Problem with Wyeast 1968

[amarks6]

I'm fermenting a Porter with W 1968 London ESB yeast.

Admittedly, I'm at the lower end of the fermentation temperature (18 degrees), but after 1 week, fermentation seems to have stalled.

No action in fermentation lock and refractometer readings taken 48 hours apart are steady at 1025 - still a way to go.

Should I move fermenters to a warmer spot - or is it too late now?

Throw in another yeast?

Cheers,
Rummy

 

[Phoney]

Common problem with this yeast, it gets lazy and goes to sleep. Ive given up buying it for this reason.

Give it a gentle stir with a sanitized spoon and warm it up to 20 - 22C.

 

[bullsneck]

Are you correcting your refrac readings in the presence of alcohol?

Here's a link to a calculator to assist you...
http://onebeer.net/refractometer.shtml

 

[ianh]

Common problem with this yeast (and some other British yeasts). You need to rouse the yeast. I use a paint stirrer to get the yeast off the bottom of the fermenter. Generally ferments out at 18C.

Another thing to watch, if bottling it tends to overcarb.

 

[amarks6]

Many thanks everyone for your invaluable advice.

No, I wasn't correcting refrac readings, so will go do that now.

So much to learn!

Cheers,
Rummy

 

[JDW81]

Another thing to watch, if bottling it tends to overcarb.

It sure does. It will take a few months before it is over done, but you'll need to under prime by 10-15% ish to keep a lid on it.

 

[warra48]

I feel your pain.

It was discussed in this thread at length.
WY1968 was one of my culprits, amongst other UK yeasts.

http://aussiehomebrewer.com/topic/69537-uk-liquid-yeast/