stalled primary fermentation

Mumbles

Mumbles

Member
Premium Member
Established Member
Joined
Oct 12, 2016
Messages
31
Reaction score
6
Points
8
Hi guys, my last 5gallon brew is aimed at around 4.5% with an Original Gravity reading of 1.041 with a target OG of 1.008.
Brewday was 10 days ago.

Hydrometer reading after 5 days was 1.030, 7 days at 1.020
After 10 days I'm still on 1.020.

Yeast is Mangrove jacks M44 West Coast and it's been in my cellar at a good consistent 19C.

What to do? And why is it stuck?

Any help will be much appreciated.
 
Mumbles said:
Hi guys, my last 5gallon brew is aimed at around 4.5% with an Original Gravity reading of 1.041 with a target OG of 1.008.
Brewday was 10 days ago.

Hydrometer reading after 5 days was 1.030, 7 days at 1.020
After 10 days I'm still on 1.020.

Yeast is Mangrove jacks M44 West Coast and it's been in my cellar at a good consistent 19C.

What to do? And why is it stuck?

Any help will be much appreciated.
Click to expand...
Hey mumbles glad to help mate.
First is this an extract batch I hear extract is prone to bum out in the attenuation department :oops:.
Second if all grain did ya mash too high?
Third try raising your mash temperature a few degrees and giving it a bit of a swirl to get them lazy yeasties munching.

But yea that is crazy they stalled on ya there mumbles. Maybe that dry yeast pack is ancient and yeast cells were down? I just bought some m54 lager yeast I'll be making a big starter.
Good luck let us know how it turns out cheers:)
 
I don't know why extract would fail to attenuate. Where does extract come from? Grain! The mash is just done somewhere else.
 
jeffpn said:
I don't know why extract would fail to attenuate. Where does extract come from? Grain! The mash is just done somewhere else.
Click to expand...
No it's the way they make the extract jeffpn dehydration causes extra mailard reaction and more unfermantables I was reading an attenuation post in another forum the other day and they had a few extract beers finishing at 1.020 stating it as an extract thing.
 
Thanks Trialben, it was an all grain brew.l When you say "did you mash too high" do you mean too much water? For too long?
 
I think he was referring to temperature. If your mash temp was higher than 158 °F you may not have created very much in the way of fermentables.
 
Yep what thirsty said mash temperature can change fermentability of your wort mash too high and you may endmupmwith a full bodied sweet brew. I've had this happen before with Golden Promise single infusion Mash at 68c an accurate thermometer helps as I think mine is a little variable ;). Mash in mid range is my thoughts. Hope I haven't caused any confusion I am an Aussie remember:p
 
Haha, I'm an Aussie to Trialben, mashing out in the UK.

I mashed at 65C for an hour then pushed it up to 75C for 10 minutes before mash out with a very reliable thermometer.

So is going over 70C at the end where I've gone wrong?
 
Haha, I'm an Aussie to Trialben, mashing out in the UK.

And thanks Thirsty.

I mashed at 65C for an hour then pushed it up to 75C for 10 minutes before mash out with a very reliable thermometer.

So is going over 70C at the end where I've gone wrong?
 
Mumbles said:
Haha, I'm an Aussie to Trialben, mashing out in the UK.

And thanks Thirsty.

I mashed at 65C for an hour then pushed it up to 75C for 10 minutes before mash out with a very reliable thermometer.

So is going over 70C at the end where I've gone wrong?
Click to expand...
No way mate I do this every mash to kill enzymatic activity hey don't ask me the benefits from doing this mash out but I'm sure the kind brewsters in this site may shead some light on why? I usually mash out at 76c if anything I recon by heating the mash up to this temp might release a bit more sugars from your grain bed for your sparge. I haven't done a mash without raising mash to mash out temps.It is a mysterious thing the attenuation halt at 1.020 it's happened to me I'm sure countless others have had the same experience. As Has been said in a similar post take one for the team and brew on brother:)
 
Last edited:
The usual advice to a stuck ferment is to raise temps by a few degrees C , swirl the fermentor to ensure the yeast get back in suspension ( without adding any oxygen to beer ) and play the waiting game .

i dont always mash out , for a BIAB brewer it only makes the wort more viscous , i do sparge to try to catch all my hard won sugars and get them into the boil
 
Cheers fellas, I'll warm the room up a couple of degrees and give it a swirl Mark
 
Mark D Pirate said:
The usual advice to a stuck ferment is to raise temps by a few degrees C , swirl the fermentor to ensure the yeast get back in suspension ( without adding any oxygen to beer ) and play the waiting game .

i dont always mash out , for a BIAB brewer it only makes the wort more viscous , i do sparge to try to catch all my hard won sugars and get them into the boil
Click to expand...
Big Question Mark any efficiency difference? That's my biggie if nothing is gained by mash out then why
 
depends on equipment .
Sparging will make a difference , mash out might not

mashing out is for me just an excuse to apply extra heat to kettle so i can get it boiling faster
 
Mark D Pirate said:
depends on equipment .
Sparging will make a difference , mash out might not

mashing out is for me just an excuse to apply extra heat to kettle so i can get it boiling faster
Click to expand...
True Mark yea I've never not mashed out I do from one of the Homebrewing thing well everyone does it so i just do it because you should:rolleyes:. I've herd the "mash out" releases sugars for sparge makes them more viscis for when dribbling sparge water through the grain bed sounds good anyways. Im sure brulosopher musta done an exbeerment with hot sparge and cold sparge it rings a bell.
I've also herd mash or sparge temp of over 80c releases tannins into wort so I try to keep mash out below this.
 
Last edited:
one thing to note if you fly sparg, mashing out is a must only because 170 is where I start fly sparging and thats also my mash out temp so 2 birds with one stone, although i have been guilty of not resting at 170 for 10 minutes which is what I should do
 
Hey guys, sorry for the delayed update but to let you know I gave the beer a swirl and warmed it up a couple of degrees and whalla, got the gravity down to target.

Thanks heaps for your help and knowledge.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Copyright © 2007-2024 Brewer's Friend, Inc. - Send Feedback - Terms - RSS Feed - Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information

Back
Top