1st beer got stuck :(

[VCTFernandes]

Hey guys,

I already have some meads under my belt and I decided to brew my first beer.
Using DME, I ended up with a post-boil volume of 1 gallon and SG of 1.046.
Fine, cooled it down in an ice bath and prepared my US-05 for the job. Here, I screwed up.
First, I used standard rehydration procedure for wine yeast (which is 15min with water at 40°C) and not what Fermentis recommends.
Second, Mr. Malty said that I required only 0.2 packets, so I only added 2.4g of yeast. (Got greedy/stupid... Yeast is pricey down in South America...)
Well, fermentation started like 24h later (a very discrete krausen and slow bubbling at the airlock) and it was very slow. 6 days have passed and fermentation has virtually stopped at 1.028 (krausen is gone and no more bubbles).

Would it be wise to pitch more yeast or should I just let it go and hope for the best?

 

[TCGoose]

Your rehydration sounds fine to me. What temperature did you ferment at? Are you measuring gravity with a hydrometer or refractometer?

 

[VCTFernandes]

Temperatures have been around 68F (65~70) and I use a hydrometer which I believe to be reliable as it measures 1.000 in distilled water.

 

[TCGoose]

Hmmm, that's strange. US-05 usually ferments fairly actively (big krausen). I'd let it keep doing its thing for at least another 4 days or so. Then measure gravity again and see where it's at. I'd think overpitching wouldn't stall fermentation, although it may produce off flavors. Another thought, how old was the yeast?

 

[cernst151]

I had a stuck fermentation recently. It sat at 1.036 for about 2 weeks. I added a half cup of sugar and 2tsp of yeast energizer and it kicked things back into gear and got down to my target 1.015 within a week.

 

[VCTFernandes]

The lil' beasties were packed in Sep 2012.

Hmm... I have energizer and nutrient here... Should I add both?
Here they are: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Yeast-Energ...355?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item23266982e3
http://www.ebay.com/itm/FERMAX-Yeas...114?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item53efd9e8da

 

[cernst151]

I'd say add both but maybe start with a little under half of what each recommends. If I remember correctly my yeast energizer recommended 1/2 tsp per gallon. I'm not sure if it's necessary but I added table sugar too which gave the yeast something simple to munch on and I think helped wake them up and get them eating again.

If you haven't already, you might even want to start by just stirring up the trub from the bottom of your fermenter. That will often get things moving all on their own. Still, I don't see any reason not to add the energizer anyway.

 

[unionrdr]

Since it's past initial fermentation,just swirl the fermenter to stir up some yeast. Then warm up a lil bit to get the yeasties active again. It might take a day before you see renewed activity.

 

[VCTFernandes]

Added a little bit of nutrient+energizer and stirred the carboy to mix things up... Let's hope for the best

 

[cernst151]

Let us know how it goes.