Stuck Ferment

[DUANNE]

hey guys
just after opinions on what to do with my chocolate porter. it started at 1059 and has now stopped dead at 1020. first i raised temp a degree a day up to 23,started at 19.then swirled for a day or two.then i stirred it right up from the bottom of the fermenter and ive racked yesterday and still no movement. i started with a good 3 litre starter off the stirplate and shook the **** out of the wort for aereation and it fermented the first day and a half like a machine then just stopped dead. dropped like a stone.all i really want to know is has anyone else noticed this with the 1882 yeast and what would other poeple do. im of half a mind to just keg it but would like a few more points attenuation. it is tasting good though so im not sure.by the way i mashed at 68 and beersmith tells me its only 64.8 percent attenuation.

View attachment Recipe.bsm

 

[black_labb]

havnt had a look at the recipe as i believe it is beersmith which i dont have.

1020 seems high, but it could be reasonable. not sure on the details of the yeast or the grains in the mash. alot of the darker grains used in a porter have more complex sugars that the yeast will have more difficulty breaking down. the 68* mash will encourage some of the complex sugars as well. seems like it could be about right but i dont have much practical experience and none with that yeast.
if its tasting good its probably pretty close to there. i'd leave it in the racked fermentor for a bit longer and see how it goes. either way it will help get rid of sediment and may drop the fg a bit.

 

[Screwtop]

hey guys
just after opinions on what to do with my chocolate porter. it started at 1059 and has now stopped dead at 1020. first i raised temp a degree a day up to 23,started at 19.then swirled for a day or two.then i stirred it right up from the bottom of the fermenter and ive racked yesterday and still no movement. i started with a good 3 litre starter off the stirplate and shook the **** out of the wort for aereation and it fermented the first day and a half like a machine then just stopped dead. dropped like a stone.all i really want to know is has anyone else noticed this with the 1882 yeast and what would other poeple do. im of half a mind to just keg it but would like a few more points attenuation. it is tasting good though so im not sure.by the way i mashed at 68 and beersmith tells me its only 64.8 percent attenuation.

Well you managed to post all of your sample recipes dated 2003

:huh:

Screwy

 

[newguy]

1.020 is a bit high but I've had batches with roughly the same OG finish at about 1.020 too. If you're very anxious to get it down a little more, try adding some yeast nutrient and some diammonium phosphate. By yeast nutrient, I mean the tan powder (some HBS call it yeast energizer). DAP is a white substance that looks like clumpy salt (some HBS call it yeast nutrient).

Mix 3 tsp of yeast nutrient and 1 tsp of DAP in about 250ml of near boiling water and keep the mixture hot for ~2 minutes to sanitise. Dump the works into the fermenter while still hot but don't attach the fermentation lock right away - the cooling steam will form a vacuum and suck the lock into your beer. Gently swirl the fermenter 2x per day for a few days.

This is my standard trick for getting a fermentation going again but sometimes it doesn't work if the yeast is well and truly done.

 

[Stuster]

I recently used this yeast on a bitter and it did finish a bit higher than I expected. It finished at 1016 on a 1046 beer which is only 65% attenuation. So you might be just about done.

 

[RdeVjun]

I have a couple of low- mashed ESBs finished and had no such under- attenuation hassles, also have a stout that is probably finishing in the mid- teens, but it started much higher and was mashed warmer so I'm really not that surprised.
Quite an interesting taste, not quite the sub for 1469 I was thinking it might be, but a very useful alternative. Has anyone had clarity issues? Have to say for me it is as clear as a bell, it drops bright with ease, very pleasing all round. :icon_cheers:

 

[THE DRUNK ARAB]

I recently used this yeast on a bitter and it did finish a bit higher than I expected. It finished at 1016 on a 1046 beer which is only 65% attenuation. So you might be just about done.

I used the same yeast as well on a 1055 bitter and it finished at 1017. I fermented it at 12C for almost 3 weeks and it seemed stuck at 1020 so ramped up temp to 18C for a week and it finished at 1017.

C&B
TDA

 

[gjhansford]

The way I understand it ... the high mash temp and the high proportion of dark grains (don't have beersmith so couldn't open your recipe to check the actual percentage) ... means you won't go much lower than 1020. That my experience anyway. I now mash at between 63 and 65, especially when there's a lot of dark grain in the bill. I would say that your porter will be a bit sweet, that's all.

When this happened to me I made another batch of a lighter beer which I made sure was well attenuated (using US05 yeast) and blended the two. Good enough for Newcastle Brown ... good enough for me!

:icon_cheers: ghhb

 

[manticle]

I mash dark grains reasonably high and don't usually get 1020 as an FG unless I'm making a cream stout. Haven't used that yeast though.

Could try the old trick of taking a sample, getting it to 25 degrees and shaking the **** out of it to find what the FG should be.

 

[DUANNE]

okay im completely computer illiterate so buggered up the recipe bit.
but any way this is sitting on 23 now and still hasnt moved at all. im thinking it is most likely done as it actually doesnt taste sweet against the hop bitterness and the bitterness off the cocoa,it is actually quite drinkable infact. i put some wyeast nutrient in the boil so hopefully that side of things is alright.i think i will leave it till friday and if it still hasnt moved by then ill just crash it and keg in a week or so.thanks heaps for all the advice its atleast good to know this isnt out of the realms of possibility for this yeast and helps to reassure me it should be good anyway.

thanks dwayne

 

[felten]

Might not help, but this is an interesting read anyway http://www.braukaiser.com/wiki/index.php?t...st_Ferment_Test

 

[braufrau]

It must be the weather. I've just tested a dubbel and its at 1.022. Started at about 1.065.
Tastes nice. Very caramelly. Been on the heat mat at 18C for almost 3 weeks.
Think I'll give it a swirl and couple of days and see what happens.
3787 was the yeast, so you'd think it would attenuate OK wouldn't you? Maybe I mashed warmer than I thought.

edit: just added some bread yeast to the hydrometer sample and put it on a plant propogation mat at 30C. Will be interesting to see the SG in a couple of days!

 

[braufrau]

Well the "fast ferment" went to 1.012. But its full of suspended yeast. Any ideas how much diff. that makes to the SG?
And the beer went to ... umm .. too many bubbles to tell really ... .1.020!! Damn!

edit: 3 tsp of bread yeast in a hydrometer full of water at 15.4C is 1.016. Now i'm hopelessly confused.

 

[braufrau]

So today the beer is at 1.016. 6 points just from "rousing the yeast". I must keep that in mind next time.
But I am glad it wasn't my mash. That would have meant I had no idea what I was doing.

 

[bconnery]

okay im completely computer illiterate so buggered up the recipe bit.
but any way this is sitting on 23 now and still hasnt moved at all. im thinking it is most likely done as it actually doesnt taste sweet against the hop bitterness and the bitterness off the cocoa,it is actually quite drinkable infact. i put some wyeast nutrient in the boil so hopefully that side of things is alright.i think i will leave it till friday and if it still hasnt moved by then ill just crash it and keg in a week or so.thanks heaps for all the advice its atleast good to know this isnt out of the realms of possibility for this yeast and helps to reassure me it should be good anyway.

thanks dwayne

I was given the advice that this yeast was a low attenuator and should mash lower.
I'd say with a dark beer and a 68 mash temp 1020 is quite possible where you are going to end up.
I mashed at 64 for both of mine, a bitter and an ESB, and got in the lowish 70s attenuation wise.