Stuck fermentation, continue with dry hop?

[prince87x]

My second time brewing all grain is an IPA with an OG of 1.068 and has gotten stuck at 1.020. It was my first time having a stuck fermentation so I did some research and discovered the reasons as to how it happens for future batches.

It seems when brewing higher gravity beers you want to make a starter and I'd never made a starter before. I'd done a high gravity beer before and pitched strait into the fermenter that time which worked out alright but that may have just been luck of the draw. I'll be making starters for all of my brews for now on that's for sure.

Anyway it was 1.020 on 7/14 and I tried rousing the yeast to no effect. It was already fairly warm at about 73-74 degrees so warming it up wasn't a problem. I made a starter and threw it in and that has had no effect either.

At this point should I just rack it into a secondary and dry hop it as I was going to and then proceed to bottle as normal? Should I use the normal amount of priming sugar? Will it carbonate differently being stuck at 1.020? Will it still carbonate at all being stuck?

 

[WayFrae]

I would bet that it is finished and not stuck. (Stuck means that there is still some fermentable sugars that need to be consumed by the yeast. Finished means the yeast have consumed all the available fermentables.) I would go ahead and dry hop. I dry hop in the primary but whether to rack to a secondary or not is up to you.

What temp did you mash at?

EDIT: Forgot to answer your other questions. Yes, use the normal amount of priming sugar. No, it shouldn't carbonate differently but the beer itself will have a thicker mouthfeel. Yes, it will still carbonate.

 

[Yooper]

My second time brewing all grain is an IPA with an OG of 1.068 and has gotten stuck at 1.020. It was my first time having a stuck fermentation so I did some research and discovered the reasons as to how it happens for future batches.

It seems when brewing higher gravity beers you want to make a starter and I'd never made a starter before. I'd done a high gravity beer before and pitched strait into the fermenter that time which worked out alright but that may have just been luck of the draw. I'll be making starters for all of my brews for now on that's for sure.

Anyway it was 1.020 on 7/14 and I tried rousing the yeast to no effect. It was already fairly warm at about 73-74 degrees so warming it up wasn't a problem. I made a starter and threw it in and that has had no effect either.

At this point should I just rack it into a secondary and dry hop it as I was going to and then proceed to bottle as normal? Should I use the normal amount of priming sugar? Will it carbonate differently being stuck at 1.020? Will it still carbonate at all being stuck?

It's not stuck- it's done. It could be mash temperature (a higher mash temperature means less fermentable sugars), underpitching, yeast strain, etc, but if it hasn't moved in a few days, let a lone weeks, then it's done.

Use the regular amount of priming sugar (generally, about 1 ounce per finished gallon), and it will be fine.

 

[prince87x]

Thanks for the replies. I feel stupid for not considering that it was finished. I just figured that 1.020 seemed kind of high for all grain to finish at but brought up good points as to why. I believe I mashed at 150. Next time I'll be making a starter to make sure I have a healthy fermentation as well.

I'll proceed as I was intending to, thanks again for the clarification!