Stuck Fermentation

[user 213331]

Made a Belgian Tripel Ale. OG was 1.088 and after secondary fermentation, it was 1.022. It tasted good and I bottled it. After five weeks it has carbed but not as much as I would like. It also tastes far too sweet.

Thinking of opening and pouring the bottles into a fermenter with fresh yeast starter and letting it ferment another two weeks or until I can get the FG below 1.010, and then kegging and force carbing.

Is this a proper process?

 

[brewshki]

Made a Belgian Tripel Ale. OG was 1.088 and after secondary fermentation, it was 1.022. It tasted good and I bottled it. After five weeks it has carbed but not as much as I would like. It also tastes far too sweet.

Thinking of opening and pouring the bottles into a fermenter with fresh yeast starter and letting it ferment another two weeks or until I can get the FG below 1.010, and then kegging and force carbing.

Is this a proper process?

I would avoid doing that. That is a pretty big beer and that is not really all that high of a finishing gravity. It definitely isn't as dry as most people would like for that style, but your yeast definitely went a long way.

Did you store your bottles warm to allow them to carbonate? If you did and they haven't exploded at this point, I would tell you that your beer is probably done fermenting no matter what you do. The fact that the beer isn't as carbonated as you would like would also tell me that the alcohol content in the beer is going to be difficult to contend with even if you do add more yeast.

If you do want to try and dry it all out for this batch, I would add more yeast to each bottle rather than dumping them all together. Putting them into a fermenter will expose them to a lot of oxygen and hurt your beer. You could uncap them and add a small amount of dry yeast to each bottle instead. This may not work, but it has a change.

Was this an all grain brew? What was your mash temp and grain bill? Did you use any simple sugars or different techniques to dry it out. If it was me, I would enjoy the beer as it is and work on my technique for next time.

 

[user 213331]

I would avoid doing that. That is a pretty big beer and that is not really all that high of a finishing gravity. It definitely isn't as dry as most people would like for that style, but your yeast definitely went a long way.

Did you store your bottles warm to allow them to carbonate? If you did and they haven't exploded at this point, I would tell you that your beer is probably done fermenting no matter what you do. The fact that the beer isn't as carbonated as you would like would also tell me that the alcohol content in the beer is going to be difficult to contend with even if you do add more yeast.

If you do want to try and dry it all out for this batch, I would add more yeast to each bottle rather than dumping them all together. Putting them into a fermenter will expose them to a lot of oxygen and hurt your beer. You could uncap them and add a small amount of dry yeast to each bottle instead. This may not work, but it has a change.

Was this an all grain brew? What was your mash temp and grain bill? Did you use any simple sugars or different techniques to dry it out. If it was me, I would enjoy the beer as it is and work on my technique for next time.

Thanks, I will give the dry yeast a shot.

 

[seabrew8]

I wouldn't put yeast in the bottles. Well - thinking out loud - i guess you can try it with a couple bottles. You'll probably get bottle bombs.

I would let them age myself.

I really have no idea what would happen if you tried to ferment carbed beer...maybe it would work. Again maybe try it with a gallon of beer....?

I'm sure there's people on this forum that has went down this road before. Hopefully, they see this thread. If you do decide to try to ferment it again get back to us. I love to heard how it worked out!

 

[brewshki]

I wouldn't put yeast in the bottles. Well - thinking out loud - i guess you can try it with a couple bottles. You'll probably get bottle bombs.

I would let them age myself.

I really have no idea what would happen if you tried to ferment carbed beer...maybe it would work. Again maybe try it with a gallon of beer....?

I'm sure there's people on this forum that has went down this road before. Hopefully, they see this thread. If you do decide to try to ferment it again get back to us. I love to heard how it worked out!

Do you think that big of a beer would ferment down enough to explode? I was assuming that there weren't enough points in the bottles left to make it explode. I definitely don't recommend doing it, just an option I have heard of.

 

[seabrew8]

Do you think that big of a beer would ferment down enough to explode? I was assuming that there weren't enough points in the bottles left to make it explode. I definitely don't recommend doing it, just an option I have heard of.

I'm not sure but if its 1.022 now and goes down to 1.008 for instance i would assume the bottle won't be able to handle it.

I'm sure there are some numbers you can use to get a idea.

And besides, its already carbed. I don't think its a good idea but i see no harm in trying it with a few bottles, just store them in some kind of container in case they break.

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

I agree with brewshki. The high alcohol content may have pooped out your yeast. Assuming you were done fermenting and primed correctly, the yeast may just not have the alcohol tolerance to ferment your priming sugar and carb it all the way. One way to find out is to try opening a few bottles and adding a little champagne yeast (Lalvin 1118) which has a high alcohol tolerance. If it works yoh can try it on the rest o them. I carbed an 1.109 Belgian with this when my original yeast wasn't up to the task. It worked well.

 

[seabrew8]

I agree with brewshki. The high alcohol content may have pooped out your yeast. Assuming you were done fermenting and primed correctly, the yeast may just not have the alcohol tolerance to ferment your priming sugar and carb it all the way. One way to find out is to try opening a few bottles and adding a little champagne yeast (Lalvin 1118) which has a high alcohol tolerance. If it works yoh can try it on the rest o them. I carbed an 1.109 Belgian with this when my original yeast wasn't up to the task. It worked well.

Good point. Maybe the yeast pooped out and thats why the carb isn't that good.

If i was thinking of throwing out a batch i would probably just try both things mentioned here in a small experiment and keep the rest has is. Nothing to lose.