Barleywine stuck at 1.060 ... help please??

Well, if you indeed added O2 at this juncture all you did was oxidize the beer. A beer that big needed pure O2, and probably a 2nd dose of O2 at 24hrs or so, a healthy yeast starter, yeast nutrient, good brewing practices, and a little luck. Your yeast starter if you only used a single vial would have needed to be stepped, and much larger than 2L for one of the steps.

What did you mash at, what was your grain-bill, and why did you co-pitch?

 

JohnSnowNW's analysis leaning toward a tasty pancake syrup at best or maybe 'le drain pour?'

Prognosis aint't good if you're stuck at 1060.

 

try some of it! see if it tastes good as a last resort. heck it may not hit your fg but it may taste damn good. For the record, I've never done a barleywine, Strongest beer I have done is a quad and a bdsa. If its stuck it must be done. Like I said try it out. Other info like what John suggested would help too. Herb is hungry and is in the mood for pancakes right now but tis true, if its stuck its probably tasty. not sure about the syrupy part. hahahah!

 

You could always blend it with a smaller beer, getting rid of the sweetness & hitting your gravity - but also losing the style & the booze.

Do it with an IPA & call it an american barleywine?

 

Assuming it is a 5 gals batch you just need to add 1 or 2 rehydrated packs of Nottingham yeast, your beer is going to be fine.
Good luck Sir !

 

I usually try to stay positive but you are fucked. I know this from experience. No amount or strain of yeast is going to fix this.

You can bottle it then shart every time you drink one or blend. Brew up a OG100 and use 3711 to get full attenuation and the ABV. I sharted last time this happened to me.

Good luck!

 

You're already at around 11% abv, I don't think that there is much that can be done. If you're willing to wait a couple of years, maybe pitch a big healthy starter of Brett C. 3711 is also an option, but with the amount of alcohol you'll be dealing with, I don't know that any yeast would do much.

 

I was asking about the grain-bill to see where your sugars were coming from, because many people use crystal to varying degrees in Barleywine which is obviously going to affect your FG. As would sugars like dextrose, cane, table, etc... Just seemed that your original FG numbers were a bit optimistic.

Co-pitching is generally not advised, unless they are known to work well together. A vial of London Ale is not one I would pitch with a starter SD Super, as London Ale has a low attenuation factor and it was going to be completely out performed, especially with only pitching the one vial.

You really have to pitch a healthy starter with beers like this, and with your set-up you definitely would have needed to do a stepped starter, or made a starter with several vials. Not pitching enough yeast had probably the greatest impact on your stuck fermentation.

I can't answer to whether pitching more yeast will help at this point, as I've never pitched into that amount of alcohol.

 

Not a problem. I wish I could help with what to do at this point, but it's just a little out of my element.

That said, it is my understanding that champagne yeast won't be able to consume maltotriose, which I suspect is a large proportion of your residual sugars. There is also the issue with champagne yeast that once you pitch it, you won't be able to pitch any other yeast because it produces a toxic protein that will kill any other yeast. I am not certain that ALL champagne yeast are killers, however.

 

There's a huge difference between saying "you can't realistically hit your FG target in this scenario" and "dump it." Worst case scenario, you enjoy your brew as-is, which you said isn't bad. No need to dump it.

 

I had a big stout that got stuck at roughly the same gravity (1.069). It started at 1.146 plus had an additional 1lb of of candi sugar added during fermentation. Try pitching a decent starter (on stir plate) of White Labs 099 (high gravity yeast). Try to pitch it right after high krausen and decant off as much as possible. Mine got down to 1.019. Other than killing the residual sweetness it didn't alter the flavor profile. Best of luck whatever you decide.

 

I'm with those who said, "pitch more yeast"...next time make a session beer a week before, pitch the whole cake and let the party begin (with blowoff and plenty of headspace)

 

Your beer is only at 55% attenuation, so either you didn't get very good conversion during the mash or your yeast has reached its alcohol tolerance, which could be what is going to cause more problems if you pitch another yeast to finish the fermentation. As far as getting the gravity down to 1.030-ish, consider that Three Floyd's Dark Lord finishes very high, too, but is still a high ABV imperial stout. You may need to expect less attenuation and accept whatever a more alcohol tolerant yeast will give you. Champagne yeast won't do much if you pitch at this point, not would any other wine yeast. You may want to consider the method described in this blog post from themadfermentationist.com: http://www.themadfermentationist.com/2007/11/courage-russian-imperial-stout.html

Good luck!

 

Well, you denatured your enzymes by running off the thin part of the mash where most of the enzymes reside and heating it well beyond 160.This is why decoctions are done with the thick part of the mash. You can add as much Saccharomyces and oxygen as you want and it's not going to attenuate any more. If dumping is not acceptable your only other path is going to be adding a Brettanomyces strain. Good luck!

 

Brew a very dry beer, use some honey or sugar, then Blend the beers together to achieve the happy balance you want in your BW.

 

Do what IkR recommended and see if that doesn't drop it a few more degrees. Make as large a starter as you can....

 

If it were my brew...I'd pitch another vial of the same yeast after making a starter.

I've had a barley wine crap out too soon (1.110 OG stopped @ 1.036; target FG 1.022)
Instead of pitching another vial...I harvested the yeast...made a starter...and re-pitched the slurry.
FG 1.022 and quite tasty months later.