This doesn't make sense to me

[crowconor]

So I brewed Biermuncher's "Helles Belles" recipe but I added a little more hops two weeks ago, and I used a starter. My OG was almost spot on at 1.042, and had a very strong fermentation for the first week. But now, in the second week it appears nothing is going on, and the gravity is only 1.02. The temp of the carboy stayed pretty constant at 60-65. I am totally baffled as to why it stopped abruptly, I was thinking about re pitching another vial of yeast, but I just wanted to see if anyone had some suggestions before I pitched it. Thanks.

Recipe Type: All Grain
Yeast: WLP029
Yeast Starter: Yes
Batch Size (Gallons): 11
Original Gravity: 1.041
Final Gravity: 1.009
IBU: 16.4
Boiling Time (Minutes): 90
Color: 3.7
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 14 Days at 66 degrees
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): Racked to kegs and chilled

 

[Jeremy_N]

Here are some things I would look at if I were you. I'm not sure what you have and have not considered.

Mash temp. Are you sure your thermometer was reading accurately? At times they need calibrated. Could your mash temp have been too high?

Fermentation temp. I know you said it stayed between 60-65 the whole time. I have a fermentation chest freezer that heats and cools the fermentor to lock it in so it never deviates more than a couple degrees. Prior to using this, I would have fermentations that stopped at 1.020.

Yeast health. You said you used a started. How big? How old was the yeast? Did you use a stir plate?. The real question is did you actually pitch enough healthy yeast ?

When you did pitch your yeast, were you able to cool the wort down to 60 prior to pitching? Pitching too warm could shock the yeast.

How are you measuring the gravity? If a hydrometer, is that calibrated? If a refractometer, are you adjusting the reading? There are calculations you would need to do to get a true reading from fermented beer with a refractometer.

You could try to swirl the yeast back into suspension and warm it up. This may encourage the beer to continue to ferment. If that doesn't work, you could pitch some more yeast.

 

[crowconor]

I used a calculator to determine the amount I needed for my starter, and used a stir plate to create the starter. I cooled it down correctly, my thermometer is accurate, and I use a calibrated refractometer. I keep the carboy in a closet off of my family room which is heated, so it usually stays pretty constant. I am starting to think the carboy cooled down to much. I am gonna warm it up and swirl and see if I get any activity over the course of a day or two. If that doesn't work I think I will re-pitch. Thanks

 

[snccoulter]

Ahh but did you adjust for the fact you had made alcahol. I fubared that part. http://www.northernbrewer.com/refractometer-calculator/ you need all the info to make it work. Adjust for the fact the refractomiter has wart not clear liquid amd thne for the alcahol that was made

 

[hunter_le five]

Once fermentation started, did you continue to use your refractometer for SG readings, or did you switch to a hydrometer?

In my experience, refractometers are useless once alcohol production has begun. Yeah, I know, there are calculators and formulas to compensate for the alcohol in refractometer readings, but they never seem to be accurate to me, not even close compared to my hydrometers. Thus I always use a refractometer while brewing, and a hydrometer while fermenting.

I've had beers that seemed under-attenuated according to my refractometer, but dead on according to my hydrometer.

 

[nckmsn]

So I brewed Biermuncher's "Helles Belles" recipe but I added a little more hops two weeks ago, and I used a starter. My OG was almost spot on at 1.042, and had a very strong fermentation for the first week. But now, in the second week it appears nothing is going on, and the gravity is only 1.02. The temp of the carboy stayed pretty constant at 60-65. I am totally baffled as to why it stopped abruptly, I was thinking about re pitching another vial of yeast, but I just wanted to see if anyone had some suggestions before I pitched it. Thanks.

Recipe Type: All Grain
Yeast: WLP029
Yeast Starter: Yes
Batch Size (Gallons): 11
Original Gravity: 1.041
Final Gravity: 1.009
IBU: 16.4
Boiling Time (Minutes): 90
Color: 3.7
Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): 14 Days at 66 degrees
Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp): Racked to kegs and chilled

Why don't you taste it. 1.02 would be easy to notice if you taste it. In my opinion a lot of the time, putting science aside and using your own senses works very well.

 

[hottpeper13]

I have fermented with the 3 Kolsch strains(029, 2565, & kolschII)
1- they all do best at 60 to 64 primary
2- 3 to 4 weeks primary
3- secondary for 3to 4 weeks at 60
These yeast are slow,but the flavor is worth the wait. I also was thinking of using the 029 for a Belguin

 

[PDX_T]

+1 for refractometer vs. hydrometer. do you have a hydrometer?

 

[JLem]

Not to pile on, but I agree that this sounds like an issue with using a refractometer post-fermentation - uncorrected, you'll get a gravity reading that is greater than your true gravity. There are algorithms to correct for it (not sure of their accuracy), or you can use a hydrometer.

 

[iaefebs]

Your readings are from a refractometer with a dual scale. One side has Brix and the other side SG, right? You are reading the wrong side of the scale. Sorry to say but those cause more confusion than any other instrument. I hate the fact that they are even sold. If you shift your gaze to the Brix side and forget the SG side. You will see that your OG was around 10.8Brix and now is at 5.2Brix ... using a calculator to convert to SG means your current gravity is 1.008.

 

[crowconor]

Ahh this whole refractometer adjustment argument makes it seem like that was the problem. I am definitely going to test the gravity tomorrow with my hydrometer. Thanks everyone

 

[Jeremy_N]

Measure with the hydrometer. But also, my experience with the refractometer conversion calculation using beersmith was right one everytime I tried the calculator and compared to the hydrometer reading. I know some people say they don't have success with the calculators, but check it out for yourself.