Stuck Ferment- To Re-pitch Or Not?

[SJW]

This darn Stout i 've got on the go at the moment. The guy at the HBS told me to rack at 1020 and since then has only gone down to 1017. There is 3kg's of malt with roast barley & some Goldings. I made it up to 21.5 litres. It started at 1040. Should i re-pitch another yeast as i have an old 5g pack of coopers stuff in the fridge, if so should i just rehydrate it and stir in gently or will 1017 be as low as it should go? Its been going for a week now with no airlock activity since day 3.
WHAT TO DO? :angry:

 

[Vlad the Pale Aler]

I'm in the same boat here, with a 1968 London special yeast that wont drop below 1.030, started at 1.052 (it came pre-smacked courtesy of Australia post), I think I will use a dried yeast and re-pitch a starter and see what happens, dont fancy drinking at 1.030.

 

[PostModern]

SJW, post your full recipe. By malt do you mean grain or extract?

 

[SJW]

EXTRACT. 1.5kg Beermakers irish stout & 1.5kg of Morgans unhopped Dark malt extract, 75g roast barley & 20g goldings.
The bloke at the HBS said it may not go much further anyway. :huh:
I was going to buy a Safale S-04 yeast but was told the one in the Beermakers was a good one anyway.
I wont be racking again until fermentation has finished. (BUT THATS NEXT TIME)

 

[PostModern]

I just did some quick calcs on the recipe (just counted 3Kg of Dark LME) in 21.5l and 1.041 is the correct OG.

You have very low attenuation here. 57% or so... a good reason not to rack until fermentation is complete, hey? You can rouse a yeast if it's still in primary, but you can't rouse a yeast that's not there.

You could try warming it up a bit and seeing if the remaining yeasties can eat any more. Or make a fair sized starter from an alcohol tolerant strain and see if it can finish the job.

Alternatively, bottle it under-primed (only if gravity doesn't move for a few more days yet) and see how she goes after a few weeks, then months etc.

 

[SJW]

Its only been going for 5 days now so i might just leave it alone for another week and see what happens.

 

[SJW]

i just checked again and it's down to 1015 so i just need to be p... pa...pat..... patien....... PATIENT.