Triple Belgian stopped fermentation .... need lower FG

[BLACKBEARDNY]

i have a triple belgian in fermentation for 11 days now. OG was 1.087 . first 3 days there was a ton of activity everything was going great , then it slowed for another 3 days and died out. so 6 days in i check for my fg. i get 1.033. i waited 2 more days to see if it would move but it did not. ( using S-33 yeast @ 68f for the first 6 days ) so i strapped a brew belt on my bucket and got my temp up to 75f ( as per the advice i got from my LHBS ) and gave the yeast a gentile stir to get them back into suspension ( as per the advice i got from my LHBS ) waited 24 hours and nothing has changed , still 1.033 . so i re pitched another packet of s-33 @75f this past sunday ( as per the advice of my LHBS ) and i checked my gravity this morning and still did not budge. So what im asking is i need to get down to 1.017-1.020 range . can anyone suggest a fix for me please ?

 

[Kaz]

What was the recipe? All grain, extract or partial mash? Did you use any simple sugars? If so, when did you add them? Going by what you have said so far, I would say there is nothing fermentable left for the yeast.

 

[jbguzzi]

I had somthing like this happen to me, i pitched some champagne yeast since its more tolerant to alcohol. I waited a couple weeks and it was good, not exactly sure if it was the time or the champagne yeast. I did not see any real activity after repitch. If you try repitching again make sure to rehydrate properly.

 

[Poobah58]

What are you using to determine gravity? A refractometer perhaps?

 

[BLACKBEARDNY]

This was an extract kit

6.6 lb. Light LME
3 lb. Pilsen DME
1 lb. Light Candi Sugar
8 oz. Maltodextrin
the Og for the recipe calls for 1.083-1.086 , i was right there @ 1.087
the fg for the recipie calls for 1.017-1.020 , i am stuck @ 1.033

the yeast was Safbrew S-33.
I have read that the Safbrew S-33 is an early finisher and does not always perform well to hit fg.

i know i already pitched 2 packs of Safbrew S-33 , but if it does not budge after 3-4 more days is it safe to say i am done @ 1.033 or can i pitch a different yeast to reach my 1.017-1.020 goal ?

 

[BLACKBEARDNY]

What are you using to determine gravity? A refractometer perhaps?

yes i am using a refractometer

 

[rayfound]

Measure FG with a hydrometer.

 

[highgravitybacon]

This was an extract kit

6.6 lb. Light LME
3 lb. Pilsen DME
1 lb. Light Candi Sugar
8 oz. Maltodextrin
the Og for the recipe calls for 1.083-1.086 , i was right there @ 1.087
the fg for the recipie calls for 1.017-1.020 , i am stuck @ 1.033

the yeast was Safbrew S-33.
I have read that the Safbrew S-33 is an early finisher and does not always perform well to hit fg.

i know i already pitched 2 packs of Safbrew S-33 , but if it does not budge after 3-4 more days is it safe to say i am done @ 1.033 or can i pitch a different yeast to reach my 1.017-1.020 goal ?

Maybe there's a solution. Here's my solution: that yeast sucks, it's not Belgian, and businesses should quit packaging it in their kits. There is no good dry Belgian yeast. None. You absolutely need liquid yeast.

Now, the damage is done. Since that yeast is notorious for this, you have two options: warm it up to perhaps 78F and give it a few weeks. Two, make a healthy yeast starter, wait until it is actively fermenting and toss that in. If you just sprinkle dry yeast in your beer, it will do nothing.

 

[ngunsch]

Similar thing happened to me, and many Belgian noobs have had this prob. There are a bunch of threads here about this from many, many brewers. Anyway, two things:
1. Are you using a coversion tables with your refractometer? If not, that's part of the problem. Alcohol skews refrac results. Use this calculator

http://seanterrill.com/2012/01/06/refractometer-calculator/

He also has all the math if you really want to geek out.

2. When my Belgian recently stalled, I added a starter of 3711. It will take your gravity way down. It ferments anything. There are also a bunch of threads here about this yeast, too.

Oh, and make sure you keep your temp up and controlled.

 

[beeber]

If you're not in a hurry, wait it out. It will get there, eventually.

 

[Denny]

99% certain it's a refractometer correction problem. Also, 2 comments for the future...maltodextrin has no place in a tripel. And has been mentioned, S-33 is not a Belgian yeast and will not give you the characteristic tripel flavor.

 

[BLACKBEARDNY]

ill check it again tomorrow night with a hydrometer . i am pretty patient when it comes to waiting around for things to be finished, so i will have no problem waiting it out. If my gravity reading is lower ill wait till the weekend if not ill still wait till the weekend and pick up a pack of 3711 and hope for the best.

 

[BLACKBEARDNY]

99% certain it's a refractometer correction problem. Also, 2 comments for the future...maltodextrin has no place in a tripel. And has been mentioned, S-33 is not a Belgian yeast and will not give you the characteristic tripel flavor.

It was brewers Best kit . But i will put that in my notes for things that don't belong . hopefully this will be my last extract for a while, i just needed to fill a void in my brewing schedule till i start doing AG. finally got all my equipment ready to go. thanks for the info everyone i really appreciate it.

 

[sweetcell]

pick up a pack of 3711 and hope for the best.

be sure to get the 3711 going in a starter first - you want those cells in chomping mode before hitting the half-fermented beer that contains alcohol.

i like this refractometer calculator: http://onebeer.net/refractometer.shtml

and what everyone else said about the yeast and malto... the makers of that kit should be shot. i'm sure it'll make a tasty beer, but don't dupe people by calling it a tripel. call it a strong belgian ale (belgianish would be more precise).

