Stuck fermentation

[oylerck]

At what point should I repitch?

RyePA with 1.070 og. Stuck at 1.040 after 7 days. I pitched to packets of safale 05. I did rehydrate, and we poured the wort into the bucket and made it frothy. When should I repitch 05?

 

[LLBeanJ]

You checking FG with refractometer or hydrometer?

 

[oylerck]

Hydrometer. Tested in water and off only .002 not know what the temp was.

I did push on the lid and there was no movement in the airlock. I'm assuming no co2 and dead yeast.

 

[LLBeanJ]

Okay, had to rule out a gravity measurement error due to using a refractometer. Stuck fermentations can be tricky. Repitching isn't a sure thing and seems to fail more often than it succeeds. If you have the ability, you may want to try just warming up the beer a few degrees and give it a gentle swirl to get the yeast back into suspension and see if that results in fermentation restarting. If you don't see movement in another week, you can try repitching. If you do repitch yeast, I'd use a different strain, maybe one that has a high alcohol tolerance, like maybe T-58. It's a Belgian strain, but I've read that it is often used to finish stuck Saisons. I doubt that it will throw off much Belgian character with it taking over the job @ 1.040.

Another thing you can do is set this one aside and brew another beer. When the second beer is done and you've racked it off the yeast, transfer the stuck beer onto the yeast cake from the second. I've heard that method is pretty reliable at restarting a stuck fermentation.

There's also the amylase enzyme route. I've never used it and it seems to be a bit unpredictable, but it may be an option as well. Perhaps others will chime in.

You might want to post the recipe so we can look for anything that might suggest that the beer would be likely to finish so high. Is this an extract recipe?

 

[oylerck]

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It is currently at 1.040, not the 1.023 listed under secondary.

 

[pockets121]

I've had great luck with wlp099 on stuck fermentation. Only issue is that is might dry it out too much.

 

[RM-MN]

If you moved the beer to secondary you might have been the one that caused it to stall out because you removed the beer from the bulk of the yeast. Moving a beer to secondary does not magically do anything else. The beer could stay in the primary fermenter for a couple months without causing any problems.

 

[oylerck]

It's still in primary. The app just assumes I'm done when I open it the first time, I can't explain it.

 

[brewbama]

I recommend you gently stir the yeast back into suspension with a cleaned, santitized spoon.

 

[Rockn_M]

Warm it up and gently stir to get things back in suspension. I've had success and I've had it not work before. And give it more time.

 

[oylerck]

Worth a shot. It doesn't taste bad by any means so if it doesn't work it will be a weak IPA. No problem.

Edit: brought it upstairs, tested and tasted actually really good right now. We will see if they start up again but if not I may just keep it as is. Fruity and hoppy.

Did I just mash too high? Might have been a bit above target mash at152. I may have been at 165, the calculator did not reflect heat lost very well but I didn't try to mess with it. Anyway, if so I believe I have enough alcohol to keep it from going rancid...

 

[Rockn_M]

If you mashed close to 165 the current gravity is probably as low as it'll go. I would wait it out for a few more days to make sure.

 

[oylerck]

If you mashed close to 165 the current gravity is probably as low as it'll go. I would wait it out for a few more days to make sure.

Sounds good, I'll let it settle again and then transfer to another bucket. I need my primary for another batch because my fridge is empty. Beer evaporates too quickly.

 

[RM-MN]

Sounds good, I'll let it settle again and then transfer to another bucket. I need my primary for another batch because my fridge is empty. Beer evaporates too quickly.

Nope, nope, nope. If you are going to transfer it anywhere it goes into a carboy that is a little smaller so the beer fills it right into the neck. This minimizes the headspace so that the dissolved CO2 can fill the space above the beer. Racking to another bucket invites infection. Buy another fermenter bucket to make the next batch.

 

[oylerck]

Nope, nope, nope. If you are going to transfer it anywhere it goes into a carboy that is a little smaller so the beer fills it right into the neck. This minimizes the headspace so that the dissolved CO2 can fill the space above the beer. Racking to another bucket invites infection. Buy another fermenter bucket to make the next batch.

This bucket is smaller... gallon and a half smaller. It was a frosting bucket from my place of work that I have cleaned and sanitized. Airtight too.

Or I can transfer to a keg and cap with co2... I was hoping to bottle this one, but if that's what I need to do that's fine.