Stuck Fermentation: to rack or not to rack?

At this point, it isn't called oxygenating, its called oxidizing, and its bad. You don't want to introduce oxygen now that its fermented. The major problem people have with racking to secondary is it increases the likelihood for oxidation. The decreasing yeast count is not a problem, and contamination is easy to avoid with proper sanitation techniques. Oxidation is the only real thing to worry about, and is also not so bad if you use good technique. Really fresh beer, like homebrew, take some time for the off flavors from oxidation to set in, so if you drink a batch relatively quickly you probably will never taste oxidation. So, racking is up to you. People on this site will say don't do it. Witbiers are good with some haze so the clarifying aspects of secondary are not necessary. It won't help your gravity get down.

 

The way oxygenation works is the fresh pitch of yeast utilize the O2 in their growth phase to help cell health and prepare them for the fermentation process. After the O2 is consumed the yeast begin to chow down. If you pitched enough cells and oxygenated enough and provided the correct temps, all goes well. When there's a breakdown then you may get a stalled fermentation. As was eluded to, O2 after fermentation has begun is not a good thing unless it's a high gravity brew and you want to give another bit of O2 soon after fermentation starts. I've read about this process, never done it. But it needs to be done early in the fermentation.

As far as racking, I myself do not. IMO there are more negatives than positives depending on other factors. I don't believe that a stuck fermentation is an indicator of a need to rack to secondary. If anything you are getting off of the yeast that has stalled which magnifies the problem. Usually within the first 3-4days, your flavor profile is set and you are into the clean up phase of fermentation. If it were me, I'd be inclined to give it a light stir once or twice a day for a few daysto try to get some yeast back into suspension and let it go longer. Maybe even raise the temps a couple of degrees.

 

You need oxygen in the beer pre fermentation to assist in the growth phase. Once it's fermenting, the growth phase is over, and you don't want anymore oxygen in there.



You mention a starter... are you making starters with dry yeast? Theres no need to do so.

I would leave it alone.

Also.. extract or all grain? Something is amiss in your process perhaps, such as the making a starter with dry yeast. What kind of pitching rate are you assuming?

 

Why suppose that? Did you actually measure it three days apart? (Airlock activity is not a measure of gravity change/non-change.)

 

From Daniel J. Leonard :

How to Beat the Stuck Fermentation Monster


1. The Wait and See Approach: This is the first option not only because it requires the least amount of effort, but also because it's the most natural, least invasive, and, given enough time, will almost always work. Fermentation is sometimes a stubborn wonder of nature, especially with high gravity beers or finicky yeast strains like Saison or Ringwood, and sometimes fermentation can take weeks longer than expected. Even under the perfect conditions, just remember, yeast is working on it's own schedule, so have a homebrew and some faith, and let the yeast do its thing.

2. Rockabye Baby: Try giving the fermenter a really slow, "gentle rock". No splashing and no bubble making as you want to avoid oxidation. Hold one hand to steady the fermenter at the bottom of the bucket or carboy, and use the other hand to gently sway the beer back and forth a few times (not more than 5 or 6). The idea is to lovingly rouse the sweet little baby yeast from the bottom of the fermenter, giving them a gentle sway to coax them to get the job done.

3. Some Like it Warm: In combination with the "Rockabye Baby" approach, consider raising your ferment temperature up a bit. Yeast tend to become more active at warmer (not hot) temperatures. Of course every beer has a certain flavor profile to shoot for, and that profile in very large part depends on your fermentation temperature and schedule, but if you've got a stuck ferment, then it's worth possibly taking it above that ideal range if it means getting your beer back on track. For example, if you're fermenting at 62 F, raise it to 68. To avoid off-flavors, be careful not to push the temp too much above that particular yeast's ideal fermentation temp because you might not appreciate the fusels or fruity esters lurking on the warm side of the Force.

4. Call in the Reserves: You can pitch some additional healthy yeast to help finish the job. I'd stick with the same, or similar, type of yeast you started with, or use a more attenuative, clean yeast (a yeast that contributes no real additional aroma or flavor profile); consider, say, a California Ale yeast or an American Hefeweizen yeast before going with a super high-gravity Champagne-style yeast which can make your beer drier than Happy Hour at a Mosque. It wouldn't hurt to make a starter with the new yeast either. By the way, even though larger strains can metabolize longer starch chains like melibiose thereby further lowering the final gravity of a beer by a very small percentage, the attenuation limits of lager and ale strains do not differ in any significant way.

5. Energize: Some brewers have had success kicking their fermentation back into gear by adding a small amount of yeast energizer to their stuck ferment. Most homebrew stores will sell the product which is usually a blend of diammonium phosphate, magnesium sulfate, yeast hulls and vitamin B complex. Luckily, I've never had to use yeast energizer, but it's an option to keep in your back pocket.

6. Chemical Warfare: Some brewers use artificial enzymes to reactivate or increase the speed of fermentation in their beer. When time is money, I can understand the temptation, however whenever possible, try keeping your beer pure and natural and stay away from the Agent Orange.

Well, there you have it. So the next time you're paid a visit by the ever-lurking shadow of the stuck fermentation monster, you’re now armed with a few more tricks to help you stare down one of the feared boogie men of brewing. Oh, by the way, when the nasty head of the stuck fermentation beast (in the form of a fussy little saison, naturally) reared its ugly head in front of Garret Oliver, brewmaster extraordinaire, and after he'd exhausted all the tricks in his book, he was tempted with the choice of adding an artificial, lab manufactured, yeast-steroid cure-all enzyme to the beer to get it going again. That choice was becoming more and more appealing as time went on and the pressure to produce mounted, but Garret stayed strong and sure enough after some time and additional yeast, the brew finished out and went on to win multiple awards. The moral of the story? Well, aside from keeping it real-ale, I guess it's the same moral from so many a brewing tale- RDWHAHB.

Hope this would be helpful

Tebuken

 

How sweet does the beer taste? I am wondering if you are not getting good conversion in your mash and it is leaving behind a lot of unfermentable content in the beer.

 

As has been mentioned, it is not recommended to make a starter with most dry yeast. Re-hydrate, yes...starter, no.

The biggest benefit is that it is cheap and does not require a starter. In fact, with most dry yeasts, placing them in a starter would just deplete the reserves that the yeast manufacturer worked so hard to build into the yeast.

http://www.mrmalty.com/pitching.php

Whether that's what's causing your stalling issues, I cannot say.

 

Either unfermentable dextrins, or fermentable sugars that the yeast didn't finish. Boiling doesn't get rid of either. Based on your question, I'd recommend reading www.howtobrew.com if you haven't already.

 

With a rather weak attenuation so far, you went ahead and bottled after only one reading at 1.021. I wish you luck.

 

I'd be more worried about exploding bottles than the taste of over-carbed beer.

 

Thats only 68 % and some change apparent attenuation.. Not quite super low, but it's very well on the low side of what I've read that people get for that strain.

I would make sure your bottles are in a place where flying glass won't be an issue if it comes to that.

 

This