Stalled fermentation or done?

HopfulAddiction · Mar 9, 2012

Not sure what's going on.

The beer is a Honey Amber extract brew with specialy grains
2.5 lbs of steeping grains 6.6 lbs of LME and 1 pound of Honey as teh fermentable matter.
OG 1066 per the recipe and damn close on brewday.
FG is 1012 per the kit's directions.

So my situation:

In primary I had great fermentation within 2 days which stayed robust for a few days, once it settled down I let it roll for an extra week or so, because well I didn;t have time to deal with it until then, so after 2 weeks in primary I took a gravity reading I swear it was in 10(upper teens somewhere) The kit's recipe said to rack to secondary when within a few points usually 7-10 days. So given good fermentation and the gravity reading I did.

Well after 2 weeks in secondary I just got a reading of 1022

Should I just take another reading in 2 days and if it's the same bottle it? Or is there something I can do to finish it up if it is stalled. How can you tell the difference? It has been fermenting in my basement which is in the low 60s for a nearly 4 weeks now.

The good news is my wife drank the sample and liked it. I thought it was sweet but it did start with a pound of honey so... She complained it was a bit warm and flat for her tastes of course but then that is to be expected with her.

Atonk · Mar 10, 2012

Wait and take another reading; if it's fermenting in the low 60's it will take a little longer.

moorerm04 · Mar 10, 2012

Upper 1.015-1.017 isn't very far off from 1.022, the temperature of your hydro sample can make that big of a difference. I would give it a few more days and take another reading wait a few more after that and take another. If your FG is stable for 3-6 days its probably done. I would bottle it the and let it carb up it is an apple ale IMO should be somewhat sweet.

lowtones84 · Mar 10, 2012

The honey shouldn't make it taste sweet really, the sugar in honey tends to ferment out completely and just leave a hint of honey taste rather than sweetness. If it tastes sweeter than beer normally "should be" it's very likely that it's not done fermenting yet. In my opinion it's always good to use taste and smell as well as they hydrometer reading to determine what stage a beer is at, since your taste buds are what matters in the end, not the hydrometer's.

As others have said though, give it a few more days or up to a week and take another reading. If it's in the 60's and still hasn't budged, it's probably as low as it will go. Make sure your basement is in the low 60's, if it's much cooler than that some yeasts will go dormant. Good luck! :mug:

unionrdr · Mar 10, 2012

Try swirling up a lil yeast back into solution,but don't shake it! Then cover it with an old blanket or coat to allow it to warm a little. I've done that to knock off a couple more points.