Possible stuck fermentation?

[underdog378]

I know I stress too much about this stuff, but I need a little guidance regardless. This is my second brew, I'll outline the recipe and all my steps below.

7 lbs Light DME (Briess)
1 lb Roasted barley
1/2 lb Chocolate malt
1/2 lb Crystal malt 80L
8oz Maltodextrin
1 1/2 oz Fuggles (60 min)
1 oz Willamette (10 min)
Wyeast 1028 London Ale

Grains steeped at 150 degrees for 30 minutes.
Added 3.5lbs DME at the beginning of the boil and the other 3.5lbs with 15 minutes left. I added the 8oz of Maltodextrin after the boil. This was a partial boil, I ended up needed 2 gallons of water to bring total volume to 5 gallons. Yeast was pitched at 75 degrees (Made 1qt starter the night before). Had fermentation activity in the fermenter within an hour. Room temperature was approx 65-68 degrees so I realize fermentation temp may have been a touch high during active fermentation. In a 6 gallon carboy I never blew off, looks like the krausen was about an inch away from the opening at its highest point.

Original gravity reading was 1.070. From the reading I've done, the maltodextrin should've added approx. .004 so subtracting that, it gets me right about in the range I should be in. After the initial strong fermentation activity was over (approx 3 days) I took a gravity reading because I'm a noob and I can't keep my hands off it I got a reading of 1.032. I took another reading today at 6 days and got a reading of 1.030 which if you subtract the maltodextrin puts me at about 1.026.

Question: Am I stuck? On my first brew, I had an original gravity of 1.052 and it finished at 1.012 with Wyeast 1056. After 6 days with that brew however, I was already at 1.015. I feel like I should be much lower than I am at now. The krausen has fallen and there is no more foam on top of the beer, although I still get about a bubble ever 30 seconds or so from the airlock but I know that doesnt mean anything regarding fermentation activity. The taste is great and has a nice full body, although it is a little sweet at the moment. I was going to let it sit in primary for 3-4 weeks in primary before bottling. Maybe I should just calm the heck down and drink some beer

Without the maltodextrin, tastybrew puts me at estimated OG: 1.067 and FG: 1.017 with an estimated attenuation of 75%. Over the next few weeks is it possible that the yeast will still be able to pull down from 1.026 to about 1.017?

 

[davesrose]

Using Beer Tools, I get an estimated 1.075 OG (if you had steeped all grains, 1.071 if you truely didn't use malto dextrine) and 1.019 TG (assuming 5 gallons and 75% attenuation). If your OG was lower, you either didn't mix the top off water completely, or you had more then 5 gallons of wort. This batch is a bigger batch then your first one. So it would take longer to attenuate....especially if you didn't make a starter or aerated/oxygenated it. Since it's only been 6 days, I'd certainly let it sit. I wouldn't consider it a stalled fermentation until the gravity doesn't change for 3 days.

 

[TipsyDragon]

its only been 6 days. let it sit and leave it alone for 1-2 more weeks. if your still high then maybe think about it being stuck. also how warm is the room your brew is in? if its to cold the yeast will shut down or go into slow mo till things warm up again.

its also important to note that yeast have an attenuation RANGE. all brewing software take a middle number and use that to estimate your FG. its not imposable that you just got a low attenuating batch of yeast this time around.

i would try warming the brew up a few degrees and give it a light swirl to rouse the yeast.

 

[underdog378]

Strange, not sure why beer tools shows so much higher for an extract batch, tastybrew has me at 1.067 and beersmith has me at 1.063 for an extract batch. Beer Calculus has 1.072 but I don't see any options to change from a mash to steeping grains. I did make a 1qt starter the night before. I shook the crap out of the full 5 gallons for a few minutes (marked off on the side of the 6 gallon carboy) before I pitched the yeast. Sounds like I need to wait it out.

 

[davesrose]

Strange, not sure why beer tools shows so much higher for an extract batch, tastybrew has me at 1.067 and beersmith has me at 1.063 for an extract batch. Beer Calculus has 1.072 but I don't see any options to change from a mash to steeping grains. I did make a 1qt starter the night before. I shook the crap out of the full 5 gallons for a few minutes (marked off on the side of the 6 gallon carboy) before I pitched the yeast. Sounds like I need to wait it out.

Maybe there's some utilization preference that you have to check on. As for the starter, Mr Malty says that it should have been at least a 2qt starter...and I usually give my starters at least 24 hours of ferment time. Anyhow, the main thing is that you should give it time: check the gravity again in four days and make sure it's still going down.

 

[underdog378]

Maybe there's some utilization preference that you have to check on. As for the starter, Mr Malty says that it should have been at least a 2qt starter...and I usually give my starters at least 24 hours of ferment time. Anyhow, the main thing is that you should give it time: check the gravity again in four days and make sure it's still going down.

Yeah I found the Mr Malty site after I made my starter, I have it bookmarked for next time. The starter was going about 24 hours by the time I pitched it. I was shaking it every 45 minutes or so also.

 

[rjwhite41]

It's still going down, albeit slowly, just leave it be.

 

[underdog378]

For peace of mind and based on the suggestion of a couple of you guys, I waited 4 days and checked again, despite little to no airlock activity and only a few bubbles here and there on the surface of the beer, I'm now at 1.026. I'm going to let it sit 2 more weeks before I check again and bottle, at least now I know its for sure going down, just slowly. There is the 8oz of maltodextrin in there, so if you subtract the .004 from that reading that puts me closer to about where I should be at. I can sleep a little better now, lol

 

[underdog378]

Well, its been almost 3 weeks, and I'm still at 1.026. Not sure what to do next, I was originally planning to bottle this sunday. The sample tastes great and isn't too sweet. If I estimate the maltodextrin as adding .004 then that puts me at about 1.022 which still seems a bit high. What do I do next? Should I just learn from my mistake of using too small of a starter and just bottle on sunday if I'm still at 1.026 or is there something I should do to get it any lower.

 

[rjwhite41]

I would be careful of bottle bombs if you decide to bottle. My advice would be to make a 2 qt starter (any yeast would be fine at this point, dry yeast is cheapest) and pitch at high krausen to try and get it down some more.