stuck fermintation?

[HughBrooks]

I am in the process of ferminting my second ever batch of homebrew. This one was a little more involved being a partial mash recipe instead of an extact. Every thing was going fine till the third day after pitching the yeast. At first the ferminting was going fine then it dropped off. In my directions for the kit it said to transfer this to a secondary ferminter when this happens. So I did. In the process, out of curiosity, I took a hydrometer reading it was only at 1.020. My OG was about 1.052. I have had it in the secondary for two days and there has been absolutly no activty in the airlock. Should I be concerned about this as my FG should be 1.010-1.012 according to my directions. Do I need to repitch yeast? My temp never dropped below 70 degrees, I do not have an aeration system but two of us took turns stirring up the wort for several minutes. I am using fermentis safbrew s-33 yeast.

 

[DragonTail]

Welcome
The partial mash I did this weekend "finished" in 3 days also, but is still in the primary.
I can't comment on the yeast, I use liquid strains, but that may not be the problem.
It is possible that "most" of the ferment is done.
If you "mashed" at too high a temp, you might have some long chain sugars that won't ferment out and cause a higher FG.
Also, don't bubble watch, the airlock is not an accurate way of knowing the ferment is, or isn't, working, especially if using a plastic bucket.
Leave it in the secondary for about a week and take a gravity reading.
If the readings don't change for 3 days in a row then it is done.
Bottle and start your next batch.
In the future, leave in the primary for at least a week, and if you do partial, or full mashes, try to stay in the desired temp range.

 

[HughBrooks]

Thanks for the info and I will try that on my next batch. I have two sets of equipment so I will be starting another one tomarrow!

 

[HughBrooks]

Things are looking a little better. I swirled the yeast cake around in the carboy and let it sit. There still was no aparent activity in the airlock. So I checked my gravity and it went down to 1.015-1.016. Hopefully things are still happening in there. I am goin to take another reading today to see if it has changed at all. Hopefully it has dropped a little more.

 

[flaminpi3]

Every time I have transferred to secondary, there was little to no visual proof of fermentation. But rest assured that the yeast is still feasting heartily. Next time, trust the yeast and try not to stir up the lees. When you stir you risk aerating the wort, which can lead to spoilage. Relax, Don't Worry, Have a Homebrew.

 

[ghostbrewer]

I thought my first batch (this week) may have been stuck, too. It bubbled vigorously day 1, 2, and most of 3. But day 4 I noted no bubbling and that temperature had dropped from 68 to 66. I slowly brought temperature back up to 68 and cycled the bucket left and right a few times gently. Bubbling picked back up a bit within an hour, but died off again by day 5. I took a gravity on day 5 (yesterday) and it was 1.011; OG was 1.054. I'm thinking that it is just plain old done vice stalled. I plan on racking to a secondary Sunday.