I want to repitch yeast. Good idea?

[duffman2]

Ok. I know there's a thousand-million posts concerning this topic but I've only done it once myself so I'm still not sure when to repitch.

I brewed a double chocolate stout on 12/18 with a yeast starter that took off pretty good and fermented right away. The OG was 1.066 instead of 1.056like it was supposed to be for whatever reason. I left it alone and didn't recheck the gravity till I racked it to secondary on 12/30 and it went down to 1.022.

The FG is supposed to be 1.012. Now I'm not sure if I should repitch yeast. It could still be fermenting, but I kinda doubt it. I'm thinking I have a stuck fermentation and I have a pack of Saf-Ale and I'm itching to throw it in there, so let me know if this is a good idea!

And Thank you!

 

[duffman2]

Anybody??????

 

[Revvy]

I'm trying to figure our WHY you racked it to secondary before it was done fermenting. It's no wonder you have a stuck fermentation, you took it off the yeast that would have fermented it.

Next time leave it alone, even if you choose to secondary (though most of us leave our beers in primary for a month) don't rack until it is done fermenting.

Have you taken another gravity reading?

 

[Grizzlybrew]

Your FG is dependent partially on your mash temp. If for some reason you overshot and mashed high, you would probably end up with a higher FG than expected, although I don't know (empirically) how much it can affect FG.

 

[david_42]

You are not going to get 1.012 out of a 1.066 double chocolate stout. It is currently at 67% attenuation. Go ahead and re-pitch, but don't expect more than another 5-10%.

 

[duffman2]

I'm trying to figure our WHY you racked it to secondary before it was done fermenting. It's no wonder you have a stuck fermentation, you took it off the yeast that would have fermented it.

It was just a matter of logistics Revvy. I have very limited supplies and needed to move one in order to free up the bucket. The Chocolate had been in the primary for 2 weeks and I was already racking it when I took my gravity reading.

 

[duffman2]

Your FG is dependent partially on your mash temp. If for some reason you overshot and mashed high, you would probably end up with a higher FG than expected, although I don't know (empirically) how much it can affect FG.

My OG was high (1.066 vs 1.056) but I didn't write down that I had overshot my mash. That doesn't mean that I didn't, however.

So, I took another reading and it came out to 1.022 again. I went ahead and repitched a pack of SafAle to see what happens. Hopefully we'll get another couple of points off the board.

The only thing I'm wondering is, if you overshoot your OG somehow, how do you compensate for your FG? Or do you not overcompensate and just go off of pure attenuation? I'm still learning the numbers game of all this (efficiency, attenuation, etc...)

 

[bigjoe]

I never saw what yeast you started with. You mention the Safale packet to repitch I'll assume since you mentioned a starter you used a liquid yeast.

Your beer may have been finished at 1.022. If you were using WLP002 or Wyeast 1968 it was probably finished. Although I've squezzed out almost 73% from WLP002 with it on the yeast in the primary the whole time.

 

[osagedr]

Hmmm...your OG was high by about the same amount as you missed your target FG. Any chance you have a hydrometer problem?

 

[duffman2]

Hmmm...your OG was high by about the same amount as you missed your target FG. Any chance you have a hydrometer problem?

I don't know. Haven't checked it lately, but maybe four batches ago I did a gravity check on water and it came out at 1.000. And I repitched that dry yeast 3 days ago, and so far.....nothing. Still at 1.022. Beer tasted a bit more bitter however.

I'm not sure what i'm doing but I've been missing my SG lately and some of them by a good amount. And I'm My only question now is, how will the repitching affect the taste of my beer if it had already finished? And if I do have a higher OG will my FG end up higher as well?

 

[bigjoe]

I would check your hydrometer again. Was the batch that you checked it on off high on SG.

I actually check my hydrometer every batch. The paper inside of it can move around. I've had 2 of them do that to me. The one I currently have reads .004 low everytime, but I still check it.

What yeast did you use originally? What were your mash temps?

 

[duffman2]

What yeast did you use originally? What were your mash temps?

White Lab London Ale Yeast, and Mash temp was 156, sparge 170. Any other way to check hydrometer besides water method?

 

[duffman2]

Hydrometer looks to be .003 high on water sample

 

[impatient]

Don't worry about it. You just wasted your yeast. That is all.

I once used red star dry bread yeast because I thought I had some dry left and did not want to drive accross town to get more.

The beer tasted great.

 

[bigjoe]

so your final gravity is really 1.019 and your attenuation is still within the percentages with your original yeast.