How to fire up fermentation (I should know this...)

raise the temp and give 'er a little shake. Nothing above 70 or 72F. Don't open the lid, just a very gentle swirl for a few seconds. 160 is a mash out temp. Conversion halts at this temp and you may be stuck with a high FG.

You may also consider adding some Notty or some 05 yeast to see if it will chew a little more sugar out of your beer. Hydrate either of these before pitching.

 

Why wouldn't you raise the temp over 72 on a beer that has already attenuated ~60%. It cooled off, by probably close to 5 degrees and 002 throws a lot of diacetyl. at the very least it should be warmer to clean that up. I would have no problem going up to 74-75?

Another thing you might be able to do is add a bit of yeast energizer. Its good for stuck fermentations.

 

Yes raise the temp. You're probably safe to open it up and stir gently, as long as you keep everything sanitized. If necessary, pitch more yeast, as a last resort. There's a chance its fully fermented already, but I'd be wary to bottle without trying a few alternatives first.

 

i'm in a very similar situation. oatmeal stout og 1.055 stuck at 1.020 with 1028. was down to 1.020 after 4 days and still there after 2 weeks- started fermentation at 62 (was a slurry and feared blowoff as volume was high in the bucket) raised to 66 over 3 days.

i'm on a bit of a timeline as a case is going up to buffalo for a friend's wedding new year's weekend. had roused the yeast and raised temp to no effect. pitched rehydrated s-04 to try to take it down a bit more.

as a fail-safe i'm brewing another 3 gal tomorrow in the event i need to blend.

as noted your mash temp was high and all available sugars may have been utilized. how about the taste? is it overwhelmingly sweet and cloying?

 

Beano

 

It's amazing that what started out as a joke in BYO (I think) keeps coming back as a real recommendation. Beano would be way more aggressive than the malts's own enzymes were in the mash (whether a normal mash or a too high temp mash). I suppose if you want a beer with very little body, it would actually work though.

 

Ever tried it? I dont think it would hurt a mild, which is supposed to have a light body. I guess a better answer would be to raise the temp, rouse the yeast, if that still doesnt work try amalyse powder.

 

No, I haven't. Have you? I have, however, read about many people's experiments ending in failure.

 

I have. It does a great job in lowering the final gravity. A bit too much of a great job. I wouldnt recommend it for any beer that doesnt require a low FG. My buddy had an imperial pumpkin beer that got stuck in the 1.040 range. We hit it with some beano and it dropped a little below the 1.010 range. Its really a last resort type of thing. I would mess with the temp, rousing, re pitching, and amalyse powder first but if youre in a pinch with a small beer it may be worth a try. BYO did do an experiment with it, not sure how serious they were with it. Beano probably shouldnt have been my first suggestion (too early).

http://www.byo.com/stories/wizard/a...can-lower-the-carbohydrates-what-do-you-think

 

Heh. Yeah, that was the joke article. It was then followed up (in another issue I think) with a recommendation of using artificial sweetener to restore the lost sweetness.

 

I don't know about that article, but here's another with a recipe to make 21% ABV homebrew. I have not tried it though.

https://www.byo.com/stories/techniq...ll-grain-brewing/51-21-alcohol-all-grain-beer

 

Without knowing any mash/grist details or anything that would suggest fermentability of your wort, my first thought is that you are simply dealing with the Fullers strain's tendency to drop out as soon as it goes below 65. Although 4 days seems a bit slow for this strain/this gravity to be done anyway. Actually IME it doesn't seem to like reducing temp at all - it gets finicky with me if temp is not constant/increasing throughout fermentation. If in a cool environment I always raise ambient temp to account for the reducing beer temperature as the heat of primary fermentation dies down. I think this strain is great fermented at 68F, warming at the end.

After it floccs out early, I have never had success swirling it back into suspension or by raising the temperature. This strain and Trappist High Gravity are the worst I've encountered in this respect. They seem to practically paint themselves to the bottom of the fermenter and quit. Obviously YMMV. I take the good with the bad since I love the speed and flavor profile of the strain.

On a side note, if raising the temp and rousing the yeast does not work, and you bottle condition, I feel like there's a good chance when you awaken the yeast with the priming sugar it'll eat a bit more than you want and you end up with overcarbed beer at best.

In short, if it does not restart, I'd add a little bit of some sort of fermentable as I warmed to make sure this yeast is truly done before I bottle conditioned. Or after it cleans up most/all that diacetyl, keg and enjoy what you've got.

cheers--
--Michael