Wheat Beer Stuck Fermentation

[Sunfire96]

I could be wrong, but when a beer had a sweet spot of 5.4 to 5.7, then being off by 0.5 or even 1 might not matter. But this is almost a ph of 9. That seems too far off

But water pH of 8.8 does not mean that the mash pH will be 8.8

 

[Minbari]

But water pH of 8.8 does not mean that the mash pH will be 8.8

Definitely, you would have test the wort after dough in. But water for my beer start life at 7 and get to 5.5 or so after dough in.

If it tastes good, then do it.

 

[BarbarianBrewer]

I copied @Packarmz recipe and check the water calculator. My water pH is 7.5 and the water calculator said the mash pH was 5.85. I then set the water pH to 8.8 which caused the mash pH to rise 0.01 to 5.86. So a significantly higher water pH did not have much effect on the mash pH. But you definitely need to treat your water because a mash pH of 5.86 is quite high. The easiest way to reduce mash pH is adding and acid like Lactic or Phosphoric acid. The water calculator has a nice feature where you can specify the acid you are using and what your target pH is and it will tell you how much to add.

In the edit recipe screen:

 

[Craigerrr]

Don't bottle it until you have had 3 days with no change in gravity. This doesn't mean check it every day for three days, it means leave it for three days, then check again. Trust me Jim I'm a Canadian!
Seriously though you don't want to bottle to early and risk bottle bombs! Messy, and actually quite dangerous!

 

[Ward Chillington]

Have you given the Carboy or your bucket the "swirl treatment " to wake up and get in the yeast back in suspension? Craiger's 200% right about the yeast working on thier own schedule and speaking of....tell us a little more about the pitch, how much? How old? What temperature delta was there?

 

[Sandy Feet]

Did you underpitch or use old yeast?
Not a popular idea with the pros, and it is more expensive, but try some bottled spring water the next time. It does work well with a small scale homebrewer.

 

[Minbari]

Depending on the wheat beer, I will under pitch on purpose. With a Hefe you want those clove and fruit flavors. So in addition to temp, pissed off yeast works great

 

[Sandy Feet]

I was just thinking out loud more than anything else- Multiple posts about under-attenuating wheat beers. I want to do one of these - maybe this year. Seeing the issues of others might prevent some mistakes on my part.
As far as the pitching temp above, I can't get below 78 with my tap water unless it sits in the refrigerator for a few hours. 82 might not be ideal, but it should work if it gets cooled quickly enough. I can get to 78 with a wort chiller in Florida during the summer if I put a bag of ice under the kettle when it is cooling. With a wort chiller, you should be able to push down a few more degrees.
I haven't used that yeast either, but don't Hefes like to ferment a little warmer? low-mid 70s?

 

[Minbari]

I was just thinking out loud more than anything else- Multiple posts about under-attenuating wheat beers. I want to do one of these - maybe this year. Seeing the issues of others might prevent some mistakes on my part.
As far as the pitching temp above, I can't get below 78 with my tap water unless it sits in the refrigerator for a few hours. 82 might not be ideal, but it should work if it gets cooled quickly enough. I can get to 78 with a wort chiller in Florida during the summer if I put a bag of ice under the kettle when it is cooling. With a wort chiller, you should be able to push down a few more degrees.
I haven't used that yeast either, but don't Hefes like to ferment a little warmer? low-mid 70s?

Depend if you are trying to enhance the banana or the clove. Clove would be cooler