Rousing Yeast / 1.020 Curse

[jgull8502]

I have a batch of brown ale sitting in the primary right now, it's been there since last Sunday. It fermented nicely for about 5 days and then started slowing down. This past Sunday I tested the gravity (it was done bubbling) and it was at about 1.020. I'm going to check it again tomorrow and I'm wondering what I should do if it hasn't changed.

As a background, my past two brews have stopped right around the cursed 1.020 (a dark wheat from a kit: fermented for a week and ended at 1.020, and a stout: sat in the fermenter for 3 weeks it ended at either 1.018 or 1.022 I can't find where I had written it). I made a liquid starter with the stout and this current brown. I'm wondering which issues is most likely the causing the my result high finishing gravity.

One weird thing, is that my hydrometer seems to float crookedly in the sample via often clinging to the wall. After a bit of work I can get it to register water at 1.00 or 1.01. But who knows, maybe its off or something. Is this normal for hydrometers?

Next, the yeast I'm using for this brown ale WLP005 British Ale. Some of the comments on the yeast's page say that the yeast may require rousing, and one even said that it ferments from the bottom up so it may look like there's no activity going on.

Should I try to rouse the yeast if my gravity hasn't gone lower than 1.020? If so whats the best way to do this, sanitized metal spoon? Any other suggestions would be welcome.

In any case, I'm pretty relaxed and currently drinking a homebrew

 

[Bob]

Is your beer in a bucket or carboy? If the latter, gently rock the fermenter until the yeast is swirled back up. If the former, don't get a metal spoon anywhere near it, unless you're willing to discard the pail. Scratches harbor infecting microflora, and dinging the side of the pail will scratch it. I use a plastic spatula-thingy I got from LHBS which looks like this:

I make sure I scrape up all the gunge from the bottom of the pail and make the beer look cloudy and nasty again.

But really you don't know if you've been cursed or not. What was your OG? Post your recipe. You might very well be at the end of your yeast's fermentation range.

Cheers,

Bob

 

[jgull8502]

I made the mistake of not checking my OG. Recipe gravity from the book (Elbro Nerkte Brown from the CJHB) is 1.046-1.050 with a FG of 1.010-1.014. I also stuck the recipe into a brew calculator and it says 1.050 OG - 1.012 FG.

 

[jgull8502]

I use a plastic bucket for a fermenter so I'd have to go with a long plastic utensil then. I'm guessing that if I do decide to rouse the yeast, then I should be pretty gentle as to not mix in oxygen to the batch. Do the potential benefits outweigh the possibility of introducing oxygen and ending up with crappy beer, or should I just bottle it?

 

[giligson]

you will need some oxygen to revive the yeast.

Options appear to be
1) Drink the beer as is
2) Splash around the current yeast and raise the temp to its favourite range for fermentation.
3) Add a more highly attenuating yeast strain to attempt to finish the job (if you do this, rack it off the current yeast lees.

 

[Kauai_Kahuna]

Just simply rocking the pale or carboy will work to re-suspend the yeast and get them back to work. After a couple of days you most likely below the 2/3 (personal general rule of thumb) limit of adding oxygen to the fermentation. Heavier, fuller beers will have higher FG, and depending on the yeast it can be as low as 60% attenuation, my personal lowest has been around 70% which produced very nice beers.
Summery if your still reading this, rock it, wait another week. Patience is so hard to do, but it really does help.

 

[FreakinA]

Is your hydro calibrated?

 

[Bob]

I asked you to post your recipe because different ingredients - epecially extracts - give different FG results.

What went into the pot?

Bob

 

[TimSTi]

Just a quick thing worth mentioning, what temperature is your beer at when taking the gravity reading? Your hydrometer shoulda came with a calibration chart. Usually they're dead on at 64* . If your taking gravity readings at a different temp that could be the cause.

You probably already know this but figured I might as well mention it just in case!

 

[LooyvilleLarry]

Wow, I just had the same thing ! A wise member, confirmed by my LHBS, suggested amylase enzyme to be added. I did that last night so we will see.

 

[mmb]

Give the pail a swirl to rouse the yeast and try putting the beer in a warmer spot. Getting the yeast back into suspension and then boosting temps to around 70 - 72 to get the yeasty beasties a kick in the shorts.

 

[jgull8502]

Hi all. The hydrometer is accurate at 60 degrees, I've been reading at 70 and using a program to correct for the difference. It registered filtered water at 1.01 I think... so if its off its not by much. It does take a bit to get the reading though, its crooked and likes to stick to the wall.

Here's my recipe:

One thing I forgot about. My boil time was an estimated hour... I also forgot to set a timer. The actual time should have been fairly close though.

Batch: 5.00 gal Extract

Characteristics
---------------
Recipe Gravity: 1.050 OG
Recipe Bitterness: 34 IBU
Recipe Color: 19° SRM
Estimated FG: 1.012
Alcohol by Volume: 4.8%
Alcohol by Weight: 3.8%

Ingredients
-----------
British black patent 0.25 lb, Grain, Steeped
Crystal 60L 0.50 lb, Grain, Steeped
Dark malt extract 6.60 lb, Extract, Extract

Fuggles 0.50 oz, Pellet, 10 minutes
Willamette 1.70 oz, Pellet, 60 minutes

British Ale yeast 1.00 unit, Yeast,

Notes
-----
Recipe Notes:
4 tsp gypsum

Batch Notes:
1.5 gallons of water in pot, 2 in fermenter plus 4 pounds of ice (1/2 gallon). Topped off for 5 gallons.

 

[jgull8502]

The dark malt extract was muntons, if it matters.

 

[jgull8502]

Checked it again just now. It's still at 1.020, so I rocked it a bit and will let it sit for a week or so.

 

[Bob]

Okay, that's a lot more information. Thanks!

Dark extracts are dark because the manufacturer - Muntons, in this case - adds specialty grains to pale malt. This, in turn, often means that final gravity will be higher than if you started with pale extract only and added specialty grains on your own.

Rock it every day for the next week. Your ferment may actually be done, but it's best to give it plenty of time.

Cheers!

Bob

 

[LooyvilleLarry]

Just a report back on my BierMuncher SWMBO Slayer that was stuck at 1.020. I added 1 tsp of amylase enzyme on Tuesday at 11pm and gave it a swirl. Kept it pretty close to 70*. This morning, I have about a 3-4" head on it, so something is certainly happening !

 

[jgull8502]

It bubbled! Very long between bubbles, but it seems to be doing something.

 

[nosmatt]

so, swirling and washing all that krausen back into the beer that was on the side has no effect on the finished beer?


good to know.

i wont say why

 

[jgull8502]

I'm assuming if anything got in it will just fall to the bottom after a while. I'll let you know how it tastes!

 

[Bob]

What, you mean the krauesen gunk that sticks to the side of the fermenter? It has little enough effect on the beer that you don't need to worry about it. If it all falls off and into the beer, that's another thing entirely.

Look, people have been rousing yeast for hundreds of years. If you have to rouse yeast, you've got more potential flavor problems from other sources than washing a little bit of dried krauesen into your beer.

So what's this mysterious effect you won't tell us?

Bob

 

[jgull8502]

Yeah I was wondering about the mysterious effect as well.

Update: Tonight, gravity is at 1.015!!! I'll check it in a few more days and maybe bottle depending on how I feel about it.