Is My R.I.S. Done? 1.030 after 2nd starter...

So I decided to do an extract Old Rasputin Clone--O.G. was 1.092. Anyway after 3 weeks I checked the gravity and it was at 1.030 (with Wyeast 007 slurry). So I racked to a secondary and a few days later pitched a 1.5-2 liter starter of Pacman. This was 2 weeks ago. Today I checked because I wanted to bottle, and.....


its still at 1.030.

The Pacman starter did nothing....which makes me think its done.....but I am hesitant because I bottled a Big Porter last year (a few points high) and it was waaaay over carbed by Xmas (with a typical amount of priming sugar--even had 2 explode). I just don't want the same thing to happen again.

Should I bottle it, wait and see, or throw some 3711 on it and see if it will dry out Belgian style!?

Tough to say with extract, was it liquid or dry? I'd say its done if the pacman did nothing after 2 weeks, you shouldn't have to worry about bombs. 68% attenuation isn't terrible, especially for a stout. My latest ended at 1.026 and was only 69% attenuated but its a great beer.

It was DME....I am thinking its done, but its a shame....BeerCalc showed this one finishing at 1.019.

I've never tried but i remember reading a thread on this forum saying pitching a packet of wine yeast can bring down the gravity, I'm not positive but I think they can handle some different sugars? Something to look into anyway if you're interested in lowering the gravity. Not sure about flavor effects.

I don't think wine yeast will do anything as there likely no simple sugars left for it to convert/metabolize.

It seems that you have 4 options:
1) Leave it alone in secondary for a few more weeks (raise the temp to low-mid 70's), cold-crash and then package it
2) Same as above but oak it to balance out some of the extra sweetness with oak tannins
3) Make a monster Lager starter, and let the lager yeast eat the Maltotriose for a few extra points worth.
4) (that's what I'd do) Pitch a vial of Brett and let those suckers eat through the dextrins and proteins (and wood and and and) over the next few months. Then you'll have a nicely attenuated monster funk brew for next winter!

Good luck.

I'd go the stepped up/higher gravity lager starter route myself, but making a sour out of a stalled RIS could prove interesting too.

Side note: I'm surprised no one has thrown out "forced fermentation test" or "Wyeast 3711" yet.

Andrikos said:

Pitch a vial of Brett and let those suckers eat through the dextrins and proteins (and wood and and and) over the next few months. Then you'll have a nicely attenuated monster funk brew for next winter!

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I did this with an under-attenuated extract RIS, and it turned out quite tasty. Not what I'd originally had in mind at all, but a nice beer nonetheless. If I remember correctly, Brett B took it from 1.030 down to 1.018 in 3-4 months.

Brett doesn't sour. BIG misnomer. It'll contribute a tiny tartness like hints of sour cherry, but no sour. You'd need lactic bacteria for sour. Use Brett l, it's traditional in English export ales in the casks. You'll get awesome sour cherry and dried fruit, but not too much since the beer's mostly attenuated. And it'll attenuate down to 1015-1020.

Wyeast makes an Old Ale blend that does the same thing with Sacc + and Brett in it to simulate 18th/19th century barrel cultures traditional in RISs. The barrels were all infected

Andrikos said:

I don't think wine yeast will do anything as there likely no simple sugars left for it to convert/metabolize.

It seems that you have 4 options:
1) Leave it alone in secondary for a few more weeks (raise the temp to low-mid 70's), cold-crash and then package it
2) Same as above but oak it to balance out some of the extra sweetness with oak tannins
3) Make a monster Lager starter, and let the lager yeast eat the Maltotriose for a few extra points worth.
4) (that's what I'd do) Pitch a vial of Brett and let those suckers eat through the dextrins and proteins (and wood and and and) over the next few months. Then you'll have a nicely attenuated monster funk brew for next winter!

Good luck.

Click to expand...

I think I like option 1 and 2. Its going to start warming up here in NJ so we will see if the higher temps help. Not sure if I really want to make this a Brett beer (which would be interesting), but I do have some 3711 from a previous batch that I can beef up and pitch....with my experience using 3711, those yeasties will bring the gravity down for sure.....

Maybe bottle one or two up and see if you like them that way (heavy FG), of so, bottle it up. If not, pitch the brett and enjoy in 6 months.