Unusual Stuck Fermentation

[Frost]

I brewed a holiday ale extract kit from midwest 2 weeks ago. I had real vigorous fermentation for two days then no airlock activity. I checked the gravity after 7 days and it read 1.026 so I thought it must be a stuck fermentation.

I repitched a new pack of muntons yeast and waited 3 more days. In the duration I saw VERY little airlock activity. I checked the gravity again and it read 1.026. I roused the yeast pretty vigorously and saw several bubbles in the airlock every few seconds for a minute or two then it subsided. After 4 more days the reading was still 1.026. I'm baffled. If anyone has any advice I would really appreciate it.

The recipe was:
6 lbs. Dark LME
3.3 lbs. Amber LME
8 oz. caramel 60(steeped)
8 oz. special B(steeped)

1 oz. Vanguard(60 minutes)
ginger,nutmeg, and cinnamon stick(10 minutes)
1 oz. cascade(2 minutes)

 

[hopsalot]

Holiday beers need time to my understanding, what was your OG?

 

[Frost]

1.062 is what the data sheet indicated. I didn't measure it. I don't usual measure with extracts since it's pretty easy to guess.

 

[Frost]

3 days later I'm still at 1.026. I don't want to keep just waiting in vein. It's been at 1.026 for close to 10 days now....anyone ?

 

[Frost]

I brewed a holiday ale extract kit from midwest 2 weeks ago. I had real vigorous fermentation for two days then no airlock activity. I checked the gravity after 7 days and it read 1.026 so I thought it must be a stuck fermentation.

I repitched a new pack of muntons yeast and waited 3 more days. In the duration I saw VERY little airlock activity. I checked the gravity again and it read 1.026. I roused the yeast pretty vigorously and saw several bubbles in the airlock every few seconds for a minute or two then it subsided. After 4 more days the reading was still 1.026. I'm baffled. If anyone has any advice I would really appreciate it.

The recipe was:
6 lbs. Dark LME
3.3 lbs. Amber LME
8 oz. caramel 60(steeped)
8 oz. special B(steeped)

1 oz. Vanguard(60 minutes)
ginger,nutmeg, and cinnamon stick(10 minutes)
1 oz. cascade(2 minutes)

 

[velorider]

I think you're done fella. Bottle it or keg it whichever and see how it goes. I'd check the carbonation early though.

 

[menschmaschine]

What was the OG? You could try yeast nutrients, but I have a feeling it won't do much because the steeping grains should have provided enough nutrients. Unless your fermentation tempetature is too cold or something, you might be stuck with a sweet beer. You could also pitch some Nottingham or some other relatively high-attenuating yeast to get another couple points (Munton's is "medium" attenuating).

The airlock activity you saw when you roused the yeast was just CO2 coming out of solution.

 

[Yooper]

It seems like your OG would be in the neighborhood of 1.067, so you're at about 60% attenuation. That may be all that Muntons can do. I'd pitch some fresh yeast, preferably nottingham if you could get it. That should get things going again.

 

[Coastarine]

My pumpkin ale did this and I did pretty much the same thing you did. Nothing I did really got any results, but once the beer warmed up to ambient air temp (77F) it started up again and finished off. That was 3 weeks after pitching. PITA. It's not the best temperature to be fermenting at, but it's better than bottle bombs.

 

[HippieCrack]

Did it say what the FG should be?

 

[Yooper]

I definitely would NOT bottle. With an attenuation of under 60%, you're asking for bottle bombs if/when fermentation kicks back up.

Like I said earlier, I'd pitch a better quality well attenuating yeast (nottingham if you can find it or s-05 would be good too) and wait it out.

 

[HOOTER]

In the future avoid Muntons dry yeast. I have not used it but I've heard nothing but bad things. Go with Nottingham or Safale like Yooper suggested and rehydrate.

 

[Coastarine]

In the future avoid Muntons dry yeast. I have not used it but I've heard nothing but bad things. Go with Nottingham or Safale like Yooper suggested and rehydrate.

I have to agree with that, although I did use it on my Irish ale and it is delicious. I would have used something else if anything else had been available. I am now stocked up on US-05 and S-04, and I will be using those in all of my standard brews.

 

[Blackhawkbrew]

I don't mean to hijack this thread but this just happened to me also. I brewed a BB Holiday Ale on Sept. 1 and the starting gravity was 1.067 with White Labs California yeast (no starter). I had no bubbles for three days, then it started. I added a pound of honey after 6 days and had fairly heavy airlock activity. I checked the gravity on Sept. 15 and it was down to 1.022, checked again Sept. 20 - still 1.022. It was at 1.020 on the 26th and stayed there. I bottled this past weekend with a final gravity of 1.020.

