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Sorry I haven't got back to this sooner.
There seems to be a lot of confusion around the caramel/crystal malts, so i'll try to clarify it for you.
From JP How to Brew;
Caramel Malts (may be steeped or mashed)
Caramel Malts have undergone a special heat "stewing" process after the malting which crystallizes the sugars. These sugars are caramelized into longer chains that are not converted into simple sugars by the enzymes during the mash. This results in a more malty, caramel sweet, fuller tasting beer. These malts are used for almost all ale and higher gravity lager styles. Various crystal malts are often added in half pound amounts to a total of 5-25% of the grain bill for a 5 gallon batch.
The Kit you brewed is an extract kit with steeping grains. The steeping of the grains you had in 165° water is fine.
The rest of your process seems fine. I think what has happened is the yeast you pitched was old or over time improperly stored and was less viable than a fresh packet.
There is a potential fix to your problem if you want to spend a little more time on your beer.
Get a fresh pack of Nottingham and a new Hydrometer.
Check your beer with the new hydrometer to verify the reading.
If the reading is the same or close, then here's what to do.
1. Sanitize a medium sized vessel. (a growler or qt. canning jar will be fine)
2. Boil about a quart of water and let it cool to about 100°
3. Add about 2 oz. of the cooled water to the vessel and sprinkle in the yeast.
4. Keep the warm (75-85°) and let the yeast properly re-hydrate for 20-30 minutes.
5. While the yeast is resting, pull about a cup of your beer out of your fermentor and mix it with an equal part of the boiled/cooled water.
6. Now you will have a diluted beer solution you can start adding back to the yeast vessel. Do this in small additions of about a 1/2 cup at a time. When you see activity in the vessel, add another 1/2 cup until you have added it all in and it's actively fermenting.
7. Make sure as your adding the mixture to the yeast vessel that you're allowing the temperature to fall into the temperature range of the main beer.
8. Add the actively fermenting "Starter" to the main beer.
This should restart the fermentation and it should finish up in a few days. I would likely transfer the beer into a clean vessel prior to starting this to get it off all the Trub and old yeast.
Also, sanitation in this whole process is key.
Good luck if you haven't already bottled.
Feel free to call me at my shop if you have any other questions or need anything.
Brian
There seems to be a lot of confusion around the caramel/crystal malts, so i'll try to clarify it for you.
From JP How to Brew;
Caramel Malts (may be steeped or mashed)
Caramel Malts have undergone a special heat "stewing" process after the malting which crystallizes the sugars. These sugars are caramelized into longer chains that are not converted into simple sugars by the enzymes during the mash. This results in a more malty, caramel sweet, fuller tasting beer. These malts are used for almost all ale and higher gravity lager styles. Various crystal malts are often added in half pound amounts to a total of 5-25% of the grain bill for a 5 gallon batch.
The Kit you brewed is an extract kit with steeping grains. The steeping of the grains you had in 165° water is fine.
The rest of your process seems fine. I think what has happened is the yeast you pitched was old or over time improperly stored and was less viable than a fresh packet.
There is a potential fix to your problem if you want to spend a little more time on your beer.
Get a fresh pack of Nottingham and a new Hydrometer.
Check your beer with the new hydrometer to verify the reading.
If the reading is the same or close, then here's what to do.
1. Sanitize a medium sized vessel. (a growler or qt. canning jar will be fine)
2. Boil about a quart of water and let it cool to about 100°
3. Add about 2 oz. of the cooled water to the vessel and sprinkle in the yeast.
4. Keep the warm (75-85°) and let the yeast properly re-hydrate for 20-30 minutes.
5. While the yeast is resting, pull about a cup of your beer out of your fermentor and mix it with an equal part of the boiled/cooled water.
6. Now you will have a diluted beer solution you can start adding back to the yeast vessel. Do this in small additions of about a 1/2 cup at a time. When you see activity in the vessel, add another 1/2 cup until you have added it all in and it's actively fermenting.
7. Make sure as your adding the mixture to the yeast vessel that you're allowing the temperature to fall into the temperature range of the main beer.
8. Add the actively fermenting "Starter" to the main beer.
This should restart the fermentation and it should finish up in a few days. I would likely transfer the beer into a clean vessel prior to starting this to get it off all the Trub and old yeast.
Also, sanitation in this whole process is key.
Good luck if you haven't already bottled.
Feel free to call me at my shop if you have any other questions or need anything.
Brian
