Should I wait or re-pitch?

[SmashToeBrew]

Had a DIPA in primary for 10 day. OG( 1.07) I just racked to secondary then did a reading, it was at 1.03. This recipe has a FG of 1.012. I am not sure if I transferred it to soon, and it will stop fermenting in secondary. Not sure if I should pitch more yeast or just let it sit in secondary longer?

 

[Calder]

Did you use an hydrometer or a refractometer?

Refractometers are inaccurate once fermentation has started, but you can use a calculator to get an approximation of the actual gravity.

 

[SmashToeBrew]

Used a hydrometer.

 

[brewing_wookie]

What was the activity in your airlock of the primary ferm vessel? Also what was your yeast situation? Dry or liquid? If dry, did you rehydrate woth water and nutrients? If liquid, did you do a starter? And how much?

 

[brettg20]

Should've taken a reading before...10 days is for a DIPA is not enough time

 

[brewing_wookie]

Should've taken a reading before...10 days is for a DIPA is not enough time

Agreed. With a OG of 1.070, that is a lot of sugar to crank through. Plus with that high of OG, you should have had a yeast cell count of about 200 billion. Which is about 3-4 dry packets.

 

[jfolks]

Assuming even somewhat ideal mash temp, yeast pitching rate, oxygenation, nutrients, and fermentation temp for the given beer- that beer should have fermented farther than that in 10 days (and you're not going go much farther in secondary). My guess is something wasn't right in the above list. Sure - it might have gone down a bit if you had waited longer, but this sounds like a bigger issue. I've never had to add yeast to restart a stuck fermentation - but this might be a good candidate.

Agreed. With a OG of 1.070, that is a lot of sugar to crank through. Plus with that high of OG, you should have had a yeast cell count of about 200 billion. Which is about 3-4 dry packets.

The standard dry packets (11.5 g) have about 200 billion cells. 1.2 packets is all that is needed for 5 gal of 1.070 wort. http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html

 

[SmashToeBrew]

I used 1 dry Safale US-05 which was rehydrated in for 15 mintue @ 100F. Before racking to secondary my krausen had fallen,and my airlock is slowed down and moving really slow thats when I transfer. Not seeing activity in secondary, i might just do a reading in a couple days. Is it wise to add another half packet of yeast or so at this stage?

 

[Brew_Dude41]

Not seeing activity in secondary, i might just do a reading in a couple days. Is it wise to add another half packet of yeast or so at this stage?

See what your reading is in a few days. If you are still at.03, add yeast to see if you can get it to your FG. If it is dropping I would let it be.
Well at least, that is what I would do.

 

[brewing_wookie]

The standard dry packets (11.5 g) have about 200 billion cells. 1.2 packets is all that is needed for 5 gal of 1.070 wort. http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html

Oh ok, I was working off the numbers of a dry packet averaging 6B cells per gram. That data is from Palmers How To Brew, but maybe thats a bit out dated.

 

[m00ps]

Thats the issue with nearly any brewing book you can buy (save ones that were like written entirely within the past 2-3 years). The info is all outdated with how fast new techniques and new ingredients are up and coming now. IMO 90% of the time, this forum is more accurate and helpful every time. Not to mention just about every recent author of a homebrewing book posts here

 

[kh54s10]

Oh ok, I was working off the numbers of a dry packet averaging 6B cells per gram. That data is from Palmers How To Brew, but maybe thats a bit out dated.

Was this from the online version of How To Brew? If so, yes it is outdated. I cannot say about this item in the book, but there are quite a few outdated items that are corrected/expanded upon in the printed version.

Also there used to be a lot of ~7 gram dry yeast packs sold. Most are now 11 grams.

There are many, including myself, that would not bother to try to add a partial pack to make the difference. If I have a high gravity brew and use dry yeast I will use a calculator. If it say 1.5 packet or less I just use one packet. If it says 1.5 or more I use 2 packets.

 

[brewing_wookie]

Its a printed version, but I just looked and it has a copyright of 2006.
Also, what about if he put in a yeast nutrient packet, like some do with mead, although that is usually farther down the line and not just 10 days later