Stalled Fermentation - safe to bottle?

[Sccoter33]

Hello,
I have a fermentation that has apparently stalled - After reading the forums here I've tried swirling, increasing the temp, adding new yeast in the form of adding some of another fermenting batch. This was for a seasonal ale. My OG was 1.070, the target 1.014 but I'm at 1.035. Its been steady at 1.035 for 14 days. The suggested ferment time was 14 days and I'm now on day 28. Not sure what to do next - cold crash and bottle, add more yeast, chuck it, other? Fermentation temps started at 64F and maintained for 14 days, then increased to 68F, now at 59F.

If I bottle, should I add the recommended amount of priming sugar or cut it down since there is more sugar than anticipated? Would I need to add a pinch of additional yeast?

Thank you!

 

[kh54s10]

First question: Were the FG measurements taken with a refractometer? If yes, did you make a correction for the presence of alcohol?

 

[IslandLizard]

First question: Were the FG measurements taken with a refractometer?

That! ^
Use a hydrometer and see where the gravity really is (and probably has been the past 2 weeks).

 

[SEndorf]

Hoping this was the OP's problem.
Incidentally, converting those numbers to brix and accounting for the alcohol brings his FG right to his target.

 

[bracconiere]

cold crash and bottle, add more yeast, chuck it, other?

LOL, i must be being drinking more these days...i'm starting to see trolls everywhere.....

but in seriousness, a lot of people when they start out don't know alcohol effects refractometers...is there a sticky? if not there should be...

 

[BruceH]

By any chance was this S-33 yeast? I had a similar experience once and stupidly bottled after 2 weeks thinking I had done something during mashing that made it less fermentable.

When I opened the first bottle beer shot out to the ceiling and all over the kitchen blinds. More research revealed that sometimes S-33 stalls for a few weeks and then picks back up out of the blue. Lesson learned.

 

[Sccoter33]

Thank you everyone for the replies; my OG was taken with both a refractometer and hydrometer; intermediates with only refractometer (I brew very small batches so hydrometer isn't always practical). I did make adjustments but given comments by kh54s10 and IslandLizard I must not have done it properly. I will refresh my understanding! My calculations previously were within expectations but with lower OG brews. Appreciate all your insights.

 

[downzero]

Thank you everyone for the replies; my OG was taken with both a refractometer and hydrometer; intermediates with only refractometer (I brew very small batches so hydrometer isn't always practical). I did make adjustments but given comments by kh54s10 and IslandLizard I must not have done it properly. I will refresh my understanding! My calculations previously were within expectations but with lower OG brews. Appreciate all your insights.

Drop your sanitized hydrometer right in the beer. Want to bet your refractometer is lying to you? It's hard to compete with a good old fashioned hydrometer.

 

[IslandLizard]

Drop your sanitized hydrometer right in the beer. Want to bet your refractometer is lying to you? It's hard to compete with a good old fashioned hydrometer.

That,^ if your volume is too small to "sacrifice" a hydrometer reading. But good sanitation is needed. Some use a wine thief and return the sample. You can always drink and enjoy the sample and learn to judge green beer.
You really only need to do it once, a few days after fermentation has completed (krausen dropped), unless there's a problem.

Also take a refractometer reading along to compare with your hydrometer reading, using this calculator:
Refractometer Calculator - Sean Terrill

If the 2 results are not equal you can tweak the wort correction factor (default is 1.040), within reason, until they do. Keep notes of what you did and what kind of wort it is.

After measuring a few brews that way, you may see a closer correlation between hydrometer and (corrected) refractometer readings. From there on you may start to rely on refractometer readings.
Now for worts that are very different, you may need to use different wort correction factors.

I also use a refractometer to keep track of fermentation progress without having to take hydrometer samples, but it's the difference in consecutive readings that tell me about progress, which is what I'm after, more so than absolute gravity.

 

[ncbrewer]

You really only need to do it once, a few days after fermentation has completed (krausen dropped), unless there's a problem.

I agree fermentation is almost always finished within two weeks. But I think if you're bottling, it's safer to take two readings 2 - 3 days apart to make sure. I brewed 162 batches with no slow fermentations. But batch #163 took 29 days. Then batches 169 and 171 were even slower. (All three of these were with Mangrove Jack's yeast, which I have stopped using.) I only knew they were slow because I took consecutive readings, and the SG dropped slightly. I kept checking until the gravity was stable. If I hadn't, I feel sure there would have been bottle bombs.

Clint Eastwood quote from Dirty Harry:
"You've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel lucky?' Well, do ya, punk?"