So has anybody actually had GREAT success with a stuck fermentation?

[kanzimonson]

For some reason it seems more prevalent than usual these days that people are getting (what they believe to be) stuck fermentations. Some of them I'm not convinced are stuck. Some maybe are, but I don't hear a lot of success stories in getting the gravity down where they want it.

Has anybody out there ever gotten their stuck fermentation down to the FG they wanted? It seems like the best you can hope for is like 5, maybe 8 more points of attenuation. And that's when the beer started really big, like 1.1+ and "stuck" in the mid 30s.

 

[ajf]

Using WLP002 or WY1968, I've had a few stuck fermentations. If the apparent stuck fermentation was caused by underpitching, then I've had no luck in achieving the desired FG. On the other hand, I've had some brews (well under 3%) where the pitching rate was good, but the yeast just settled out before the FG was reached. In those cases, a simple rousing got things moving again, and the normal FG was achieved.

-a.

 

[Chesterbelloc]

+1 on rousing yeast.

A gentle shake of a carboy can let a yeast know its time to go back to work.


Methinks that poor yeast management is the cause of most stuck fermentations. Temperature isn't as big of an issue IMHO, just takes longer to finish.


I know the stuck fermentations I've had have been the result of habitiually underpitching.

 

[lumpher]

i had a dry stout stick at 1.030, but i swirled it after adding yeast energizer, and it got down to 1 pt above expected

 

[kanzimonson]

I definitely agree that yeast management is the biggest culprit. You'd think just spending an hour reading on this forum would convince people to pitch the right amount...

I almost exclusively use 1968 on my beers because I love its profile. I've come to accept lower attenuation, and have changed my brewing style to adjust (adding small amounts of sugar, mashing a couple degrees lower than most, etc). I've had some beers finish, taken a gravity reading and thought, "Man, that's higher than I expected, and I only got 67% attenuation" but I never try to solve it. I just keg it up and move on.

 

[yellowthere]

I have had an issue with 1968 too. It's funny that 2 of the 3 replies mention that one specifically. Mine went from 1042 to 1016, that's after a 1 liter starter and bumping up the gravity to 72F after it slowed. My first time using 1968. I think I'm going to throw some rehydrated US-05 in there to bring it down. Swirling didn't didn't help me much.

I haven't had good luck with moving beyond a stuck ferment, but everyone says, raise the temp, swirl, and pitch active yeast (even racking onto another batch's yeast cake). I've done all but racking onto a Yeast cake, without a significant movement in FG.

 

[kanzimonson]

I would argue that if you're not prepared to accept the higher FG that 1968 produces, you shouldn't be using that yeast. Personally, I like my beers slightly sweeter than everyone else, so I don't have any complaints about "Oh no my beer finished too high and it's too sweet!" If you want something like the malty flavors that 1968 produces, but with better attenuation, you gotta use 1098 instead.

I think racking onto a yeast cake is the worst idea for fixing a stuck fermentation. The whole idea is that when a beer sticks, the yeast are not healthy enough to continue fermenting. Usually that indicates they're deficient in nutrients. When you rack onto a yeast cake, you're just racking on top of mediocre yeast that are spent after another fermentation. The way to get healthy yeast into a beer is to have them grow. By racking, you won't get any yeast growth.

I think the most likely way to fix a stuck fermentation is to make a starter and pitch it at high krausen. That's the only way you can possibly add super healthy yeast to a beer that are ready to ferment. Even still, it's going to be a steep battle.

 

[Chesterbelloc]

I definitely agree that yeast management is the biggest culprit. You'd think just spending an hour reading on this forum would convince people to pitch the right amount...

In the face of undeniable reason, it took me years to come to agree to the truth of the most obvious yet not so apparent reality.