 

[Denny]

ill check it again tomorrow night with a hydrometer . i am pretty patient when it comes to waiting around for things to be finished, so i will have no problem waiting it out. If my gravity reading is lower ill wait till the weekend if not ill still wait till the weekend and pick up a pack of 3711 and hope for the best.

Plugging your figures into Sean Terrill's calculator, I get this...

Original Gravity: 1.0834 (20.1°P)
Estimated Final Gravity: 1.007 (1.8°P)
Alcohol by Volume: 9.9% (8.1% ABW)

You're at 1.007 now. Your beer is done!

 

[BLACKBEARDNY]

Plugging your figures into Sean Terrill's calculator, I get this...

Original Gravity: 1.0834 (20.1°P)
Estimated Final Gravity: 1.007 (1.8°P)
Alcohol by Volume: 9.9% (8.1% ABW)

You're at 1.007 now. Your beer is done!

So i guess my mistake here is that i was taking my FG readings with my refractometer and not my hydrometer . You live and you learn.

 

[BLACKBEARDNY]

If i plug in my og brix and my fg brix i get different. og is 22brix and fg is 13brix.

Original Gravity: 1.0881 (21.15°P)
Estimated Final Gravity: 1.0314 (7.91°P)
Alcohol by Volume: 7.2% (5.9% ABW)

 

[ngunsch]

If i plug in my og brix and my fg brix i get different. og is 22brix and fg is 13brix.

Original Gravity: 1.0881 (21.15°P)
Estimated Final Gravity: 1.0314 (7.91°P)
Alcohol by Volume: 7.2% (5.9% ABW)

Disclaimer out front: I am no expert, and pretty much a noob myself . . .

but it seems to me that alcohol would skew those refrac numbers much more than .002. But if those brix are correct, then I got nothing. I'm super curious about what your hydrometer reads. Please update this thread when you get the results.

In the meantime, here's a good thread about Belgians and stuck fermentations (it's only three pages):

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/belgian-tripel-stalled-1-030-a-389281/

Cheers!

 

[Denny]

So i guess my mistake here is that i was taking my FG readings with my refractometer and not my hydrometer . You live and you learn.

Nope, the mistake is not correcting your refractometer.

 

[Denny]

If i plug in my og brix and my fg brix i get different. og is 22brix and fg is 13brix.

Original Gravity: 1.0881 (21.15°P)
Estimated Final Gravity: 1.0314 (7.91°P)
Alcohol by Volume: 7.2% (5.9% ABW)

Yeah, I just realized that and came back to address it. When I did it, I converted the 1.033 FG you gave to Brix. I suddenly realized that ain't gonna work!

 

[BLACKBEARDNY]

Nope, the mistake is not correcting your refractometer.

is there a correction chart for a refractometer ? that may make my life a bit easier .

 

[BLACKBEARDNY]

Disclaimer out front: I am no expert, and pretty much a noob myself . . .

but it seems to me that alcohol would skew those refrac numbers much more than .002. But if those brix are correct, then I got nothing. I'm super curious about what your hydrometer reads. Please update this thread when you get the results.

In the meantime, here's a good thread about Belgians and stuck fermentations (it's only three pages):

https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f163/belgian-tripel-stalled-1-030-a-389281/

Cheers!

i am going to try and take a hydrometer reading tonight if not i will have to do it tomorrow night. ill post up my reading when i am done

 

[BLACKBEARDNY]

Took a hydrometer test. It's 1.030 @60f.

 

[ngunsch]

Interesting. First, I would heat it up a bit. What is the rec temp range? Then make sure you can keep it there for a week. At only 11 days in, you're still pretty early on, especially for a big beer.

If there's no movement after a week, go ahead and make that starter of 3711 and pitch it. It will change the style of the beer, but it WILL get that gravity down to nice and dry.

As an aside, I would also make sure your instruments (hydro and refrac) are properly calibrated.

Let us know how it goes!

 

[sweetcell]

If there's no movement after a week, go ahead and make that starter of 3711 and pitch it. It will change the style of the beer, but it WILL get that gravity down to nice and dry.

actually the 3711 will likely have little taste impact. it won't be growing much in those conditions, and most tastes are created during the reproductive phase.

 

[ngunsch]

That's good to know. Thanks. I pitched some 3711 a couple weeks ago to get a Belgian lower (it stalled at 1.030 after a month due to too cold a basement), and it's now down to around 1.012, and still going. The samples I've pulled are delish, tho not very Belgian-y, which is fine as I prefer saisons to Belgians anyway. But long story short, perhaps what I'm tasting is actually closer to the original intent than I think. Guess the only way to find out is to brew it again and keep the temp up.

 

[highgravitybacon]

That's good to know. Thanks. I pitched some 3711 a couple weeks ago to get a Belgian lower (it stalled at 1.030 after a month due to too cold a basement), and it's now down to around 1.012, and still going. The samples I've pulled are delish, tho not very Belgian-y, which is fine as I prefer saisons to Belgians anyway. But long story short, perhaps what I'm tasting is actually closer to the original intent than I think. Guess the only way to find out is to brew it again and keep the temp up.

Saison is a Belgian style. Wallonia, historically, but not exclusively. Here's a nice article discussing the history.

http://allaboutbeer.com/learn-beer/styles/styles-features/2010/03/saison-flavors-of-the-countryside/

 

[ngunsch]

Haha. As soon as I submitted that reply, I thought to myself, "Someone is going to remind me that saison is a Belgian style." That's why I love this forum.

Right you are. And thanks for the link. I dig it.

Cheers!