Stalled Ferm. Care to check out my recipe and give some advice?

[HBKidJr]

4.0 lb Pilsen (UK)
3.0 lb 2-Row (US)
1.5 lb Lactose
12.0 oz Chocolate
10.0 oz Caramel/Crystal 60L
8.0 oz Roasted Barley
4.0 oz Flaked Barley
Safale-05 yeast.

Ran through BrewToad.
OG was supposed to be 1.050, came out at 1.058.
FG was supposed to be 1.007, and when I checked it last night, it was 1.030. It's been about a week and a half, no signs of life whatsoever. I gave the fermenter a pretty hearty swirl to get the yeast up and working again, but it didn't do anything as of this morning. The sample I pulled last night was super sweet, so I know there's still some sugar in there, and I'm adding cherries to it in secondary, which will add to that.

Any thoughts? Should I pitch some more yeast? Let it ride? I'll be taking another sample this weekend to see if it's just taking its time, but I'm thinking about the "what ifs" for now.

Thanks guys!

 

[thekraken]

How did you prepare the yeast?
How old was the yeast?
How was the yeast stored?
What temperatures did you ferment at?
How did you aerate?
What did you use for brewing water?
What temperature did you mash at and for how long?

 

[Bellybuster]

That 1.5 lbs of lactose is not gonna get you to 1.007, not even close

 

[FirstAidBrewing]

I threw the info provided into BeerSmith and got a FG of 1.017, so there are other factors to figure out. If you can answer thekraken's questions, that will help figure it out.

 

[HBKidJr]

How did you prepare the yeast?
How old was the yeast?
How was the yeast stored?
What temperatures did you ferment at?
How did you aerate?
What did you use for brewing water?
What temperature did you mash at and for how long?

Yeast was fresh, just purchased. Stored in the fridge. Rehydrated for about 10 minutes before pitching.
Fermented at about 72 degrees, which is getting close to too warm, I know.
Aerated by vigorously stirring for about 5 minutes.
Used bottled spring water for brewing.
Mashed at 153 for 60 minutes.

Pretty much my standard procedure. Not sure what happened.

 

[Gavin C]

You haven't recently bought a refractometer by any chance?


55oz of specialty grains and adjuncts! Expected FG of 1.007 Not going to happen with that amount in this grain-bill.

Should still go lower than 1.030

 

[HBKidJr]

You haven't recently bought a refractometer by any chance?


55oz of specialty grains and adjuncts! Expected FG of 1.007 Not going to happen with that amount in this grain-bill.

Should still go lower than 1.030

So for future reference, in this situation, do I need to up my base malt amount to help?

 

[Gavin C]

So for future reference, in this situation, do I need to up my base malt amount to help?

It's more about the percentages of the grains used not the absolute amounts. Sorry I phred my response so poorly.

Typically the culprits for a high FG are not a stalled fermentation .

1: Recipe issues. (High % of specialty grains)
2: Mashing at too warm a temperature
3: Doughing in too slowly (a debatable point)
4: Insufficient yeast pitching rate
5: Unhealthy yeast
6: Inadequate aeration/oxygenation of the wort
7: Inappropriate fermentation profile

Some or all can be in play


Often measurement error crops up. The sample was too cold and the hydrometer reads FG higher than the true value (only by a few points though)

Refractometer used to measure FG without applying the correction algorithm to the data.

As I said. I'm assuming you did not use a refractometer.

Also spring-water for brewing is as specific as saying tapwater. No clue if it's suited to brewing. This would not be a cause of the high FG though.

 

[Bellybuster]

the lactose give 1.042PPPG, do the math. I haven't actually done the math but have a hard time imagining it getting to 1.017.