Stuck Big Lager

[gometz]

I brewed a Baltic Porter on 10/19 with an OG of 1.086 and a nice big starter (according to my calculations it was on the order of 800B cells). Today I took the first gravity reading (assuming that it'd be ready for secondary), but it is only down to 1.036.

My thought is that I didn't get another oxygen in for the yeast. I did not use the air pump and instead used a distributor to fan out the wort while adding it into the carboy (this is how I normally do it and it works fine most of the time, but I am guessing a big lager like this would like more oxygen than usual). I used WLP830 (should be 76% attenuation, so I was hoping for a FG of 1.020).

What can I do to get the beer moving again? I raised the temp up to 60*F (from 55*F) and roused the yeast a bit. Should I buy another vial of yeast, get a starter going and add that?

 

[Yooper]

Adding more yeast right now won't help. You'd have to put your RIS on a yeast cake or something, as the alcohol level is fairly high and that would be toxic to a vial of yeast, or even a starter.

Are you sure your hydrometer is correct? You're not using a refractometer, I assume.

 

[gometz]

Adding more yeast right now won't help. You'd have to put your RIS on a yeast cake or something, as the alcohol level is fairly high and that would be toxic to a vial of yeast, or even a starter.

Are you sure your hydrometer is correct? You're not using a refractometer, I assume.

I checked with my back up hydrometer and degassed the sample by agitating and warming it before retesting (cooled sample down again). Checked both of them against clean water and they were correct.

 

[Calder]

Recipe, mash temp? How much unfermentable sugars are in there?

If you know there is more sugar to ferment you can pitch a starter of a high alcohol yeast. You need to make a decent sized starter, once going, double the volume by adding some of the stuck beer. When that is going, pitch it into the main batch. The only thing you aerate is the original starter

 

[gometz]

6lbGerman Vienna
6.5lbMunich Light
4lbSmoked Malt
12ozCrystal 75L
8ozSpecial B
6ozUS Roasted Barley
6ozDehusked Carafa II
Mashed at 148*F for an hour
5.5 gallons, OG 1.086 (70%)
I guess could I use WLP830 in the starter again? Most high gravity yeasts are ale yeasts, and I would prefer not to end up mixing lager and ale yeasts.

 

[gometz]

I should maybe not call it stuck yet because that was the first reading, but it does seem sluggish.

 

[Calder]

With that mash temp you should be much lower. Have you checked your mash thermometer?

 

[gometz]

With that mash temp you should be much lower. Have you checked your mash thermometer?

I use the same thermometer for everything, but I haven't checked it yet. I'll give that a shot. Thanks!

 

[gometz]

Well my thermometer seems to be fine (compared against another older one), and it looks like the SG has dropped to 1.030. Still seems very sluggish, but I guess that has to do with the overall gravity of the lager, pitching rate, and aeration.