swirl.

 

[Dawgs47]

Well you are in Athens, so I can't help but try to assist. Others might have better advice, but here is mine. I think your OG was too high and the yeast have maxed out for now. Usually if you want to do a high OG like 1.090, you need to pitch a lot of yeast and oxygenate real well. Also, if I am adding sugar, I like to add it when the fermentation is slowing down. Otherwise the yeast will eat the sugar first, and then not finish the maltose leaving you with a half fermented beer. Raising the temp and gently swirling the fermentor will help some, but really only a little and it will introduce oxygen, which will make your beer go stale faster. As I see it you have 2 options. You can give it some more time to sit, bottle and drink it as a sweet beer, or you can make a new batch of beer and use the yeast from that beer to pitch this beer onto. I have heard this often works for stuck fermentations, but it is not the ideal way to make great beer.

 

[brewhaw]

Well you are in Athens, so I can't help but try to assist. Others might have better advice, but here is mine. I think your OG was too high and the yeast have maxed out for now. Usually if you want to do a high OG like 1.090, you need to pitch a lot of yeast and oxygenate real well. Also, if I am adding sugar, I like to add it when the fermentation is slowing down. Otherwise the yeast will eat the sugar first, and then not finish the maltose leaving you with a half fermented beer. Raising the temp and gently swirling the fermentor will help some, but really only a little and it will introduce oxygen, which will make your beer go stale faster. As I see it you have 2 options. You can give it some more time to sit, bottle and drink it as a sweet beer, or you can make a new batch of beer and use the yeast from that beer to pitch this beer onto. I have heard this often works for stuck fermentations, but it is not the ideal way to make great beer.

thanks for the advise. I aerated as much as i could with a spoon before i double pitched with liquid yeast. think i'll let it sit for another week or two then bottle.

 

[earwig]

Let us know how it turns out. Good luck.

 

[Dawgs47]

Mr.Malty's pitching rate calculator recomends 320 billion yeast cells for a 1.090 Ale. Each vial of liquid yeast is about 100 billion. So 2 was good, but 3 or using a starter would have been better. Stiring and shaking for oxygen is good as well, but for lagers or really big ales pure O2 is better. I still think if you had added the sugar later it would it would have helped as well. Once yeast get simple sugars they get lazy about the rest of the beer. Good luck

 

[brewhaw]

Mr.Malty's pitching rate calculator recomends 320 billion yeast cells for a 1.090 Ale. Each vial of liquid yeast is about 100 billion. So 2 was good, but 3 or using a starter would have been better. Stiring and shaking for oxygen is good as well, but for lagers or really big ales pure O2 is better. I still think if you had added the sugar later it would it would have helped as well. Once yeast get simple sugars they get lazy about the rest of the beer. Good luck

I decided to give it another big swirl yesterday. Another ? i have is should i put the bucket in the fridge to "cold crash" and try to clear it up before bottling?

 

[Dawgs47]

I wouldn't, but I don't think it matters either way. If you are giving it another week or two, it should be clear by then anyways. I never cold crashed until I started kegging.

 

[earwig]

I wouldn't, but I don't think it matters either way. If you are giving it another week or two, it should be clear by then anyways. I never cold crashed until I started kegging.

I don't keg so I'm not familiar with what goes into it. Can you explain why it's necessary to cold crash when kegging?

 

[brewhaw]

I wouldn't, but I don't think it matters either way. If you are giving it another week or two, it should be clear by then anyways. I never cold crashed until I started kegging.

ok thanks

 

[brewhaw]

I wouldn't, but I don't think it matters either way. If you are giving it another week or two, it should be clear by then anyways. I never cold crashed until I started kegging.

I don't keg so I'm not familiar with what goes into it. Can you explain why it's necessary to cold crash when kegging?

i have only bottled one batch of homebrew so you dont want me to explain ANYTHING to you. but from what i have gathered it is dropping the temp of beer so heavier particulants sink to the bottom and give the beer a clearer finish.

 

[BigSally]

I always keep a pack of EC-1118 for stuck ferments.It might change the taste a little(I think), but it always works for me.

 

[sweetcell]

stuff that floats in warm beer will sink in cold beer, since cold liquid is denser than warm liquid. so yeast, hops and other particulate that is in suspension in warm beer will sink to the bottom of cold beer. result: clearer beer. depending on the yeast, it can affect the taste a little since it causes the yeast to fall. yeast has a very distinctive taste. on the other hand its taste is part of certain styles - you wouldn't want to crash a hefeweizen since yeast in suspension is expected.

you can cold-crash beer either by putting it in a fridge, or by packing the carboy in water and ice/ice packs/frozen water bottles/etc (i refer to the later as "cool crashing). you want to get it as close to freezing as possible. i use a tub of water and ice, i can get the temp down to the low 40's. 48 hours is how long i like to cold-crash my beer.

 

[Dawgs47]

Most people cold crash to get the yeast to drop out, so the beer is clearer. If you cold crash too soon you can have problems with diacetyl, which leaves a slick buttery taste that is considered a flaw in beer. When I bottled I did not cold crash because I wanted the yeast to carb the bottles. Once I went to kegging, my CO2 tank does the carbing and I don't need the yeast anymore. Turns out, that even if you cold crash there are plenty of yeast to carb your beer. I just don't see much reason to do it if you have let the beer sit in the fermentor long enough, and if you haven't, then cold crashing will leave diacetyl. I do cold crash my beers now that I am kegging because it gives me cold beer that will carb faster.

 

[brewhaw]

I'm giving a bump to my OP. Its been over a week and my gravity is still 1.034. Per recipe OG 1.074 FG 1.013. My OG 1.090 and as stated I'm stuck at 1.034. Any thoughts on how to repitch would be appreciated. I should disclose that I pitched with a white labs California ale instead of the Irish ale that was called for on accident. I have the vial of Irish ale available. Can I use that? Thanx

 

[Dawgs47]

Repitching doesn't work very often. The yeast do not do well going from dormant to an alcohol envirnment. If you want to give yourself the best chance to take it down further, you should have actively fermenting yeast, or some recomend dumping it onto a yeast cake. I have also heard of using champagne yeast to finish off a large beer, but again I would want it actively fermenting before pitching.

 

[brewhaw]

Repitching doesn't work very often. The yeast do not do well going from dormant to an alcohol envirnment. If you want to give yourself the best chance to take it down further, you should have actively fermenting yeast, or some recomend dumping it onto a yeast cake. I have also heard of using champagne yeast to finish off a large beer, but again I would want it actively fermenting before pitching.

thanks for the responce. so where would you go from here?

 

[earwig]

Maybe make a starter and throw it in just as the krausen starts to fall. Good luck.

 

[brewhaw]

Maybe make a starter and throw it in just as the krausen starts to fall. Good luck.

thanks for the responce but there is no krausen anymore, just flat wort. also i have never made a starter. i may post a thread about the risk of bottle bombs if i was to prime and bottle. thanks

 

[sweetcell]

thanks for the responce but there is no krausen anymore, just flat wort. also i have never made a starter. i may post a thread about the risk of bottle bombs if i was to prime and bottle. thanks

no, he means krausen on the starter. if you've never made one, now is a great time to learn! this forum has several "how to make a starter" threads.