IPA stuck at 1.041

[SuburbanBrewer]

3 weeks ago I brewed an IPA with an OG of 1.077. It seemed to stall at 1.042 with 1056(made a starter). After two weeks it was flat lined. I pitched some S-05 last Tuesday and noticed minimal bubbling this week. Today it's STILL at .042 on my hydrometer. What gives? I've had stuck fermentation before, but nothing this stubborn. Any ideas on what I can do to drop it 20 points?

 

[tgmartin000]

From what I've read, the thing to do is rack it onto another yeast cake. Make a smallish beer with an og of about 1.040, and once it's done, rack your ipa onto that yeast. Good luck!

 

[SuburbanBrewer]

I've heard mixed reviews on using Bean-O to jump start it. Most people say "never again". Anyone use it before?

 

[Calder]

Assuming there is nothing fundamentally wrong with the recipe, or your procedures, making a second beer and racking this onto it's cake is the best method to kick start a stuck fermentation.

 

[hercher]

Can you give us more information? What was your grain bill and procedures? What was your mash temperature, for example?

 

[brewbobaggins]

I've had that same issue before, and after doing a lot of research I went with pitching a pack of US-05 dry yeast. Clean, fast, strong. Worked like a charm!

 

[MrManifesto]

using a yeast cake to ferment a 1.041 is vast overkill. you're going to end up with a thin, watery beer like that.

warm it up and rouse the yeast. if you've done that and already pitched another pack of yeast, you might want to look at your process. is there some reason you would have a lot of unfermentables?

 

[MacGruber]

I'm worried about this happening to my double IPA. I read something on these threads about adding Alpha Amalyse Enzyme. It might be worth some research.

 

[Phunhog]

As others have said...we need to know more about your process. If you mashed at 164 no amount of yeast is going to bring that down to where you want it.

 

[Homebrewtastic]

Pitching a packet of yeast rarely does anything. Because the problem is not a lack of yeast cells... it's that they didn't have what was needed to do their job.

Your best bet is to make a starter with plenty of nutrient and well aerate it, pitch it into your beer while it's actively fermenting.

 

[SuburbanBrewer]

Strike temp 160. I know that's kinda high, but didn't expect it to stall.

 

[optimatored]

Strike temp 160. I know that's kinda high, but didn't expect it to stall.

I still think you can go lower... shake it up really good. You are at a high enough gravity that I think you will not risk oxidation assuming your yeast want more o2 to keep going. Pop the top and shake it up... you already added more yeast so other than shaking you may be out of luck. Let us know how it goes.

 

[Calder]

using a yeast cake to ferment a 1.041 is vast overkill. you're going to end up with a thin, watery beer like that.

BS - The yeast will only ferment the sugars it will normally ferment, and not any additional, no matter how much yeast is used..

The beer is down to 41 from 77. The alcohol + gravity is a hostile environment, and an additional yeast pack may do nothing. It certainly will not reproduce (no O2) so, whatever yeast survives the initial shock, will be old, and may not take it down very far.

Using a 'Fresh' yeast cake, gives you accustomed yeast that does not need to reproduce, and is already accustomed to the sugar and alcohol. It truly is the best way to move a stuck ferment. This assumes his recipe and process are fine.

 

[MacGruber]

Mashing a 160 is going to produce a lot of unfermentables. I don't know how much further you'll take it down.

 

[SuburbanBrewer]

Looks like I produced a session IPA. Oh well, it'll do the job. Better luck next time!

 

[MrManifesto]

BS - The yeast will only ferment the sugars it will normally ferment, and not any additional, no matter how much yeast is used..
.

actually, no. i've done side by side comparisons of over pitched beers to properly pitched and i could definitely tell a difference, as could 30 other people who were there.

 

[bottlebomber]

actually, no. i've done side by side comparisons of over pitched beers to properly pitched and i could definitely tell a difference, as could 30 other people who were there.

Explain how over pitching yeast will override the yeasts attenuation potential. I've followed threads associating over pitching with higher FG actually, as strange as it seems.