First Time Porter

[Primolandia]

Hello brewers!

Long time lurker, first time poster. I am very new to the brewing game, with only a few batches in the belt and all of them failures.

I'm trying to brew a porter, the recipe is here
https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/713396/japan-chocolate-porter

As you can see, it had a very high OG of 1.080, but it seemed to be going well after I pitched. Lots of activity for a solid week, then it stopped bubbling. At that point, I took a gravity reading of 1.050, and again 3 days later and got the same result. I plan on leaving it in the primary for another week, then transfer to secondary to add cacao nibs for a couple days.

My question is, should I expect the gravity to reduce further if I just leave it as planned (even though I can't see any activity), or should I pitch again to help it along?

 

[J A]

With only 50% base malt you'll have trouble with attenuation but .050 is not where it should stop. S-04 is notorious for stalling. Rouse the fermenter by swirling the heck out of it and make sure the temperature is plenty warm - 70F or thereabouts. Pitching more yeast is unlikely to help but if no improvement, re-krausening with a small, very active starter might do some good.

 

[Hogarthe]

I second the above....

 

[GFHomebrew]

Yep that sux 30 points fermentation is nothing for that yeast and it's not like their swimming in high alcoholic beer. Something must of went wrong to cause them yeast to stall here. The transfer to secondary may introduce a little more o2 and stir up the yeast again for fermentation.
As above keep it warm to encourage the yeast to keep fermenting.

 

[Primolandia]

Thanks for the help. The yeast has awoken!
Just like a child who won't do as they're told, all it needed was a violent shaking.
(kidding, please don't hate me)

 

[Head First]

Thanks for the help. The yeast has awoken!
Just like a child who won't do as they're told, all it needed was a violent shaking.
(kidding, please don't hate me)

Your good, you didn't say red headed step child.(that'll get em goin)
04 falls asleep somtimes and just needs woke up.

 

[Primolandia]

Perhaps I spoke too soon. There was some definite activity for a couple days, but today the gravity is STILL at .050
I'm about to brew a 10L batch of Pale Ale, with White labs yeast this time. If I make a starter I should have enough cells for the pale ale and this stuck porter.

Should I transfer it to a secondary before I pitch it or leave it the primary after a good swirl?

 

[Hawkbox]

I'd just leave it in primary personally.

 

[Recurring Session]

Interesting to see the Goldings used as a FWH and the Magnum @15. I think this is fine, and will work out great, but it caught my eye as something that more often would be switched around.

 

[Primolandia]

That was done out of necessity.
I only had that amount of hops on hand so I thought it better to add them in that order

 

[J A]

That was done out of necessity.
I only had that amount of hops on hand so I thought it better to add them in that order

Not sure why that's better...adding the Magnum at 60 and the Golding at 15 would have given you 84 IBUs. I routinely use a half ounce or so of Magnum as a 60 minute bittering charge in batches twice that big.
Not that there's any problem with using them as you did. the magnum will add an interesting fruitiness at the end.

 

[Primolandia]

I'm still trying to wrap my head around grain balance, so hops are still a complete mystery to me.
Certainly this site has been very helpful, with so many recipes to look at, sometimes it seems like hops can be a free-for-all.

 

[Ward Chillington]

From one nube to another and a porter lover as well....I suggest you try something basic at first....despite the local flavor

https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/568225/fuller-s-london-porter

I did a Midwest kit as my first (London Fog) but this one looks pretty close with the Fuggles hops. I've had stalled fermentations that I just thought were fast but as I look back now with a modicum of understanding, the Safale04 at a higher than suggested tempature leads to a fair but not great finished product if it stalls.

Like J A says "Keep brewing"