Stuck Fermentation?

[krayzie]

hey guys
got a brew going its
OG was 1050
currently sittying at 1030 after 2 weeks current temp is 18C

ingredients
mount mellick cream ale
1kg light dry malt
500 corn syrup
15 goldings hop plug
muntons gold yeast

its been 2 weeks and the sg is still quite high

whats going on?

thanks for your input guys

 

[newguy]

I've had a few stuck fermentations. This will often save it. Mix 2 or 3 tsp of yeast nutrient (some stores call it yeast energizer) and 1 tsp of diammonium phosphate (DAP) with ~ 150ml of water. The diammonium phosphate is available from HBS. Some of them call it yeast nutrient - confusing I know. It's a white crystalline substance that kind of looks like salt. It has a tendency to form rather loose clumps. Bring the mixture to a boil in the microwave and add more water if it's too thick. Make sure it thoroughly boils and add it to the fermenter while it's still hot. Don't reattach the airlock immediately as the hot liquid hitting the cool beer will form a vacuum and suck the water from your airlock into the fermenter. Gently swirl the fermenter first, then fit the airlock/lid. Keep gently swirling the fermenter once or twice a day. If necessary, add more nutrient/DAP. Just don't aerate the beer. Hope this helps.

 

[itguy1953]

hey guys
got a brew going its
OG was 1050
currently sittying at 1030 after 2 weeks current temp is 18C

ingredients
mount mellick cream ale
1kg light dry malt
500 corn syrup
15 goldings hop plug
muntons gold yeast

its been 2 weeks and the sg is still quite high

whats going on?

thanks for your input guys

Do you know if the Muntons Gold Yeast is a lager or ale yeast? I suspect it is an ale yeast.

If so, have you kept the temp around 18degC for the whole ferment so far, or has the fermenter got colder at some stage. I had a similar problem recently, and once the ferment got to cold (approx 10degC overnight) the ale yeast slowed to a crawl.

I stuffed around with additional heat and champagne yeast, but in hindsight, I should have just added some lager yeast, and left it alone for a few weeks without heat.

Firstly for your brew, I would suggest that you remove the bubbler, and sanitise your hand, put a finger over the bubbler hole, and swirl the fermenter and try and get some of the yeast on the bottom back into suspension. Then replace the bubbler, and maybe increase the temp to low 20's if you can for a day or so, and then you can allow it to drop back to 18degC to finish the ferment.

The yeast should have enough nutrient as you have added 1Kg of LME plus the kit would have over another 1Kg of malt. Yeast only needs extra nutrient if you use lots of Dextrose or sugar in your brew.

If this fails to get fermentation happening, get some Saflager s23 (great lager yeast) from your LBS and add this to your fermenter. Hydrate it first in 250ml of room temp boiled water (say 20-24degc) for a few hours, and then open the lid and pour it in. Use a sanitised container for the hydration. Alternatively, sanitise a glass funnel and dry it in the oven, then cool it, remove the bubbler, and put the funnel in the hole, then pour hydrated yeast into fermenter via the funnel. Replace the bubbler and leave. S23 will ferment at temps well below 10degC, but slowly. So patience is required, but the beer turns out great.

Barry

PS. BTW, 500g of Corn Syrup seems a lot. I normally only add 250g max, and I only do this if I am using a lot of Dextrose for my sugar additive. You have used 1Kg of LME of which will only 80% approx will ferment out. The other 20% gives you the mouth feel and head retention. Corn Syrup is normally only added to aid in head retention, although up to 20% of this will ferment with the right yeast and temp.

 

[rich_lamb]

It might also depend on what exactly that "corn syrup" is. Corn syrup can be a fairly generic name for a wide range of products. Normally I'd expect it to be a syrup of mostly dextrose (glucose) which should ferment readily. If it's actually a syrup of maltodextrin, you will get a high final gravity no matter what you do.

I made a stout once with 500g of maltodextrin and it fremented from about 1.060 to 1.030 and I had all the same concerns about stuck fermentation - in reality the maltodextrin creates a lower limit to your gravity as it doesn't ferment, but it was still pretty good beer!

 

[joshlangmaid]

Leaving beer in a fermenter for an extra day or two after the bubbling stops won't harm the brew in any way?

Thanks.

 

[krayzie]

hmm well i took another reading today and its 1030, is that way too high to bottle?

or should i swirl the fermenter around abit???

i dont know where my LHB shop is lol castle hill area or epping area? in sydney

 

[mika]

1030 I'd say is still too high. I'd try raising the temp a little (say 24degs), doing that and giving the fermentor a shake, with the lid and airlock on so as to not introduce any air to it all. Should get things moving again. If you look under 'articles' I posted a quick guide to common fermentation problems, it's not perfect, but it does some up the usual methods for getting a stuck ferment going again.

 

[krayzie]

thanks for that i will take a look

what is the best way of increasing the temp with no heat pad?

 

[mika]

Electric heater ? Next time you're at the shop, buy a belt (~$35) or heat pad (~$60), good investment.

Or even if you bring inside to the lounge room or whatever (don't tell the missus h34r: ) just to get it blooping again.

 

[krayzie]

lol ok i dont know where my local home brew shop is

 

[pmolou]

i put the fermentor in an esky then fill with hot water then drain the water out when it hits the temp and wrap a towel or sleeping bag around it

 

[krayzie]

thats an awesome idea!

thanks mate!

 

[krayzie]

ok a few days ago i stired it all up and still about the same SG
should i add another yeast pack or should i heat it up more?

or both?

 

[sama]

ok a few days ago i stired it all up and still about the same SG
should i add another yeast pack or should i heat it up more?

or both?

have you increased the temp at all,what temp is it sitting at?

 

[pint of lager]

Just to clarify the corn part.

In America, they use alot of corn to produce their fermentables.

Corn sugar is actually dextrose. Used as extra fermentables to replace plain white table sugar or sucrose in kit and kilo brews. It ferments right out and provides alcohol.

Corn syrup is actually maltodextrin and is a white powder. Used sometimes as a filler in beers to improve body, mouthfeel and head retention. Different grades have different amounts of fermentables. Typically, 20% ferments out, the other 80% won't ferment out. Some people like it, some people hate it. Like was said earlier, 250 gms is ample in a brew.

In Australia, most of our non malt fermentables come from wheat starch, zero to do with corn.

To avoid confusion, use the terms maltodextrin and dextrose.

Using malt extract in a brew also contributes to a higher fg. About 80% ferments out and the rest stays as long chain malt sugars and gives malty flavour, body and also helps with head retention.

Back to the brew in question. There is a link around that allows you to plug in your ingedients and volume and then gives you an expected fg.

For an ale based brew, 20 degrees is a good temperature to aim for.