Hello all,
Hope this isn't the millionth time someone has asked this, but with my knowledge of the science I just can't figure out why my mash stopped fermenting..
I started with a 4lb barley 5lb wheat recipe, all grain brew, and my wort read 1.041 gravity at the beginning. It was rapidly fermenting for the first day, but after 3 or 4 days it had gotten down to 1.028 gravity. It's on the 10th day and its still reading 1.026-28. There's a very small amount of activity in the airlock, but the gravity has not fallen any lower.
It's got to be either not enough water, not enough nutrients, too cold, or the yeast died before forming a colony. Given the low alcohol content, all grain brew, 66 degree ferment, and it was going good for a few days I think that rules out all those issues. To be sure I moved it upstairs to ferment at 70 degrees, added a splash of yeast nutrient, and theres no change in the activity or gravity after 3 more days..
It could be my water quality, but here in Cincinnati we have good tap water, and the PH is about 8.8..
I admit I might have made two mistakes. First off, my sparging was a little bad. This is my first brew by myself and the gravity read a little low for what I was expecting. Secondly, I pitched at 82 degrees because I ran all my wort too fast through the plate chiller. Given the yeast survived for a few days I don't think it would be hot enough to cause any issues..
My concern at this point is the alcohol level is way too low, at about 2%. The taste is great but if the yeast is having any issues I don't know if it'll be able to carbonate after bottling..
Please any advice is appreciated. I did a lot of research before attempting and it's hard to come up with an explanation.
Here is my recipe:
https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/1348665/hefeweizen
Thanks in advance,
Marshal
Hope this isn't the millionth time someone has asked this, but with my knowledge of the science I just can't figure out why my mash stopped fermenting..
I started with a 4lb barley 5lb wheat recipe, all grain brew, and my wort read 1.041 gravity at the beginning. It was rapidly fermenting for the first day, but after 3 or 4 days it had gotten down to 1.028 gravity. It's on the 10th day and its still reading 1.026-28. There's a very small amount of activity in the airlock, but the gravity has not fallen any lower.
It's got to be either not enough water, not enough nutrients, too cold, or the yeast died before forming a colony. Given the low alcohol content, all grain brew, 66 degree ferment, and it was going good for a few days I think that rules out all those issues. To be sure I moved it upstairs to ferment at 70 degrees, added a splash of yeast nutrient, and theres no change in the activity or gravity after 3 more days..
It could be my water quality, but here in Cincinnati we have good tap water, and the PH is about 8.8..
I admit I might have made two mistakes. First off, my sparging was a little bad. This is my first brew by myself and the gravity read a little low for what I was expecting. Secondly, I pitched at 82 degrees because I ran all my wort too fast through the plate chiller. Given the yeast survived for a few days I don't think it would be hot enough to cause any issues..
My concern at this point is the alcohol level is way too low, at about 2%. The taste is great but if the yeast is having any issues I don't know if it'll be able to carbonate after bottling..
Please any advice is appreciated. I did a lot of research before attempting and it's hard to come up with an explanation.
Here is my recipe:
https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/1348665/hefeweizen
Thanks in advance,
Marshal