stuck fermentation!

[olayak]

It was super active for the first two days. And now nothing. The weirdest part is that I pitched more yeast and it was active for about 12 hours and then stopped again. It's champagne yeast and about 70 degrees. First pitched yeast I put in some nutritional yeast (I ran out of yeast nutrient and I was desperate).

Is it possible that it fermented out all the sugar in just two days? This is a root-vegetable cider. (no fruit juice other than the root vegetable, but there is added sugar). At this point should I add more sugar in hopes of restarting? Or just give up? I started making another batch and I sure don't want to make the same mistake.

btw, OG was 1.026 and FG (now) is 1.002

Thanks.

 

[eastoak]

that ultra low OG shouldn't take very long to ferment.

 

[olayak]

thanks! the recipe called for a 3 week fermentation (but same OG/FG) so I was confused. I actually added some raisins and now it's bubbling away!

 

[Starrider]

Forgive me for jumping in on this thread but I have something similar and I’m stumped.

I have what I thought was slow to non-existent fermentation. I have read enough of the posts that say not to get focused on seeing bubbles in the airlock. This is the one I use and even if I don’t see bubbles, the floater is at least at the top of the glass. When it didn’t even rise to the top of the glass, I didn’t think it was doing anything at all.

I am using a first wash 1084 yeast. Not sure the pitch rate, still trying to figure out how to determine that but should have been more than enough. Had the starter on the stir plate for about 24 hours before pitching.

The beer is an Irish Red Ale with 1.056 OG. After 3 days of zero activity, I re-pitched with another jar of the same yeast. After another 24 hours I did see a bubble but it was really slow. After 7 days, still no activity. Thinking my yeast was no good or having some other issue.

I have yet to add air or O2 to any batch and after reading up on that a little, started thinking that may be my problem. I got set up to inject some O2 but took a hydrometer reading first. It was at 1.012. In hindsight, I should have taken a reading before re-pitching, live and learn.

So, after this long story, how does it go from 1.056 to 1.012 in 7 days with zero activity in the bubbler? The lid on the Ale Pail was tight, bubbler snug, no leaks to be found.

 

[eastoak]

Forgive me for jumping in on this thread but I have something similar and I’m stumped.

I have what I thought was slow to non-existent fermentation. I have read enough of the posts that say not to get focused on seeing bubbles in the airlock. This is the one I use and even if I don’t see bubbles, the floater is at least at the top of the glass. When it didn’t even rise to the top of the glass, I didn’t think it was doing anything at all.

I am using a first wash 1084 yeast. Not sure the pitch rate, still trying to figure out how to determine that but should have been more than enough. Had the starter on the stir plate for about 24 hours before pitching.

The beer is an Irish Red Ale with 1.056 OG. After 3 days of zero activity, I re-pitched with another jar of the same yeast. After another 24 hours I did see a bubble but it was really slow. After 7 days, still no activity. Thinking my yeast was no good or having some other issue.

I have yet to add air or O2 to any batch and after reading up on that a little, started thinking that may be my problem. I got set up to inject some O2 but took a hydrometer reading first. It was at 1.012. In hindsight, I should have taken a reading before re-pitching, live and learn.

So, after this long story, how does it go from 1.056 to 1.012 in 7 days with zero activity in the bubbler? The lid on the Ale Pail was tight, bubbler snug, no leaks to be found.

take a gravity reading today and post your results, your beer may be fermenting and the gas is bypassing the airlock some other way. are you using a bucket or a carboy?

 

[Starrider]

Its an Ale Pail bucket. At first I thought I didn't have the lid on tight but it was. The airlock was also firmly in the grommet. Unless the seal on the lid has gone bad, not sure how it could be leaking.
I will take another reading when I get home tonight.
According to iBrewmaster, target FG was 1.013. It was already at 1.012 when I measured it Sunday so don't know if it will move much more.

 

[eastoak]

Its an Ale Pail bucket. At first I thought I didn't have the lid on tight but it was. The airlock was also firmly in the grommet. Unless the seal on the lid has gone bad, not sure how it could be leaking.
I will take another reading when I get home tonight.
According to iBrewmaster, target FG was 1.013. It was already at 1.012 when I measured it Sunday so don't know if it will move much more.

i have a lid that seems tight but leaks from the seal, i use it anyway. in any event it sounds like everything is going like it should for your beer.

 

[Starrider]

I will have to agree. I transferred to secondary and took another reading and it was between 1.012 and 1.013. Right where it is supposed to be. Will let it go the rest of the week and bottle this weekend.