My admittedly stupid question is this: wha does a stuck ferment look like? At the moment I have two fermenters going, both of which for a very long time. One is a medium gravity beer I ferment with Safale WB-06, the other a slightly higher gravity ale I fermet with S-04. While I have little experience with WB-06, I'm used to S-04 ripping through the wort within hours. However, the fermenters sit in a shed, and temps dropped down to about 45F before I put a heater in the shed. Both beers now have krausen that just won't fall, and have had that for about two weeks. Do I have a stuck fermentation at my hands?
Stuck ferment?
- Thread starter drchris83
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TipsyDragon
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Stuck fermentations are easily identifiable with a hydrometer. If you take to readings 3-4 days apart, they are the same, and it's significantly above your target FG range then you have a stuck fermentation.
What most likely happened is fermentation slowed or stopped when the temp dropped but picked up again when you put the heater on in there. Just give them extra time and RDWHAHB.
What most likely happened is fermentation slowed or stopped when the temp dropped but picked up again when you put the heater on in there. Just give them extra time and RDWHAHB.
boydster
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This. A stuck fermentation basically looks like a complete fermentation but the gravity is too high for it to actually be complete. It sounds like your yeast got back on the job though given you have krausen, so nothing to worry about.
I just had a batch stall out using S-33, looked like it was done but gravity was a full 10 points higher than it should have been. Once I roused the yeast and warmed it up, I got another krausen and it finished where it was supposed to.
TipsyDragon
Well-Known Member
As long as the gravity is falling you have nothing to worry about. And yes gravity is falling quite rapidly during krausen. Wait a week or two and check for doneness.
