Final Gravity Stuck On 1.030

[Halfbeak]

I'm currently brewing a beer based on this recipe. It's a 13 litre batch made with 3 kg Maris Otter and 250 g torrified wheat using S-04 at 18 degrees. I gave it 6 days in primary and 7 in secondary. When I went to bottle and measured the gravity and it was 1.030. Beer Smith predicts 1.014 and a very similar batch I made earlier in the month ended up at 1.020. I kept my hydrometer sample and left it at room temp to see if it went anywhere and it hasn't changed over 3 days, maybe 2 points at most, but I had already bulk primed by the time I decided to throw it back in the fridge, so that would explain the slight drop.

Any ideas on the problem or suggestions on what I should do?

 

[seemax]

Swirl your fermentor to wake up the yeast.
Crank up the temp to 20-22C.

Had the same trouble with S-04 , tried everything and no go. It just wont attenuate sometimes.

My advice... give up on S-04... spend the $10 on a Wyeast variety (ESB, british,etc) and re-use.

 

[puffer555]

Ive been having similar attenuation problems with some of my beers lately using S-04.
I've also had significant lag times before any visible signs of fermentation starts.
Ive come to the conclusion that it was probably due to a combination of the following.

1. Not oxygenating the wort enough before pitching yeast.

2. Not rehydrating the dry yeast.

3. S-04 being a strain that typically under attenuates.

To counter this ive been looking at using an air pump, or even some pure oxygen into the cooled wort before pitching.
I'm also about to start making yeast starters using a DIY stir plate to get the required pitching rates, but this is only for liquid yeasts.

It doesn't look like pitching rates are your problem as your batch size is only 13 L.
I would probably at least look at the oxygenation, and maybe think about rehydrating the yeast.
This site talks about rehdration, and seems to make good sense:
http://koehlerbeer.com/2008/06/07/rehydrat...r-clayton-cone/
Anyway, hopefully this may fix it.

 

[Thirsty Boy]

Do a search on S-04

It is notorious for sticking around 1.030ish - raise the temp and swirl as per seemax's advice and it should kick off again. Better to know that its going to do it and start raising your temp a little each day once it hits 1.030, start maybe a degree lower than you otherwise would have, then at 1.030 put it up one, and up another each day for a few days..by which time it should be done and dusted.

 

[Swinging Beef]

Amazuing!
I had an S04 batch stall at 1030, too.
I never knew this.

 

[Halfbeak]

As per everyone's advice, I took the beer out of the fermenting fridge and let it sit at room temp for the past 3 days (~25 degrees in Brisbane lately). I've swirled it a few times to get the yeast going and then I checked the hydrometer. Nothing. Still 1.030. I've got a yeast starter handy (more S-04 <_< ) and am considering dumping some in to see if that kicks things off. What do you think?

 

[WarmBeer]

What temperature did you mash at? Are you sure that your thermometer is accurate?

Both of these could have contributed to you mashing higher that your anticipated temperature, leading to more dextrinous wort. This wont be as easily fermented, leading to a higher final gravity.

Anecdote warning
---------------------
I recently brewed a porter, including a whack of spec malts, and inadvertently mashed too high (my thermometer was out by 4 degrees), just like you, I used S-04. It finished at 1.028, and refused to budge for 3 weeks. I bottled with half the usual amount of sugar to avoid bottle-bombs, and every week make sure I open a bottle to check pressure hasn't built up too much (yeah, it's a hard job, but somebody's gotta do it ) After 6 weeks in the bottle, this porter is still noticably less carbonated than a "normal" beer, so my conclusion is that sometimes, beer wants to stop fermenting at a high SG.

 

[Halfbeak]

What temperature did you mash at? Are you sure that your thermometer is accurate?

Both of these could have contributed to you mashing higher that your anticipated temperature, leading to more dextrinous wort. This wont be as easily fermented, leading to a higher final gravity.

