Holy Balls! - Kolsch still fermenting at 5 weeks

I'm finding this to be a bit odd that after 5 weeks my Kolsch is still fermenting. Last Sunday my FG was 1.018 and no signs of fermentation; I was going to bottle but decided to wait until following Saturday because I just had knee surgery and wasn't really in the mood to bottle. Then Wednesday (3 days later) the FG was 1.010 and the batch developed a new layer of foam on top.

I pitched at a good temp and had several days of good fermentation then things slowed down as usual, but I'm guessing sometime during the fermentation the yeast must have stalled out (due to temperature drop maybe).

Holy Balls!, good thing I didn't bottle it.

Yeah that was a pretty big drop. Fluctuations in the temperature are the most likely culprit and perhaps when you checked on Sunday, it roused the yeast back into suspension and kicked off a little more.

I'm having about the same problem with my light colored ale pseudo lager. I used WL029 GHerman ale/kolsh yeast. At 3 weeks,it tested @1.016. Today,5 weeks & three days later,after cleaning & replacing the dirty airlock a week ago,it's still under co2 pressure. The airlock center piece is standing up. Gunna take another FG maybe tomorrow. I did give it a swirl when I replaced the dirty airlock. Hoping it's finally down to FG tomorrow.
Strange that the dark hybrid lager was in bottles on 3/17 & cleared with the same yeast.

It's about 8 weeks since brew day and the kolsch fermentation is definitely complete. But until a few days ago still had a layer of foam, so I gave it a quick stir and now it has an odd suspension of yeast just below the surface that isn't clearing up. The beer tastes and smells alright so I don't think there is an infection of any type. I need this beer to clear up so I can bottle.

Anyone ever have this happen and how can I clear it up?

Try cold crashing it for a few days. If still nothing, I'd throw in some gelatin

Thanks DocScott, cold crashing my beer sounds like a plan for Friday night. Always learning and stepping into new bounds with this brewing hobby.

Glad to help!

darrenbrews said:

Anyone ever have this happen and how can I clear it up?

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It's happening to me right now, I'm going to just let it finish whatever it's doing and forget bottling for now. Just work on my other batches and check back on that one next week. I always let mine clear up on their own.

BobbiLynn said:

It's happening to me right now, I'm going to just let it finish whatever it's doing and forget bottling for now. Just work on my other batches and check back on that one next week. I always let mine clear up on their own.

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Cold crashing is fine to do if you want to go ahead and bottle. Depending on the yeast, that may be the only way to finish getting it cleared without adding anything.

What yeast did you use for your Kolsch? I find that 2565 takes forever to ferment but results are worth it (my preference among Kolsch strains). WLP029 is a little quicker and settles faster. But my recent experience with 2575 Kolsch II is 86% apparent attenuation from 1.048 to 1.006 in 3 days flat at 60F! That Kolsch just got silver medal at ALES Club open by the way.

It may be as simple as you inderpitched your yeast

paraordnance said:

What yeast did you use for your Kolsch?

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It was the Nottingham Danstar ale yeast that came with the Brewers Best kit and I just noticed on the Danstar website it states "Shows flocculation at completion of fermentation, and settling is promoted by cooling and use of fining agents and isinglass".

darrenbrews said:

It was the Nottingham Danstar ale yeast that came with the Brewers Best kit and I just noticed on the Danstar website it states "Shows flocculation at completion of fermentation, and settling is promoted by cooling and use of fining agents and isinglass".

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Now I have to figure out what causes this flocculation. When I looked up the definition I found it interesting it mentioned flakes, because that's what it looks like in a batch I got going that should have been ready by now, floating flakes all through it.

Sounds like it's normal for the kit you used though and you'll need the extra steps to get it to clear.

Flocculation simply means that the yeasties stick together & settle out when FG is reached & they're eating up the by products of fermentation.

Floc you

Thanks for this post.

My Ale-toberfest with WLP029 is almost three weeks deep in the primary. It started at 1.056 and I was hoping for ~1.014 as my FG (mashed at 152). After two weeks, and a sulfer-heavy beginning to fermentation, it seemed to stall at almost 1.028. Now, it's down to 1.022. I'm hoping a rise in the ambient temp of my apartment this week with warmer weather will help it get down to my desired FG.

Good to know that I should be patient and let these yeasties do their thing.

Huh. WL029 was the steadiest fermenting yeast I ever used. Keeping it in it's sweet spot of 65-69F gave me great performance. Steady bursts of bubbles from the airlock like a machine pistol till initial fermentation was over. I use it in my hybrid lagers brewed in winter.

Yeah - my apt has been ~59 degrees. It's supposed to get up to 73 this week so I'm hoping my apartment can rise to that sweet spot.

WL029 starts getting sluggish at 64F & below. Definitely need to raise the temp. In winter, I use an old fleece-lined CPO to cover the fermenter & raise the temp a bit.