Secondary?

[Whiskey]

OK I had the stuck fermentation issue last week with the Sweet Stout that never dropped below 1.030, through the process of trying to get it unstuck, it sat in the primary for about 2 weeks (13 days) before I racked it into the secondary. Should I adjust the 1-2-3 rule accordingly? or should I leave in the secondary for a full 2 weeks?

 

[Evan!]

Either way. You're not hurting it by leaving it longer, but you could bottle it in a week if you wanted to. Are you sure it was stuck fermentation? Sweet stouts tend to finish...sweeter. What was your OG? And how far did you get it to drop in the end?

 

[Whiskey]

Actually after consulting with my LHBS (it's their recipe) they said that the Fg of 1.030 would be about right due to the large amount of Malto-dextrine (4oz) and Lactose (8oz) in the wort. I only discovered this after about a week of "stuck fermentation" fixes.

OG was botched due to taking it before aerating the wort so I had a layer of top off water.

The first FG check came out at 1.031, after a few days of agitation, and a second Nottingham yeast addition it never dropped below that, so I figure it should be pretty much done. There has also been no activity in the secondary, the air lock bubbles maybe once an hour.

 

[simplecj]

There has also been no activity in the secondary, the air lock bubbles maybe once an hour.

I think once an hour could still be considered activity. I have an ale that's been going really slow like that for weeks in the secondary. If you put a flashlight to the carboy you will be able to more easily see if there is any air bubbles going on. I think it's probably best to let it sit until there's nothing going on in there. It could take weeks to drop that last 2 to 5 points especially if you're near your yeast's alcohol tolerance. I've been told you can leave in the secondary for upwards of two months if necessary to finish a slow fermentation.

Any experienced brewer can feel free to correct me if I'm wrong... after all, I'm still a student at this point...

 

[DeathBrewer]

don't ever go by bubbles, go by gravity. 1.030 seems pretty high, even with all the unfermentables in there. just a warning: you may end up with bottle bombs if you bottle too early.