I brewed the same kit on the 13 and used the same yeast (this time with a starter) and used a water bath to keep the temp down. I also bottled this over the past weekend with a final gravity of 1.016.

I hope I'm ok! I don't want any bottle bombs. I have all the bottles in a canning room that stays cool (don't know the exact temp).

 

[Coastarine]

I don't mean to hijack this thread but this just happened to me also. I brewed a BB Holiday Ale on Sept. 1 and the starting gravity was 1.067 with White Labs California yeast (no starter). I had no bubbles for three days, then it started. I added a pound of honey after 6 days and had fairly heavy airlock activity. I checked the gravity on Sept. 15 and it was down to 1.022, checked again Sept. 20 - still 1.022. It was at 1.020 on the 26th and stayed there. I bottled this past weekend with a final gravity of 1.020.

I brewed the same kit on the 13 and used the same yeast (this time with a starter) and used a water bath to keep the temp down. I also bottled this over the past weekend with a final gravity of 1.016.

I hope I'm ok! I don't want any bottle bombs. I have all the bottles in a canning room that stays cool (don't know the exact temp).

You had an apparent attenuation of 69%. I don't think you had a stuck fermentation at all. Maybe they quit a little sooner than the statistical average for the yeast, but nothing to worry about.

 

[Blackhawkbrew]

Good to know

By the way, how do you figure the attenuation?

 

[Coastarine]

Good to know

By the way, how do you figure the attenuation?

Beersmith, or:

(OG-FG)/OG <--all in points

For example: (67-20)/67 = .70 so I guess you actually got 70. Beersmith gives a slightly lower number, I wonder why...

 

[bfouts]

I'm having the same problem as the original post with my Holiday Ale Kit from Midwest. The fermentation seems tobe stuck!

One additional strange factor is that I did measure my OG at 1.084! Reference on the kit instructions was 1.062-1.066??? This doesn't seem right but at the time I didn't think much of it.

I used Wyeast European Ale, no starter just the smack pack.

It seemed to be going good and I planned to rack into 2nd ferm after 1 week but yeast had not dropped (still had kraeusen). I had to go out of town so I left it in primery ferm for another week.

When I returned it looked the same as when I had left it one week earlier. I measured gravity = 1.04. I had a pack of dry Nottingham yeast so I rehydraded it and added it.

After 24+ hours I just checked it again and there's no significant activity and gravity reading is still 1.04.

Does anyone have any ideas.

Temp of ferm has been ~67-68 deg.

 

[Frost]

The reason your OG was off is probably because it wasn't mixed thoroughly when you took the reading. It takes ALOT of stirring to get the wort uniform. I have just given mine time and the last reading I took was 1.020. I am going to bottle this weekend. To both of you who are experiencing the same problems, good luck. Wait it out and see what happens I suppose.

 

[moti_mo]

I had the same problem with my Belgian Strong, posted a thread on it a few weeks ago. I was stuck at 1.040 after two weeks with an OG of 1.088 (plus a pound of additional candy sugar on day 3 of fermentation, so probably a full OG near 1.10) I re-agitated and warmed the temps up from 68 to >75 (Wyeast 1388 is OK up to 80). That only dropped me from 1.046 to 1.040 over 1 week. What I did after that was the key, I think... This Sunday, I racked the beer into my secondary on top of another fresh smack pack of Wyeast 1388. Since then, it really took off again, totally suspended yeast, no cake yet, vigorous enough fermentation so that the yeast have kept the temperature in the secondary at 78 on its own, with an ambient room temp of ~68. Haven't taken another gravity reading yet, but I'm feeling pretty good that by the end of the week, I'll be down near 1.020 or a little lower. Hopefully...

 

[ch63]

you know, ive brewed a LOT of kits, but never thought i had a stuck ferment, until now. whats strange is that its the VERY SAME kit as you are discussing: the midwest holiday brew (i pitched the liquid yeast, which i had slapped 8 hrs earlier, and the yeast pack was fully puffed out which meant it was working). i have had great luck with their stuff, so i am not blaming their supplies at all. but, i had really good activity to start with, and then after a week i moved to a secondary. i came back to it in a couple of weeks, and tasted it. it was very sweet, so i put a hydrometer to the brew and got '40'. a couple of days later, the same thing.
i thought maybe the basement was too cool, so i put it in a closet @ 74%, and waited and waited and waited. nothing. i finally rehydrated a pack of dry yeast (muntons).
when i tossed it into the wort, the airlock started bubbling immediately. 8 hrs later, everything looks on track. go figure.