PSA: Foolproof Stuck-Ferment-Fixer

[Broncobum]

I know this is an older thread, but I have to say it worked for me. I had a red ale that went in about 2 weeks before a stout. They were both brewers best kits with notty yeast. The red ale finished up, and the stout started slow, barely had a krausen, and then flatlined at 1.030. I bottled the red, racked the stout onto the red yeast cake, and it is going way stronger than it ever did. I purposely brought some of the original yeast thru the siphon, just to get a little more yeast in the action.
Thanks for the tip to whoever originally started it, and the op of this thread, because it comes up quick when you search stuck fermentation.

 

[eurc51]

This sounds like a great method. I have a winter warmer with an OG of 1.08 and it got stuck at 1.035. The primary was in a cold part of the house, so I racked to the secondary and moved it to a 68-69 degree spot. No response, so I made a starter (LHB said it would work) of US-05 dry and pitched. Still no response. I thought that maybe it ran out of oxygen? The airlock bubbled for a few days and I got some foam, but the gravity only dropped to 1.03. I've been busy with school, so the beer has basically been sitting at 70 degrees with no activity and no drop in gravity. It's been in the secondary for about 2 months. Do you think there's still hope for this beer? If so, I'm brewing next week and in about two weeks I'll have a healthy cake of ale yeast.

Thanks,

E

 

[r_flagg]

I recently made a robust porter which was my 2nd all grain batch. My efficiency was 63%, so not great. My OG was supposed to end up near 1.057, but only got to 1.050. My FG was supposed to be 1.017, but ended up sticking at 1.022. It was stuck there for 10 days so I figured it was done. That really sucked for my 2nd AG. I read this thread here, but didn't have a cake I could rack onto, so I just racked it to secondary and threw in the dry hops. I wondered if it might help to just suck up as much yeast as possible and get it back into suspension. I did that and threw the hops in and let it sit for another week. When I went to pull the hops out, I took a new reading and found the gravity had dropped to 1.011! What a friggin relief that was! Sure, not the greatest batch on the planet, but it was nice to see that just putting it in the secondary and sucking up yeast will also help with a stuck fermentation. Give it a try and post results with and without hop additions.

 

[Grasslands]

I'll be the next in line to revive an old thread. I don't currently have evidence of a stuck ferementation - only the fear that it will be.

I brewed Yuri's Thunderstruck Pumpkin ale (extract) this past weekend and as it was a spur of the moment thing, I didn't have time to make a 1L starter and pitched the WLP002 @ 69. It took about 24 hours before I had evidence of the fermentation starting - since then the krauzen came up about an inch and a half and has since subsided. Much like Evan's first scenario, it looks like I'm heading down that alley. With an OG of 1.053, I expected a more rigorous fermentation...even without a 1L starter.

I suppose my question is this...I've got a summer ale (w/Notty yeast) presently fermenting that only needs about 2 weeks in the primary. I could rack onto that yeast cake (I need to secondary the pumpkin anyways), but I'm concerned about one thing - I brewed the summer ale with about 2-3 oz of orange zest.

Would racking a pumpkin ale onto a citrusy Notty yeast cake be alright? This is definitely a first for me and I'd greatly appreciate any/all input

 

[surferdrew]

I know this is an old thread, but thought I'd go here instead of starting a new one.

My dubbel konked out at 1.030 and has been there for the last week. I followed chemnitz's Vespers Abbey Dubbel exactly and was right on with mashing temps, etc.

My question is, can I dump this onto a kolsch yeast cake? Its the only available yeast cake I have available (that is from a sub-1.060 OG beer) and is ready to bottle.
However, dubbel on kolsch yeast seems odd to me...would I be better off brewing a lower OG beer with a similar yeast strand to the dubbel?

 

[sfrisby]

If there is anyone still out there following this....

Dumb question of the day....drum role please....

I have never used a yeast cake before. When you describe this method, are you taking your second beer and racking it to a secondary and then just directly racking the stuck beer into the carboy of the "second" beer, right onto the leftover sludge (yeastcake) or are you doing something with the sludge first to form a yeast cake to rack the stuck beer onto?

Thanks and when you are done rolling your eyes, I look forward to hearing from you.

 

[wyzazz]

Option #1 for the win!

 

[jbrookeiv]

If there is anyone still out there following this....

Dumb question of the day....drum role please....

I have never used a yeast cake before. When you describe this method, are you taking your second beer and racking it to a secondary and then just directly racking the stuck beer into the carboy of the "second" beer, right onto the leftover sludge (yeastcake) or are you doing something with the sludge first to form a yeast cake to rack the stuck beer onto?

Thanks and when you are done rolling your eyes, I look forward to hearing from you.

Same question.

 

[wyzazz]

As stated above, just rack right on to the cake right after you transfer that existing beer to another vessel.

