RIS fermentation

[chef123]

I made a 1.131 Russian Imperial stout on July 22. I made a yeast starter with 2 cups water, 1/2 cup DME, and a packet of Safale 05 the day before. It was at high krausen when I pitched it. I took a sample on July 7 and it had a S.F. = 1.050. I know just watching the airlock is not a good indicator, but the krausen had fallen days before and I was concerned about the yeast. I started it out at 62 degrees and after 4 days let it warm up to ambient temperature in my basement at 72 degrees. Since I was worried about a stuck fermentation today I added 1/2 cup maple syrup, 3/4 cup water, and 2 tsp yeast nutrient that I boiled to dissolve the nutrient to restart it. I did see bubbles coming out of the airlock every 15 seconds. This was a 3 gallon batch with the following recipe:

12 pounds American 2 row
.366 pounds light DME (added 10 minutes)
1 pound Alderwood Smoked Munich
8 oz Flaked Barley
6 oz Crystal 40L
6 oz Pale chocolate
6 oz Carafa III (debittered black)
10.2 oz Maple syrup (added 10 minutes)
6 oz Chocolate malt
6 oz Crystal 150L
4 oz Roasted Barley

and a mash schedule of 146.5°- 45 minutes then 157°- 60 minutes. My concern is I am moving on July 25 and don't want to kill people with bottle bombs from bottling too early. Any suggestions on what to do? I really thought it would be done in a month but now am not so sure. Thanks.

 

[COLObrewer]

Well, that's quite a bit of gravity for 05 to chew on, what made you think it was stuck? If you want it to finish, you might want to stop feeding it?

 

[wonderbread23]

The 157 for 60 minutes on the step mash is likely causing this (although you dramatically underpitched as well). You're just under 11% alcohol, most yeast can go up to 12% without much issue and can be nudged along to 14-15% with some special attention and good yeast management practices. Unfortunately, you have a very hostile environment to be pitching new yeast into. I would go out and buy 4-5 packs of US-05 and pitch that. If it doesn't budge, your issue is likely unfermentable sugars and not alcohol, so you're probably safe to bottle.

 

[user 70770]

I agree with what has been previously said. An OG of 1.131 is a huge beer. If you can get it to attenuate at all, it will take another month or two. Then you'll probably want to secondary for several more months to allow it to mellow. RIS are normally big beers and you just brewed an above average RIS. Beers like these are long term projects. They can take 6 months to a year from grain to glass. You just can't expect to turn out a massive beer like this in a month.