I think the yeast died

[RyanSweeney]

I pitched my yeast on July 10. It was old and out of date but I thought I'd try it anyway. The airlock started bubbling after about 24 hous, but it only lasted 12 or so hours.

Today when I moved the beer to the secondary fermenter, I tossed in the hydrometer to check FG. It hasn't moved from OG reading.

There was quite a bit of sludge at the bottom, so I'm kinda at a loss.

How can I recover the beer?

 

[kh54s10]

I don't know what you saw with the bubbling, maybe just pressure change as the temperature changed. If you have the same gravity reading now as you did originally you had no fermentation at all. It is a long time for wort to sit without fermenting but you will have to pitch new yeast.

I hope you sanitized well, the wort is very vulnerable to infection at this point. I am somewhat surprised that it hasn't spoiled and smell disgusting.

Good luck.

 

[boydster]

What was your recipe, and what were the OG and FG readings?

Agreed that if no fermentation has happened, you need to pitch some healthy yeast. Did you taste the hydrometer sample?

 

[flars]

There was no fermentation if the gravity reading now is the same as your OG. You will need new yeast.
Be sure to pitch enough yeast. Liquid almost always needs a starter. Time is not on your side to take the time for a starter. Rehydrated dry yeast may be your best choice.
Ferment in your secondary if you have sufficient head space otherwise clean out you primary and rack back to it. Don't rack back until you have the fresh yeast to pitch. Each move now is a possible contamination risk without yeast to begin the fermentation.

 

[RyanSweeney]

What was your recipe, and what were the OG and FG readings?

Agreed that if no fermentation has happened, you need to pitch some healthy yeast. Did you taste the hydrometer sample?

I did. It tasted fine...no hint of contamination.

 

[RyanSweeney]

There was no fermentation if the gravity reading now is the same as your OG. You will need new yeast.
Be sure to pitch enough yeast. Liquid almost always needs a starter. Time is not on your side to take the time for a starter. Rehydrated dry yeast may be your best choice.
Ferment in your secondary if you have sufficient head space otherwise clean out you primary and rack back to it. Don't rack back until you have the fresh yeast to pitch. Each move now is a possible contamination risk without yeast to begin the fermentation.

There's enough space in the secondary to ferment in there. My question though, is do I need to add any sugars such as DME to the wort? There was a good bit of sediment at the bottom and a bunch of "gunk" in the headspace, but the gravity reading was very, very close to OG readings.

I'm at home this morning...took the morning off of work so I could drive into Nashville when All Seasons opens. I'll grab more yeast and head back home.

 

[flars]

You won't need to add more sugars. The original sugars are still there waiting for the yeast to feast.

 

[RyanSweeney]

You won't need to add more sugars. The original sugars are still there waiting for the yeast to feast.

So just rehydrate some dried yeast, pitch it and leave it?

 

[flars]

So just rehydrate some dried yeast, pitch it and leave it?

That is what I would do. Fermentation should begin after the normal lag time.

 

[JLeuch]

What kind of recipe are you doing

 

[boydster]

I did. It tasted fine...no hint of contamination.

Did it still taste sweet? Do you have a ring of gunk around the top of the fermenter? Or did you mean there is gunk just floating on top of the wort/beer? What were your OG and FG readings? Recipe?

The information you are providing points to no fermentation, but you have also offered hints that perhaps fermentation has taken place, and we are missing some important data points to know for sure.

Often times an OG reading will be artificially low, especially if you are doing a partial boil and topping off with water. It's possible this is why your readings were close while the beer still fermented and left behind a krausen ring (a sure sign that something happened), but without knowing more, it's just a guess. It's also possible that nothing happened at all, but again, without the data it's just a guess.

 

[RyanSweeney]

Did it still taste sweet? Do you have a ring of gunk around the top of the fermenter? Or did you mean there is gunk just floating on top of the wort/beer? What were your OG and FG readings? Recipe?

The information you are providing points to no fermentation, but you have also offered hints that perhaps fermentation has taken place, and we are missing some important data points to know for sure.

Often times an OG reading will be artificially low, especially if you are doing a partial boil and topping off with water. It's possible this is why your readings were close while the beer still fermented and left behind a krausen ring (a sure sign that something happened), but without knowing more, it's just a guess. It's also possible that nothing happened at all, but again, without the data it's just a guess.

I wouldn't say it was sweet...slightly bitter and I noticed hops for sure. The OG reading was around 1.040 - 1.042. It hovered around 5-6% possible alcohol. (I've ordered a refractometer so as to get more accurate readings.)

I just checked it again...it's reading 1.020 now.

No particular recipe...it's a Brewers Best Irish Stout kit.

 

[RyanSweeney]

I have yeast waiting to be pitched. Do I pitch it in or pitch it out?

 

[RyanSweeney]

 

[RyanSweeney]

Personally, I think it fermented, but I don't think it fermented all the way.

 

[boydster]

New yeast won't help now, save it for a different brew. Try warming the beer a few degrees and rousing the yeast from the bottom back into suspension.

Some extract brews just stop at 1.020. It may be done, or you may have luck getting it a few points lower with the warming/rousing. Either way, give it another week before you mess with it.

 

[RyanSweeney]

Ugh...I took the morning off work to go to town and get more yeast...oh well.

The yeast I bought is now worthless. I'd already rehydrated it when I started answering your questions.

This batch is gonna suck...

 

[RyanSweeney]

Thanks to everyone who tried to help. Guess everybody has one bad batch.

I appreciate the guidance, gentlemen.

 

[boydster]

Bummer. Don't write the beer off just yet, there's a good chance it will still be OK in the end. Once fermentation gets started, the yeast turn the beer into an acidic, nutrient deficient, alcoholic wasteland to help protect themselves from competing organisms. On top of that, the easy-to-metabolize short chain sugars are already gone from the first pitch of yeast feasting on them. For those reasons, tossing in new yeast usually results in the yeast just staying dormant and sinking to the bottom of the fermenter.

 

[ArcaneXor]

This batch is gonna suck...

Not necessarily, but if it stays at 1.020, you have a very underattenuated beer that may result in bottle bombs - it should probably finish somewhere around 1.010. A pitch of WLP099 should fix that right up for you, and if it doesn't, some Amylase should.