Amber Ale Ferment Stalled?

[moodgett]

cheers for the additional ideas,

you seriously reckon pitch another yeast? its strange because like i said this one took off, dropped 4 gravity points and stopped again, its wierd i have never had this happen before

 

[buttersd70]

I wouldn't pitch another yeast. Given that it's already been swirled, racked, and dropped another 4 points, it shows that the yeast is alive and kicking, and doing it's job. I just tend to think it's done.....

if you're that worried, draw some off and do a fast ferment test.

 

[moodgett]

hey butters

i havnt racked this one off but have swirled and re pitched
what is the fast ferment test? im intrigued

 

[buttersd70]

You draw off ~300mL into a longkneck, preferably after swirling. You shake the bejebus out of it to oxygenate it. You store it under warm conditions (mid to high 20's, or even into low 30's). You shake it intermeittently, as often as you can, to push out co2 and to introduce oxygen. (or even put it on a stir plate). edit: this isn't capped, by the way. I use a baloon over the bottle, some use clingwrap, or if in pet use the cap, but loose, so it's not sealed.

with continual oxygenation and co2 removal, and very warm ferment temps, it will attenuate out to it's absolute maximum. Yeast like lots of oxygen, and warm temperatures....we just don't brew that way, because it produces off flavours. So, basically, you're forcing it to ferment out to it's maximum ability, disregarding the narky flavours that this will produce....you then take a grav reading, and this will be the absolute lowest that the yeast will be able to ferment that particular wort to. You then compare that attenuation to the attenuation of the main batch....the main batch shouldn't be able to attenuate to quite that degree, and should be a couple of sg points higher. In this case, I'd say ~2-4 points difference.

 

[haysie]

An analogous thread was popping around last nite. Thanks BribieG What a word.
All the above points are good, perhaps not in my preferred order i.e stalled, transfer the lot. Works better than swirling.
Number#1 Should be, Pitch more yeast. Overpitch is always better than underpitch IMO, 3068 users kick me at your pleasure.

Moodgett, rephrase Number#1 Pitch more yeast to start initial fermentation. Its a subject of divide, nevertheless underpitching is more common in homebrewers than overpitching. The pros n cons, the particular yeast character will also be subject for scrutiny.
I wouldnt advocate pitching more during fermentation.
Dig had good results "most times" simply feeding a stalled ferment with nutrients, as so often many ways to achieve the same outcome.

 

[manticle]

sorry mate

i cant believe i had that brainfart, what in the hell was i thinking.

next brew im definitely racking to secondary and bulk priming

We've all had those chief.

 

[Screwtop]

Simple answer: OG 1.041 latest gravity from posts 1.016 AA% = (OG-FG)/OG = Average Attenuation of 60% pretty poor for any yeast in a 1.041 wort. Seeing as your yeasts get going and then stop, looks like cold night time temps are causing the yeast to drop out.

Screwy

 

[buttersd70]

OG 1.041

if you take that as read....
if you look at the ingredients and volume, as opposed to the supposed measured....it doesn't add up.

 

[moodgett]

Sorry the light liquid malt extract was 1.5 not 1 typo on my part

 

[buttersd70]

Sorry the light liquid malt extract was 1.5 not 1 typo on my part

I kinda figured that already....and taking that into acount, for 21L, I still get 1044/16 AA of (i forget exactly now, I worked it out this afternoon) ~64%. or just under.

 

[moodgett]

if you take that as read....
if you look at the ingredients and volume, as opposed to the supposed measured....it doesn't add up.

hmm could i have added or done
something wrong?

 

[Screwtop]

I kinda figured that already....and taking that into acount, for 21L, I still get 1044/16 AA of (i forget exactly now, I worked it out this afternoon) ~64%. or just under.

64% AA is more like what you would expect from an extract wort gravity around 1.055 with kit yeast. Still think it's dropping due to fluctuating temps.

Screwy

 

[moodgett]

64% AA is more like what you would expect from an extract wort gravity around 1.055 with kit yeast. Still think it's dropping due to fluctuating temps.

Screwy

maybe that is the case I will rack it off tonight and maybe put I out in their living room although I think that might get too warm (aircon)

we are supposed to put another brew down on Saturday, I really want his one to finish up

 

[moodgett]

maybe that is the case I will rack it off tonight and maybe put I out in their living room although I think that might get too warm (aircon)

we are supposed to put another brew down on Saturday, I really want his one to finish up

ok when i rack it off do i need to add any more dex? i read somewhere to add like 75gms or something to make a bit of co2 to protect the wort?

 

[drsmurto]

The act of racking will knock out some of the CO2 that has dissolved, giving you a CO2 layer so no need to add any dex.

Racking can also kickstart the yeast so you may notice the SG drop a few more points.

EDIT - fat fingers

 

[moodgett]

The act of racking will knock out some of the CO2 that has dissolved, giving you a CO2 layer so no need to add any dex.

Racking can also kickstart the yeast so you may notice the SG drop a few more points.

EDIT - fat fingers

cheers smurto

yeah i have tried most other methods so hopefully this will squeeze out the extra couple of points
btw im making your Golden ale K&B version on saturday, looking forward to it :lol:

 

[moodgett]

cheers smurto

yeah i have tried most other methods so hopefully this will squeeze out the extra couple of points
btw im making your Golden ale K&B version on saturday, looking forward to it :lol:

*UPDATE*

went over last night to rack it off

whoa at first got a cider whiff on the the nose , had a taste and it had a slight cidery/bitter character to it
after racking it seemed settle and had a yeasty/spicy kind of smell, maybe the fuggles?

so the main thing is we will see if it has dropped tomorrow morning at all, if it hasnt improved im seriously thinking of dumping this one and cutting my losses, and putting on the golden ale, definitely going to buy a good yeast and dont use kit yeast ever again, what a pain in the arse.

thanks to everyone for your input into resurrecting this brew, its all going into the notes of my what/what not to do's