Stalled porter

SoccerBrewer

SoccerBrewer

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I have read several posts on stuck fermentation, but didn't see a real relative story, so.....All grain Porter, recipe estimated OG at 1.063 at 50% efficiency, OG was actually 1.070 (I use a quality refractometer). Pitched 2 packs of Wyeast 1028 London ale yeast (last minute brew day decision--no time for a starter) that were very fresh (packaged 7 days prior to pitching) at 68 degrees,(the temp of my basement). Saw first signs of fermentation within a few hours, then fermentation went absolutely bonkers for the next 2 days, then it all came to a crashing halt.....hmmm....ok...checked gravity, 1.035....swirled....checked again a couple days later, now 1.034....swirled again and every few days....now 3 weeks after pitching and still 1.034.....So.......Toss in a high krausen starter? try raising the temp? Thoughts?? Brewers Friend recipe calculator estimates a final gravity of 1.014......quite a ways to go still.....
 
Seems like yoyve done everything right. It sure wont budge. Next thing id do is raise temp by degree or two.

Would a small feed of simple sugar help i wonder just to get the yeast going again?
 
Ditt
Trialben said:
Seems like yoyve done everything right. It sure wont budge. Next thing id do is raise temp by degree or two.

Would a small feed of simple sugar help i wonder just to get the yeast going again?
Click to expand...

Ditto, if that doesn't restart it, then try to rack it to another fermentor and pitch fresh yeast.
 
^^^ Ditto Ditto...

Question... How are you measuring gravity? With your refractometer? or with a hydrometer?

I'm hinting at an anomaly in your measurment.
 
I, too, tend toward measurement error as your problem. That looks like about what a refractometer would read for that beer, once it had fermented.
 
Ahhh.....OK, new refractometer user......I wasn't correcting for the alcohol content....OK...OG was 18 Brix /1.070 (1.072 corrected), final gravity currently is 9 brix /1.035 (1.015 corrected), which is about 7.92 ABV considering my wort correction factor of 1.03....if my calculations are correct.... That makes much more sense.....I have to tell you though if that is correct that yeast was supercharged doing the lions share of fermenting in 2 days time from pitching! I've never had one that fast before!
 
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having a similar issue with a porter, OG 1.070 and FG 1.033 last time i checked (two days ago)
please explain the alcohol content correction - why you convert 1.035 to 1.015?
 
my hydrometer reading was 1.033, i think i will move to another fermentor and pitch fresh yeast tomorrow
 
you have to pitch yeast that will handle the alcohol, also if its high flocculating it can get trapped and go to sleep
 
i used Windsor with this batch, what dry hope do you think will work?
 
dry yeast of course - with a lot of hope...
 
My issue was I was using a refractometer, not a hydrometer. With a refractometer for anything other than OG you have to convert the Brix reading to gravity (Brewers Friend has a calculator). My refractometer was reading 1.034 or about 9 Brix, which when converted taking into account the alcohol content, the equivalent FG is about 1.015. With a hydrometer there is no conversion. Make sense? With yours being a hydrometer reading, if it has been sitting there for more than a couple weeks with no change, then it would be time to do something more.
 
Windsor demonstrates moderate attenuation that will leave a relatively high gravity
 
FG should be 1.015 (7.4%ABV) according to Brewer's friend , i thought Windsor should be a good choice
 
do you think S04 will work for the recovery?
 
SoccerBrewer said:
My issue was I was using a refractometer, not a hydrometer. With a refractometer for anything other than OG you have to convert the Brix reading to gravity (Brewers Friend has a calculator). My refractometer was reading 1.034 or about 9 Brix, which when converted taking into account the alcohol content, the equivalent FG is about 1.015. With a hydrometer there is no conversion. Make sense? With yours being a hydrometer reading, if it has been sitting there for more than a couple weeks with no change, then it would be time to do something more.[/
Click to expand...
Ozarks Mountain Brew said:
it wouldn't hurt, i like it betterthank you
Click to expand...
 
ill do S04 ans hope to reach the target, thanks for your help!
 
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