WLP 570 really slowed down @1.024

[av8er79]

I made a Belgian golden on 3/13 and pitched about a 750ml starter. OG was 1.092 and temp was 70-72.

It has been about 5-6 days and it seems that it may be stuck at 1.024 and temp about 73, so i moved it to an area of the house and am trying to warm it up. Beersmith has the final gravity at 1.015

I have no experience with stuck fermentation and from what I have read most refer to the temperature. So if it does not start to ferment again in 24 hours what do I do?

 

[beergolf]

It is probably not stuck, just not done. Belgian yeasts are famous for taking off fast and taking a long time to finish up. It is a big brew and it has only been 6 days, you really need to think in terms of weeks or even months, not days when brewing a big Belgian like that. On a beer that big I never even think about checking gravity until at least a month.

You warmed it up, now just step away and let the yeast do it's job. Your starter was too small for a beer that big, but most likely it will finish up if you give it enough time.

 

[rpe290]

I made a Belgian golden on 3/13 and pitched about a 750ml starter. OG was 1.092 and temp was 70-72.

It has been about 5-6 days and it seems that it may be stuck at 1.024 and temp about 73, so i moved it to an area of the house and am trying to warm it up. Beersmith has the final gravity at 1.015

I have no experience with stuck fermentation and from what I have read most refer to the temperature. So if it does not start to ferment again in 24 hours what do I do?

How old was your yeast? I'm sure you underpitched by quite a lot.

Does it taste sweet?

 

[IL1kebeer]

What was your grainbill and mash temp?


Sent from my iPhone using Home Brew

 

[av8er79]

I tastes it a little sweet and is extremely cloudy but taste pretty good considering.

I understand it will take months for a beer like this to reach its prime but still thought primary fermentation would be complete within a week. I agree that I probably underpitched.

The yeast was less than a month old.

Amt Name Type # %/IBU
14 lbs Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 81.2 %
8.0 oz Caravienne Malt (22.0 SRM) Grain 2 2.9 %
4.0 oz Biscuit Malt (23.0 SRM) Grain 3 1.4 %
Mash Steps
Name Description Step Temperature Step Time
Mash In Add 5.41 gal of water at 163.5 F 150.0 F 75 min

 

[rpe290]

I tastes it a little sweet and is extremely cloudy but taste pretty good considering.

I understand it will take months for a beer like this to reach its prime but still thought primary fermentation would be complete within a week. I agree that I probably underpitched.

The yeast was less than a month old.

Amt Name Type # %/IBU
14 lbs Pilsner (2 Row) Bel (2.0 SRM) Grain 1 81.2 %
8.0 oz Caravienne Malt (22.0 SRM) Grain 2 2.9 %
4.0 oz Biscuit Malt (23.0 SRM) Grain 3 1.4 %
Mash Steps
Name Description Step Temperature Step Time
Mash In Add 5.41 gal of water at 163.5 F 150.0 F 75 min

We live and learn...I had a dunkel not finish, wrong munich malt...

Example here:
So using Mr Malty's starter calculation, you needed 372 billion cells, at least a 3L starter WITH a stir plate. If you used a stir plate, the 750ml starter got you about 173 billion, so you pitched less than half as much as you needed...

 

[IL1kebeer]

Should have cut 10% of your base malt with simple sugar to help attenuation. It's kinda hard to get a low FG with a beer that big without simple sugar. Even if you mash low and pitch an appropriate amount of a highly attenuative yeast, "all malt" big beers will naturally finish higher. Thus, the need for simple sugar. Most high gravity Belgians use simple sugar to get them to their low terminal gravity.