 

[Broken]

I have a stuck fermentation on my imperial stout. Used WLP060. OG = 1.103. Gravity is stuck at 1.036 for a week now. My buddy is going to be racking off his pale ale yeast cake and he used the same WLP060 strain. Will racking on to his cake have any taste effects? It seems the perfect situation for racking onto an existing cake to fix a stuck fermentation. I didnt read anywhere that racking on to a different yeast cake would alter taste or not.

I have already tried adding a yeast nutrient/Dextrose, swirling the yeast on bottom and warming up the wort.

Thanks

 

[duffman2]

Unless I'm mistaken, I don't believe you will get much of a flavor contribution from the yeast cake you will dump your beer onto. Most of the yeast flavor will be from the yeast you used to originally ferment your beer with.

Unless I'm wrong

Cheers

 

[jbrookeiv]

I have a stuck fermentation on my imperial stout. Used WLP060. OG = 1.103. Gravity is stuck at 1.036 for a week now. My buddy is going to be racking off his pale ale yeast cake and he used the same WLP060 strain. Will racking on to his cake have any taste effects? It seems the perfect situation for racking onto an existing cake to fix a stuck fermentation. I didnt read anywhere that racking on to a different yeast cake would alter taste or not.

I have already tried adding a yeast nutrient/Dextrose, swirling the yeast on bottom and warming up the wort.

Thanks

If it's the same yeast, what are you worried about? I think any off flavors, if any, will be covered up by the full flavor of an Imperial Stout anyway.

 

[Broken]

If it's the same yeast, what are you worried about? I think any off flavors, if any, will be covered up by the full flavor of an Imperial Stout anyway.

Thats what I am hoping.

 

[sfrisby]

So if you are just dumping onto the old yeast cake, trub and all, has anyone noticed any negative reactions to a new beer sitting on old trub. "They" say part of the reason to secondary is to get the beer off the trub. Maybe the logic is since its a new beer on old trub, the clock starts over before the trub effects the beer.

Any thoughts?

 

[wyzazz]

So if you are just dumping onto the old yeast cake, trub and all, has anyone noticed any negative reactions to a new beer sitting on old trub. "They" say part of the reason to secondary is to get the beer off the trub. Maybe the logic is since its a new beer on old trub, the clock starts over before the trub effects the beer.

Any thoughts?

That's the "Old" school of thought, there aren't too many of us that think that way anymore. I let my beers sit on the trub in primary for AT LEAST 3 weeks before I even think of moving them.

 

[starrfish]

That's the "Old" school of thought, there aren't too many of us that think that way anymore. I let my beers sit on the trub in primary for AT LEAST 3 weeks before I even think of moving them.

+1 I've had no ill effects I don't do it often but if I'm racking and putting another down up to a day later seems to be fine. Campden tabs or water purification tabs could kill off any unwanted bacteria but leave the yeast uneffected. Northern Brewer sells both. A bit of starsan would also work, I've used that when washing yeast once. IF your a worrier.

 

[Broken]

I have a stuck fermentation on my imperial stout. Used WLP060. OG = 1.103. Gravity is stuck at 1.036 for a week now. My buddy is going to be racking off his pale ale yeast cake and he used the same WLP060 strain. Will racking on to his cake have any taste effects? It seems the perfect situation for racking onto an existing cake to fix a stuck fermentation. I didnt read anywhere that racking on to a different yeast cake would alter taste or not.

I have already tried adding a yeast nutrient/Dextrose, swirling the yeast on bottom and warming up the wort.

Thanks

Well I dont know how well this worked for me. My OG only dropped to 1.033 from 1.036 over the week. It has been static since. I just transfered to secondary. I hope it is just done, it should have finished out around 1.024.

 

[user 61180]

I just tried this with a stuck stout.

The beer was was at 1.030 after 4 weeks in primary, and dropped maybe a point or two when I tried keeping it in slightly warmer temperatures for a week and half. I was transferring a Kolsch out of primary, and thought "what the heck?" and racked the stout on top of the cake. I checked it three days later, and it had dropped to 1.024. I'll check it again this weekend, but I think it's on its way to finishing out around 1.020-1.021. I tasted the sample, and the yeast didn't seem to have much of an effect on the flavor (not that I'd really notice in the stout...).

Thanks for the tip!

 

[sfrisby]

Another vote for this method. Had an OG of 1.10, racked onto a Nottingham cake and it finished at 1.024. Just fine considering the OG.

 

[DPDISXR4Ti]

Just found this thread, given my current stuck fermentation - see thread here...
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/stuck-fermentation-w-1056-a-242554/

Any way, what about a modified version of this method? Brew up a small (~1 gal) batch of just a basic 2-row Pale. No hops, just a simple deal done with a cheese-cloth bag. Get that going as quick as possible in a 6 gallon container, and once it's good and frothy, vigorously pour the stuck 5-gallon batch into it. Yes, no, maybe?

