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Date: 10 Aug 2006 20:23:45
From: Lefty Skywalker
Subject: Fermentation stuck midway! Did I do a bad thing?
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I just now transferred my second ale to the secondary, after brewing and
etc. last Saturday. OG 1.045, FG supposed to be 1.012. It's been at a
gravity of 1.018 for at least three days.
1, why did it stop? I have several candidates. I forgot myself and
tossed the dry yeast right in rather than rehydrating it. This could
have affected the yeasties themselves. I put some vodka in the
fermenter (a bucket), but then pressed down on the lid. Some of it was
sucked back into the beer. This could have affected the gravity.
2, here's what I just did: I tossed the dregs from a 1st batch bottle
into the secondary. It seemed like a good idea at the time... add a
little more yeast, yes?
I guess we'll see.
--
Daniel O. Miller
"The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the
fundamental emotion which stands at the cradle of true art and true
science. Whosoever does not know it and can no longer marvel, is as good
as dead, and his eyes are dimmed." - Albert Einstein
WWYD? (-o-) <* > Genesis 49:17
Real email address: darth dot lefty at golf mike able india lima.
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Date: 11 Aug 2006 16:49:32
From: Scott Sellers
Subject: Re: Fermentation stuck midway! Did I do a bad thing?
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Lefty Skywalker <dmille15@hotmail.com >:
>I just now transferred my second ale to the secondary, after
>brewing and etc. last Saturday. OG 1.045, FG supposed to be
>1.012. It's been at a gravity of 1.018 for at least three days.
>1, why did it stop? I have several candidates. I forgot myself
>and tossed the dry yeast right in rather than rehydrating it.
>This could have affected the yeasties themselves. I put some
>vodka in the fermenter (a bucket), but then pressed down on the
>lid. Some of it was sucked back into the beer. This could have
>affected the gravity.
It's probably finished. Many (most?) brewers don't rehydrate dry
yeast. The vodka would lower the specific gravity. A high mash
temp (if doing allgrain) or the brand of extract can each lead to
higher than expected finishes.
>2, here's what I just did: I tossed the dregs from a 1st batch
>bottle into the secondary. It seemed like a good idea at the
>time... add a little more yeast, yes?
>I guess we'll see.
Shouldn't be a problem, but probably won't make much different.
To get significant yeast out of the dregs, you would need to make
a starter.
Scott S
--
Scott Sellers
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Date: 11 Aug 2006 15:40:43
From: John 'Shaggy' Kolesar
Subject: Re: Fermentation stuck midway! Did I do a bad thing?
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On Thu, 10 Aug 2006 20:23:45 -0700, <dmille15@hotmail.com > wrote:
> I just now transferred my second ale to the secondary, after brewing and
> etc. last Saturday. OG 1.045, FG supposed to be 1.012. It's been at a
> gravity of 1.018 for at least three days.
Was it an extract batch, if so what brand of extract did you use? The
FG listed in a recipe is always just a guess. The brand of extract you
use can have a very large impact on what the FG will be. It's possible
that the batch is done, rather than stuck, and that it just finished
with a high FG.
> 1, why did it stop? I have several candidates. I forgot myself and
> tossed the dry yeast right in rather than rehydrating it.
I never rehydrate dry yeast. In my experience, it doesn't cause any
harm.
> This could
> have affected the yeasties themselves. I put some vodka in the
> fermenter (a bucket), but then pressed down on the lid. Some of it was
> sucked back into the beer. This could have affected the gravity.
I don't think the vodka would cause a stuck fermentation or significantly
affect the gravity unless you put in a *lot* of vodka. I'm assuming by
your description that you mean to say you put vodka in the airlock and
some of it got sucked back in when you pushed down on the lid?
> 2, here's what I just did: I tossed the dregs from a 1st batch bottle
> into the secondary. It seemed like a good idea at the time... add a
> little more yeast, yes?
Couldn't hurt, but it may or may not make any difference. It depends on
what is going on. If the batch is done rather than stuck, then extra yeast
won't change much. If the batch really is stuck, then whether more yeast
will help depends on *why* it is stuck.
John.
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Date: 11 Aug 2006 11:35:08
From: David M. Taylor
Subject: Re: Fermentation stuck midway! Did I do a bad thing?
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"John 'Shaggy' Kolesar" <spam@shagg.net > wrote in message
news:slrnedp9cd.c8.spam@weizen.shagg.net...
> On Thu, 10 Aug 2006 20:23:45 -0700, <dmille15@hotmail.com> wrote:
>> I just now transferred my second ale to the secondary, after brewing and
>> etc. last Saturday. OG 1.045, FG supposed to be 1.012. It's been at a
>> gravity of 1.018 for at least three days.
>
> Was it an extract batch, if so what brand of extract did you use? The
> FG listed in a recipe is always just a guess. The brand of extract you
> use can have a very large impact on what the FG will be. It's possible
> that the batch is done, rather than stuck, and that it just finished
> with a high FG.
Assuming you used extract, your beer is probably all done fermenting, not
stuck. Extracts typically quit in the final gravity range of 1.016-1.022,
depending on the brand. They have so much unfermentable sugars that they
just plain can't ferment any farther than that unless you use a specialized
yeast (like wine yeast) or add enzymes (like Beano). This is one good
reason to go to all-grain... with a little practice, you can usually hit
whatever final gravity you like within a couple of points.
>> 1, why did it stop? I have several candidates. I forgot myself and
>> tossed the dry yeast right in rather than rehydrating it.
>
> I never rehydrate dry yeast. In my experience, it doesn't cause any
> harm.
Homebrewers have shown time and time again that rehydration of dry yeast is
a wasted effort. There are so many cells in a packet of dry yeast that you
just don't worry about whether a few of them die because of "sugar shock" or
whatever.
--
Dave
"Just a drink, a little drink, and I'll be feeling GOOooOOooOOooD!" --
Genesis, 1973-ish
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Date: 11 Aug 2006 15:14:08
From: John Bleichert
Subject: Re: Fermentation stuck midway! Did I do a bad thing?
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Lefty Skywalker <dmille15@hotmail.com > wrote:
> I just now transferred my second ale to the secondary, after brewing and
> etc. last Saturday. OG 1.045, FG supposed to be 1.012. It's been at a
> gravity of 1.018 for at least three days.
>
> 1, why did it stop? I have several candidates. I forgot myself and
> tossed the dry yeast right in rather than rehydrating it. This could
> have affected the yeasties themselves. I put some vodka in the
> fermenter (a bucket), but then pressed down on the lid. Some of it was
> sucked back into the beer. This could have affected the gravity.
>
> 2, here's what I just did: I tossed the dregs from a 1st batch bottle
> into the secondary. It seemed like a good idea at the time... add a
> little more yeast, yes?
>
> I guess we'll see.
>
I recently had an IPA "stall" at 1.018 (from 1.066) because I pitched
an inadequate starter (my bad, it was a timing thing). Perhaps you
underpitched, though I've never had that happen with dry yeast, at
least not Nottingham's. That stuff attenuates like crazy. My last rye
pale ale is so dry it makes me thirsty ;-)
-----------------------------------------------
John Bleichert syborg@earthlink.net
The heat from below can burn your eyes out!!
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