Anecdote warning
---------------------
I recently brewed a porter, including a whack of spec malts, and inadvertently mashed too high (my thermometer was out by 4 degrees), just like you, I used S-04. It finished at 1.028, and refused to budge for 3 weeks. I bottled with half the usual amount of sugar to avoid bottle-bombs, and every week make sure I open a bottle to check pressure hasn't built up too much (yeah, it's a hard job, but somebody's gotta do it ) After 6 weeks in the bottle, this porter is still noticably less carbonated than a "normal" beer, so my conclusion is that sometimes, beer wants to stop fermenting at a high SG.

Mashed at 66. I don't think thermometer accuracy is the issue, as I did this exact same beer with different hops the week before and it worked perfectly. Actually, looking back at BeerSmith, I did a 75 degree, 10 min mashout on this one that I didn't do on the first. Although, even with that, the predicted FG is 1.014.

 

[Wonderwoman]

I had a similar problem last year. you can read the whole thread here , but basically I ended up pitching a yeast starter with some extra DME to get it going again.

good luck

 

[Halfbeak]

Thanks, again, everyone for all the help. I tasted a bit of this beer and it tasted like beer; it was not sweet at all. So I bottled it and put it in a plastic bin in a far away room just in case. While I was brewing up another BIAB today, I may have stumbled on my problem.


I checked the temp on the way to the strike temp (72). It was about 70 and I gave it a good stir and the thermometer shot up to 76. Then it dawned on me how stupid I was. I have a thermometer that clips on the side of the pot, so I probably wasn't getting a good reading. If the temp was substantially higher than I was planning, it seems that would account for the higher gravity, right?

 

[Pete2501]

Thanks, again, everyone for all the help. I tasted a bit of this beer and it tasted like beer; it was not sweet at all. So I bottled it and put it in a plastic bin in a far away room just in case. While I was brewing up another BIAB today, I may have stumbled on my problem.


I checked the temp on the way to the strike temp (72). It was about 70 and I gave it a good stir and the thermometer shot up to 76. Then it dawned on me how stupid I was. I have a thermometer that clips on the side of the pot, so I probably wasn't getting a good reading. If the temp was substantially higher than I was planning, it seems that would account for the higher gravity, right?

Sounds like that and s04 being a shit head.

 

[manticle]

Thanks, again, everyone for all the help. I tasted a bit of this beer and it tasted like beer; it was not sweet at all. So I bottled it and put it in a plastic bin in a far away room just in case. While I was brewing up another BIAB today, I may have stumbled on my problem.


I checked the temp on the way to the strike temp (72). It was about 70 and I gave it a good stir and the thermometer shot up to 76. Then it dawned on me how stupid I was. I have a thermometer that clips on the side of the pot, so I probably wasn't getting a good reading. If the temp was substantially higher than I was planning, it seems that would account for the higher gravity, right?

Higher temperature results in lower reading - or did you mean higher mash temp?

In that case yes but 1030 is still way too high.

Are you sure your hydrometer is accurate? Otherwise all the suggestions I would make have already been made besides maybe racking to a different fermenter.

 

[Swinging Beef]

I just threw a SG1075 Belgian Tripel wort onto a S04 yeast cake from an english bitter, and the thing dropped from 1075 to 1015 overnight!
S04 maybe just is shitty in the packet.

 

[thesunsettree]

I just threw a SG1075 Belgian Tripel wort onto a S04 yeast cake from an english bitter, and the thing dropped from 1075 to 1015 overnight!
S04 maybe just is shitty in the packet.

i have used countless s04's brewed at ambient temp brisbane (all seasons). have never had an issue with fg, and have enjoyed the flavour. generally brew out at 990-1004 for kit and bit. recently 1008-1012 fwk. have an ag/partial down at the mo but used us05.
just my experience

cheers
matt

 

[Screwtop]

Watch pitch amounts, rehydrate, do not aerate. Ferment at 20C This yeast does not take low or fluctuating temps well, it will give up and floc out.

24 hours after pitching take off 500ml of wort through the tap and do a forced ferment test (leave it in a warm place in the house around 30 is good), it will be all done in a few days, take a gravity reading - this reading is your max terminal gravity with this yeast in this wort. If this fermentation stops at 1.030 then there is something wrong with the yeast, otherwise the yeast is good and all that is required is good fermentation management to achieve the figure, or close to it for your full wort.

Cheers,

Screwy