Stuck fermentation

[dash14251]

so i started a pretty general pale ale a little over 2 weeks ago and found yesterday that no more bubbles were coming from airlock. i racked into fresh bucket, checked temp and gravity. the temp has been a constant 63-67 F in my fermentation room (finshed carport). The mash temp was abot 64 after racking and the hydro reads about 1.015. This is like a potential 2% alc. i spun the hydro around to make sure no bubbles holding it up and dunked it, stirred mash with it... still stayed the same.

now i know sometimes after racking the yeast kicks itself in the ass and speeds up again to finish itself off, but this has not happened. its been about 24 hours since the rack and the airlock has not moved.

after racking yesterday i noticed the yeast bed had a thick layer of green (hops) so i hope an excessive amount of hops would not cause fermentation to slow.. i mean if that were the case then dry-hopping wouldnt be possible right?

heres what i cooked:
1.5 lbs crystal 40 @ 150F - 30 mins
6.6 lbs light LME - 60 min boil
2 oz cascade - 60 mins
1 oz cascade - 15 mins
1 oz cascade - flame out

its about as simple as a recipe can get.

do you think the few degrees of temp fluctuation would cause this? does it sometimes take longer than 24 hours to get the yeast going again after racking?

any help is appreciated!!!


Edit: yeast used was Safale US-05

 

[dbrewski]

What was your original gravity reading, before ferment?

 

[dash14251]

about 1.045, like 6% potential

 

[TTB-J]

You'd probably be in the range of about 1.050 OG for that recipe, so 1.015 is a perfectly fine ending point - somewhere around 5% ABV. Your fermentation isn't stuck, it's done.

 

[flushdrew42]

call me crazy but i think that simply means the yeast did it's job...
if your SG was less than .010 away from your FG... then i'd worry. but where you've dropped .030 - you've had a significant change.

[ame]http://youtu.be/NrNRlZAIRyw[/ame]

 

[dash14251]

i dont remember for sure, but ive made this recipe a few times before and always assumed it had fermented dry. maybe not... just cant remember

its funny that you post the video on hydros. i was in the brew shop yesterday and this old dude in overalls came in and i heard him whisper to the dude at the desk that he was having trouble using it. i was thinking wow. even if it were a distiller's alcohol hydro (whatever is called.. and i even have one!) then its even easier to use! thot it funny

 

[flushdrew42]

i'm still new to this myself, but i'm learning a few things that have become indispensable to me.
1. my hydrometer. good readings before and after fermentation
2. software. i'm using Qbrew(no advert, just saying) - free, easy, gives detailed recipe information, including estimated color, ABV, bitterness, etc.

my first recipe ended a little short on ABV, and after a few tweaks with the software i was able to find a good way to make it hit what i wanted. as well as color modifications, hop profile etc.

good luck! i'm sure this brew is fine tho!

 

[BryanJ]

To calculate your abv it is simple: (OG-FG)x131

So you would be (1.045-1.015)x131 = 3.93%

Your yeast is done fermenting too.