1st AG- 15 days in primary- 1.023

Brewed an AG Octoberfest ale. Made a 2L starter from a Kolsch smack pack. Thing was bubbling away quickly and a couple days in. Got the kit from morebeer. My OG reading was right on the money. Fermentation temps suggested 50 degrees. So, I put it in a cooler with water in the coldest room in my basement. Kept it in the area of 50 degrees, sometimes maybe a little cooler. (few degrees)
Just checked gravity yesterday and it was 1.023. Seems to have a ways to go, or it is stuck, or it is done. It tasted OK, not too bad. I read the previous post where sometimes it is just done at that reading.
I am looking for suggestions. Is it possible that it wil continue? Should I pull it out of the water and put in a room a little warmer? Just looking for ideas for a rookie. I understand I didn't give you a ton of info. Any help is appreciated.

It might be done but I would pull it out, let it warm up and rouse the yeast to keep them active and see if you can get more out ofbit

duboman said:

It might be done but I would pull it out, let it warm up and rouse the yeast to keep them active and see if you can get more out ofbit

Click to expand...

+1 Pull it out, warm it up and let it sit. You are probably going to want a diacetyl rest with a Kolsch anyway, so take advantage of the gravity now and do it. Your primary fermentation is mostly done, so you don't need to worry about temperature related off flavors at this point.

I've always ended up doing my d-rest at about three weeks on lagers. I'd give it a few more days to see if it makes it down to 1.020 then warm it up.

Edit: Wait...you said kolsch. My bad. Still. Give it a few more days.

Do you recommend giving it a stir as well? Thanks for the advice!

Couldn't hurt but be gentle. I usually keep the fermenter on the ground and swirl it in a circle just a couple times. Swirled, not shaken.

I usually warm my lagers up for the diacetyl rest once they are 75% fermented after listing to the guys at the Brewing Network suggest it, as 2-3 days in the 60's will take care of the diacetyl and finish fermenting, then it's back to the fridge to lager in the mid 30's.

jdauria said:

...then it's back to the fridge to lager in the mid 30's.

Click to expand...

Don't forget, you need to drop to the mid 30's very very slowly. The idea is to keep a certain amount of the yeast in solution to clean up and what not. Crashing quickly with drop them right to the bottom.

Definitely warm it up. 55-60 is the low end of the temperature range for that yeast. If you were in the low 50's or high 40's that could have stalled it. I don't know what your OG was but 1.023 seems a little high. I would warm it up to 65-70, give it a swirl and check it in a few days.

Spintab said:

Don't forget, you need to drop to the mid 30's very very slowly. The idea is to keep a certain amount of the yeast in solution to clean up and what not. Crashing quickly with drop them right to the bottom.

Click to expand...

Correct, should have stated that. Usually use my temp controller to bring it down a couple degrees a day over the course of a week or so.