Restarting a stalled fermentation with bottle trub?

[Gaverfraxz]

TLDR: Could I use the trub from the bottom of carbonated beer bottles to restart a stalled fermentation in another batch? (Instead of racking on top of a yeast cake, which I don't currently have).

Hey! I recently brewed 5L of stout (OG:1.089, Yeast:S-04), and after two weeks fermentation should have been mostly done, but my refractometer was reading 1.075, which means my true gravity was at 1.060, and my fermentation was stuck. I tried pitching yeast, swirling the bucket and upping the temp, but 6 days later the gravity remained mostly the same. I know a good way to restart fermentation is to rack the beer on top of a yeast cake. I unfortunately don't have one at the moment, but I do have a few bottles of carbed scottish beer that came out quite oxidized. Theres quite a bit of trub at the bottom. Could I dump the trub from these bottles on top of my stout to restart my fermentation?

Thanks beforehand guys!

 

[duffy5018]

Yes. Probably. Most likely. But I'd definitely do at least small starter (say 0.5L of 1.040-ish wort for 18-24 hrs) or there's a pretty good change it will either not work or will taste pretty bad with how stressed the yeasties become. Honestly, due to the high gravity and since its been so long and there's really no rush at this point, I'd do 2 or 3 steps. 0.25 => 1L => 2L. But the 0.5L is bare minimum I'd even consider.

 

[Gaverfraxz]

Yes. Probably. Most likely. But I'd definitely do at least small starter (say 0.5L of 1.040-ish wort for 18-24 hrs) or there's a pretty good change it will either not work or will taste pretty bad with how stressed the yeasties become. Honestly, due to the high gravity and since its been so long and there's really no rush at this point, I'd do 2 or 3 steps. 0.25 => 1L => 2L. But the 0.5L is bare minimum I'd even consider.

Hey, thanks for the help! Won't 2L of starter dilute the beer too much, since there's only 5L on the fermenter?

 

[duffy5018]

Hey, thanks for the help! Won't 2L of starter dilute the beer too much, since there's only 5L on the fermenter?

Yes. Missed that. I'd just do a .25L starter then. You want the yeast awake and ready to go.

 

[Bobby_M]

Nevermind. I didn't read properly.

 

[Gaverfraxz]

Yes. Missed that. I'd just do a .25L starter then. You want the yeast awake and ready to go.

Thanks a bunch! Gonna go ahead and try this