My first partial mash...

[bryston]

Hello everyone,

I've returned to the wonderful world of home brewing after quite some time. I did two batch from full wort (23 liters) from Festa Brew. Those were good, but still, not the real deal.

So I decided to go a bit further and did my own version of Papazian Palilalia IPA.

Basically, there is 2lb of cristal malt (which was steeped). Then in the boil, 5.5lb of pale malt dry extract, 2oz of Norther Brewer for 60 minutes, then 1oz of Cascade for 5 minutes. I capped with water to get my 5 gallons total wort. This final wort was sent to my primary with Nottingham yeast.

My OG was rather high, at 1.078. I was a bit puzzled, but I did not made a case about it. After some reading, I realized that maybe I could have stirred a bit more to be sure that the water I added was properly mixed with the boil. But, I'll never know.

8 days later, after I noticed a drop in the fermentation activity, I transferred to my secondary for dry hopping (1oz Cascade). The gravity was 1.036.

9 days later, still in the secondary. The airlock is still letting out some bubbles of CO2. Took a gravity measurement: 1.033.

10 days later, again, still in the secondary. The airlock is still letting out some bubbles of CO2. Took a gravity measurement: 1.031.

This is were I'm at. Is my fermentation stuck ? If not, will this fermentation have a chance of reaching a final gravity of 1.018 (for example), before Christmas ? I am starting to be a bit worried as the beer is basically fermenting for more than a month now and I am still far from the expected FG...

Thanks for your input!

 

[Justibone]

You can pitch some more alcohol-tolerant yeast, like champagne yeast, to finish the fermentation if you like.

That high of an OG can be a challenge for ordinary beer yeast.

If it was a mixing issue, the churning caused by fermentation probably mixed for you after the yeast were at it for a while.

 

[bryston]

Hey, thank you for the tip!

I've read a little bit that double IPA tends to have a similar higher OG. Some people will then throw 2 packs of Nottingham. I pitch only one. Would it make sense to throw another pack in my secondary to help finish the fermentation or should I really go with a champagne yeast ?

 

[Justibone]

I'm not really an IIPA kinda guy, and I haven't done any big beers yet, so I'm not sure.

A lot of people recommend overpitching a big beer (which is right-pitching, really, not over-pitching). That's often done at the start -- I don't know if it will re-start a potentially stuck fermentation, though.

Some people re-pitch a stuck ferm with the same yeast, and that might work, but champagne yeast are tough li'l buggers and will absolutely eat anything that can be eaten. They will take your beer as far as yeast can take it, which may not be what you're after... so I guess that's why people re-pitch with the same species.

I don't know what you should do... but I would use champagne yeast. Then again, I know next to nothing about brewing IPAs as a specific beer type.

Sorry!

 

[bryston]

Thanks! You already gave me a big pointer. I will probably ask the question in the fermentation forum.

Thanks again!

 

[dcp27]

It sounds like you racked your beer too early. Bubbling/krausen are not sure signs of fermentation. If you are racking <3 weeks, its recommended to check the gravity several days apart to ensure fermentation is over. There's no reason a pack of nottingham couldn't have taken that to around 1.02, especially since your OG should have been about 1.057.

 

[bryston]

Yes, this is most likely what happened.

Now, how do I fix that ? Do I pitch a pack of Notty in my secondary (carboy) or do I rack again into my primary bucket to relaunch the whole fermentation process ? Also, if I pitch again, the fermentation will most likely removes the benefit of my dry hopping. Should I dry hop again once the fermentation is done for good ?

 

[dcp27]

what temp are you holding it at? racking it seems to have woken up the yeast (albeit slowly), but its possible just rousing it (by gently swirling the carboy) and warming it could be all you need. unfortunately, your dry hop may go to waste because most of the aroma will probably be carried away with the CO2. If you grab another notty pack, might as well grab another oz of hops, couldnt hurt.

 

[bryston]

I pitched in a new pack of Nottingham yesterday evening. This morning, I could already see some more CO2 coming out of the airlock.

I will also probably add again some more Cascade later on. Once the real fermentation is over.

Experience is slowly getting in.

Thank you everyone!