Stuck Ferments

[Ross]

I've had a few stuck ferments in my time, thankfully very few these days - but on the occaision I have & when lifting the ferment temperature & time have not worked; I've tried rolling, stiring, repitching active yeast, even adding more attenuative strains & have NEVER managed to get the Fg to drop any lower.
Do these methods really work, does stirring up the settled yeast, really improve over the yeast still in suspension? I'm highly sceptical it makes any difference h34r:

Cheers Ross

 

[Doogiechap]

G'day Ross,
I had a Belgian Wit with an OG of 1053 (your recipe is a cracker) sitting at 1020 after 12 days and not budging.... Upped the temp from 20 to 24 and swirled the trub/ yeast with a sanitised spoon and it dropped to 1014 after another 4 days. That's the first time I've attempted it but will certainly do it again to shed a few more points
Cheers
Doug

 

[brendanos]

Ross - Have you tried modiferm? I would prefer to avoid it, but have used it in a few instances to motivate sluggish ferments and have had pretty good results.

 

[Ross]

I know there are enzymes & the like, but I'm happy to go with the final result without these. I'm just interested if anyone has actually found that stirring alone has actually restarted a definately stuck ferment.


cheers Ross

 

[Adamt]

Yep, done it a couple of times during winter when the brew dropped too low overnight, nothing happened when warmed and a gentle swirl has got things finished in the past.

Yeast completely floccing out can definitely be a cause of stuck fermentation, along with low temperature, lack of viable yeast, too high alc% for yeast, etc.

 

[Kai]

I know there are enzymes & the like, but I'm happy to go with the final result without these. I'm just interested if anyone has actually found that stirring alone has actually restarted a definately stuck ferment.
cheers Ross

Yes, it has worked for me alongside raising the temperature. Pitching more yeast has also worked before. I have also had stuck ferments that haven't moved at all. It depends on why your ferment stuck in the first place.

 

[hbg]

I've had a few stuck ferments in my time, thankfully very few these days - but on the occaision I have & when lifting the ferment temperature & time have not worked; I've tried rolling, stiring, repitching active yeast, even adding more attenuative strains & have NEVER managed to get the Fg to drop any lower.
Do these methods really work, does stirring up the settled yeast, really improve over the yeast still in suspension? I'm highly sceptical it makes any difference h34r:

Cheers Ross

I assume that uou are using a good quality beerkit, with a reasonable yeast?
eg Morgans, Muntons, Beermakers, ESB, Thomas Coopers (NOT Coopers std/Int'l), Brewcraft, or Blackrock.
Otherwise, did you add an updatesd yeast such as Safale or Saflager.

There is a wineyeast known as EC1118 (Premier Cuvee), which is also known to kickstart Spirits, so I assume a similar principle would apply to beer.

 

[NRB]

I assume that uou are using a good quality beerkit, with a reasonable yeast?
eg Morgans, Muntons, Beermakers, ESB, Thomas Coopers (NOT Coopers std/Int'l), Brewcraft, or Blackrock.
Otherwise, did you add an updatesd yeast such as Safale or Saflager.

There is a wineyeast known as EC1118 (Premier Cuvee), which is also known to kickstart Spirits, so I assume a similar principle would apply to beer.

Ross brews AG and uses good quality yeast...

Ross I recently had an APA OG 1.055 stuck at 1.020 - I swirled the fermenter for a couple of seconds and it dropped to 1.012 within 2 days.

 

[deebee]

Yep, some stuck ferments just stay stuck for me. I have definitely had times when stirring has done nothing. After a week or so I have just given up and bottled, always grossly under priming to avoid bombs.

But usually a good rousing will get a few more points out of a stuck ferment, especially if you get in early, prevention rather than cure. When using a high-floccing yeast, I will usually give it a good stir on day 3 to keep it in suspension. This definitely wards off a stuck ferment.

But my approach to stuck ferments has changed a lot. These days, if it is stuck and there is room in my fermenting fridge, I just leave it. I have left stuck brews for 5-6 weeks on the primary yeast cake at the upper end of the appropriate temperature range and found them to eventually come good. Autolysis is the emperor's new robes.

 

[eric8]

I have this problem right now. i have an Amarillo fresh wort that is stuck at 1020. i have swirled it a couple of times and nothing has happened :blink: . It has been in primary for 2 weeks now!! Should i try swirling again and for longer?
Eric :angry:

 

[brendanos]

Have you tried updatesd yeast?

 

[eric8]

Have you tried updatesd yeast?

No. Don't know if i will add any more yeast. It tastes pretty good so I might just keg and do another one.

 

[brendanos]

Sorry, my tounge was in my cheek with that post.

What temp did it begin life at, and what temp has it been sitting at for the two weeks?

 

[eric8]

:blink:
it's been around the 19 to 20 mark pretty much the whole time. I gave it another swirl and if nothing happens then it's straight to the keg with 'im h34r:
Eric

 

[deebee]

...or if there is no urgency, just leave it at those temps for another month or so.

 

[mika]

I swirled a stuck ferment...nothing.
I racked the stuck ferment....nothing but I could see the trub bubbling like mad once the brew was off it, so thought it can't be the yeast.
Raised the temp....nothing.
Pitched another yeast...it dropped the last 4 or so points in a couple of days.

What actually did it in the end, not sure as it was only 3-4 days between trying each thing....I was getting impatient. It was my Christmas case beer and I was on a schedule ! Didn't turn out great, but nobody complained about it h34r:

Edit: Sepling...wasn't good, even by my standards.

 

[chillamacgilla73]

Best combo for me is.......
* Daily gentle agitation - Rock/swirl the fermenter slowly so it doesn't splash in an attempt to rouse the yeast and get cells back into suspension.
* Raise the temp 3ish degrees for a couple of days - Fusels and autolysis havent been a problem.
* Return temp back to original
* Leave to ferment on the yeast cake 2-3 weeks after expected completion date

A second pitching of the original strain or closest relative in the yeast bank hasn't really helped for me.

I had a lot of probs with stuck ferments when brewing extract and partials - has not been much of a problem so far with AG.....he says rubbing his rabbits foot.

 

[bonj]

Dunno if it's what did it, but I had a ferment stuck at 1.020 after 2 weeks. I rocked the fermenter, and raised the temperature. After another week and a half it only dropped another 3 points to 1.017, and stayed there. Whether it would have done that without the rocking and temperature rise is open to speculation.