Stuck fermentation? Dead yeast? Help!

[Bria]

Hi all,
Just returned home from the holiday break to keg a batch of oatmeal stout. As I was racking into the keg I gave the beer a sniff, and it is way sweet. This used to happen to me all the time with darker beers until a friend and fellow brewer suggested double-yeasting. That cleared up the issue beautifully - until now. There was good active fermentation in the beginning, and the recipe I'm using (Papazian) directed me to then move the fermenter into cooler temps (35-55F) to "lager" for 3-4 weeks (not a true lager I guess, because it doesn't call for a lager yeast or a super-long secondary fermentation). Since this should be a "smooth stout with medium bitterness," not applesauce, obviously it's either off or hasn't completed fermentation. Here's where my experience as a very casual brewer fails me. Possibly pertinent info: the beer was in my mud room, and the temperatures would have been fluctuating. It could have frozen but I don't think so. And could have been as high as 55-60. This seems like just stuck fermentation to me, but maybe something else is going on?
So my questions:
Can this batch be saved?
Should I pitch some more yeast, or perhaps an energizer, and see what happens?
Should I pop another air lock in the keg and just let it sit for a few more weeks and see what happens?
Or should I just go ahead and throw on the CO2 and hope for the best?
Thanks for your thoughts!

 

[jdauria]

Not sure you can really "smell" sweet...take a sample and taste it, does it taste sweet? Remember flat beer is not going to taste or smell like it will when cold and carbonated. You could have been smelling CO2 coming out of solution when you moved the beer Did you take a gravity reading? What was it? If you are in 1.020's, it's not uncommon for stouts to finish that high since most of the roasted malts provide unfermentable sugars. You should have waited until the beer was fully fermented (2-3 gravity readings the same over a few days) before "lagering" it.

Move it back to the warmest room you have, give it a gentle swirl to rouse the yeast, and see if it ferments more. Let it go for another week or two...and take gravity readings, that's the only way to know if it's done. Guy in my club had an Imperial stout finish at 1.035, it was fantastic and I have had Oatmeal Stouts finish around 1.024 in the past. The style guideline for Oatmeal stouts even stressed there should be some sweetness to support the oat backbone. Under Aroma is states "light malty sweetness...", under flavor "Medium sweet to medium dry finish".

 

[Bria]

Not sure you can really "smell" sweet...take a sample and taste it, does it taste sweet? Remember flat beer is not going to taste or smell like it will when cold and carbonated. You could have been smelling CO2 coming out of solution when you moved the beer Did you tak...

No gravity readings, I'm not really that scientific of a brewer. I just smelled it and it smelled like past beers that didn't end up as dry as I intended them. Thanks for your thoughts, we'll see! Moved it back to the warmish temps inside early this week and popped an air lock in the keg. I'll give it a taste this weekend and see what's up.