Wat Do I Do?

[floody_lager]

Hey, i put down a coopers european lager a week ago with coopers be2 a goldings hop bag and s04 yeast. it seemed to stall at 1018. i didnt realise this was too high and added finings. its been in a fridge with fridgemate at 18 degrees the whole time. i tried shaking it abit on friday but it done nothing.
Wat do i do? should i add more yeast?

 

[floody_lager]

I just checked my fermenter and the airlock is nearly empty!!! do i fill back up with boiled water

 

[reviled]

I just checked my fermenter and the airlock is nearly empty!!! do i fill back up with boiled water

Yes definately! You might be lucky and get away with it, hoping that the CO2 would be forcing out any oxygen trying to get in...

 

[floody_lager]

ok thanks. wat should i do about the stalled ferment? can i pitch more yeast even though i added finings

 

[reviled]

ok thanks. wat should i do about the stalled ferment? can i pitch more yeast even though i added finings

Have you taken consistent gravity readings? How long has it been fermenting?

 

[floody_lager]

its been going for 8 days now. been at 1018 since thursday, added finings yesterday not thinking it was too high

 

[reviled]

The finings may have stopped the ferment.. I dont know why it would have stalled prior to that, it may have still had a bit of time to go...

What was your OG?

 

[floody_lager]

it started at 1060 but i later realised that was inaccurate coz that sample was wat was in the tap when i poured it in so it wasnt mixed properly. someone said it prob would have been about 1040. i guessed it stopped coz since friday it was 1018

 

[reviled]

Generally if the readings the same two days after the original reading it has either finished or stalled... I dont see why it would have stalled tho if you had it in a fermentation fridge?? So adding more yeast may not help...

Someone else may have some better advice for ya, sorry mate..

 

[floody_lager]

no worries. thanks for the help

anyone else care to offer some advice lol

 

[matti]

When you add fining there are a few thing you need to keep in mind.
One you've mentioned already let it finnish ferment. LOL
The other is to add fining when beer is chilled.
You said it has been sitting at 18 degrees all this time.

The one thing I would do know is to taste it.
If it taste dryish it has done the job.
If you can taste the sugar still you may end up with a sweeter beer then you intended.
Adding more yeast could be an option but not one that I'd recommend.

Next time be more catious b4 adding finings prior end of fermentation.

 

[floody_lager]

but wont adding more yeast help finish the ferment. i think it would only be about 2 or 3% if it stays at 1018

 

[brendo]

I've not had this problem myself, so I haven't had to deal with it, however I was listening to a pod cast this morning and the topic of stuck ferments came up.

What they were saying was that just pitching new yeast would probably not work that well as the original yeast will have chewed up a lot of the nutreints and oxygen that the new yeast will need to get going for a strong ferment.

What they were suggesting was to make a starter with new yeast, get it going and then pitch this yeast - would give it a better go. Incidentally, this recommendation was from the head guy at Wyeast - so it should carry some weight.

Sounds fairly logical to me, but like I say, I have not had to put it into practice. I am sure there are some more learned colleagues on here who may have an opinion about this approach.

Cheers,

Brendo

 

[rich_lamb]

Don't panic. The finings will not have killed off all yeast activity - if there still is much. The OG measurement is the best indication you've got of where you started; other than a quick estimate of how much extract went into how much water..

Sounds like your ferment is finished. High FG is pretty typical with extracts, and there's not much you can do about it. Doesn't mean the beer isn't great though.

In future you may want to just let it ferment for a couple of weeks, cooling down towards the end, and then add your finings (if you want to at all). Give the yeast plenty of time to clean up the flavour, and gravity plenty of time to clean up the appearance. You'd probably still end up near 1.018 though :icon_cheers:

 

[raven19]

+2 for getting consistent FG readings over 2 - 3 days. If consistent, bottle/keg.

 

[andrewg1978]

leave for another week. It will not hurt it one bit sitting on the yeast cake.

I had a brew that would have sat dormant for nearly 10 days due to me being away and busy and it came out fine. Don't rush it, with largers I would not even think about kegging before 14 days (or 30 days if at 10-12deg).

Good Luck

 

[buttersd70]

my 2c is in your other thread, floody...here

 

[np1962]

While relatively new to this brewing caper I can say that I have taken to racking to secondary after 7 days with ales.
Have found that this seems to wake the yeast and I get a couple more points drop. Ferment in a fridge at 18 deg, no problems so far.
I know this is an extra step that opens up the prospect of aeration/infection but done carefully and being as sanitary as possible I am willing to take the risk for a clearer beer in my bottles. I dont use finings. May all change when I start doing Partials/AG and kegging.

Nige

 

[Tao]

Well I have never had a stalled beer but I do know a few tricks from mead making that may help.

1: agitate the exiting yeast, get it back into suspension. (I think you have done that, but give it another try while avoiding oxygenating the beer)
2: I would think that most of the nutrient in you beer has gone so it may well help to add some yeast hulls. If you have any yeast around the house (not baking yeast it contains other ingredients) put about 4g dissolved in 1/3 cup of water then boil for 2 min. that gives you an addition rate of just over 0.5 per gallon (within the limits for mead/wine making). That will give any active yeast cells some usable nutrient.
3: is what you said, re-pitch a yeast. I dont know of any beer yeasts used for starting stuck fermentations but ec-1118 is used in winemaking.

But taste it first and see what it's like.

 

[floody_lager]

i tasted it yesterday and it tastes pretty good. alot better than expected. i think ill leave it til the weekend to let the finings do the job then bottle and just monitor them closely. thanks for the help