What OG should I aim for with the small batch? 1.030 like a typical starter, or get it up high (~1.060) to get more vigorous activity going?

 

[jbrookeiv]

Just found this thread, given my current stuck fermentation - see thread here...
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f36/stuck-fermentation-w-1056-a-242554/

Any way, what about a modified version of this method? Brew up a small (~1 gal) batch of just a basic 2-row Pale. No hops, just a simple deal done with a cheese-cloth bag. Get that going as quick as possible in a 6 gallon container, and once it's good and frothy, vigorously pour the stuck 5-gallon batch into it. Yes, no, maybe?

What OG should I aim for with the small batch? 1.030 like a typical starter, or get it up high (~1.060) to get more vigorous activity going?

I'd probably shoot for 1.040. You're essentially making a large starter. If you want even more growth, grab an aquarium pump and aeration stone from your local pet store, should run you about $15 total. That'll send the yeasties into uber-reproduction mode.

 

[Apt23Brewery]

Just had my first stop, and I ended up adding 1lb of corn sugar, (I'm a rookie so forgive any mistake). Question for everyone. How do you save a yeast cake? Wouldn't this get contaminated when left exsposed to air?

 

[Prymal]

I might just have to try this, I have a 1.104 RIS that stopped at 1.034 and I really wanted it down to 1.025 at least. I have an S04 DIPA that should be done in about a week maybe ill wait and give it a try.

 

[DPDISXR4Ti]

I might just have to try this, I have a 1.104 RIS that stopped at 1.034 and I really wanted it down to 1.025 at least. I have an S04 DIPA that should be done in about a week maybe ill wait and give it a try.

I'm not sure which "this" you're referring to, but the thing that totally worked for me was the amalyze enzyme. I just had a bottle of the beer I saved with this stuff last night, and it's actually turned out to be one of my best ever. Hard to imagine I was ready to dump this batch.

 

[bruin_ale]

Reviving this thread as I just did this with great success (for the previous poster - "this" is racking a stuck ferment on top of a healthy yeast cake from another batch)

I brewed a Belgian golden strong with an OG of 1.09 (including the 2lbs of sugar I added near the end of the ferment) and a Saison on back to back weeks. WLP570 for the BGS and Wyeast 3711 for the Saison. I think the rest of the story tells itself, but after three weeks the BGS was stuck at 1.025 and the Saison (at 2 weeks) was at 1.000 (yeah, freaky 3711). Since they were very similar beers to begin with, the choice was a no brainer. Racked the Saison to a keg to condition for a few more weeks and rack the BGS onto the healthy cake of 3711. It started bubbling almost right away (could have been CO2 coming out of solution, but hard to say) - a mini krausen in a few hours and now 5 days later its down to 1.01 and tastes awesome! Still bubbling slowly, should be ready to cold crash mid next week I hope.

I wasn't intending the Saison as a backup yeast cake when I brewed it but I probably couldn't have chosen a better yeast given the circumstances.

 

[bgs8884]

i just made a BPA and pitched it on top of a previous batch made with trappist ale 500 yeast. Ive read a few dozen posts about dumping on top of a previous batch yeast cake and how that i should measure it out. I read that by pouring onto a yeast cake will result in an active fermentation within hours and i should use a blowoff tube.

its been 24-30 hours so far and still no bubblin in the airlock. is this a time to worry or am i just being impatient

 

[DPDISXR4Ti]

its been 24-30 hours so far and still no bubblin in the airlock. is this a time to worry or am i just being impatient

If it's not re-started today, I'd be thinking about a "Plan B". Note my comments above about using amalyze enzyme to successfully re-energize a stuck fermentation. I won't even bother with any other method in the future - this was too simple and effective.

 

[bgs8884]

If it's not re-started today, I'd be thinking about a "Plan B". Note my comments above about using amalyze enzyme to successfully re-energize a stuck fermentation. I won't even bother with any other method in the future - this was too simple and effective.

I spoke too soon. When i left this morning, the air lock was bubbling like crazy. Took closer to 36-40 hours, but it is going strong now. Thanks for the reply.

 

[Karkinos]

This worked great for me. I didn't see any air lock activity (I didn't watch it, either), but I checked the gravity after two days and mine moved from .020 to .017. Brew Target told me to anticipate .016 for a finish, so I'm pretty happy. I'm going to let it sit for another few days and see if it get to 16 or lower.

 

[DerrangedPOJO]

I just had a witbier stuck at 1.020. Actually bottled the stuff before i realized it was really at 1.020. So i continued to bottle. Yes i had caps blow off. I did take precaution and put in a closed container. So i re put back into carboy and added amylase enzyme and for a week now it has been bubbling away. Will edit once i take a gravity reading in probably another week give or take 2 days or so.

Ok it has now dropped about 12 points. Still has activity of fermentation so going to check n a week.