Refractometer lesson/stuck fermentation

I suppose the refractometer has been throwing a lot of confusion into this matter. The main reason I mentioned it was because of the inaccurate SG scale and how I didn't notice it until after I had started using it I figured I'd share my "discovery" (even though research I've done after that fact shows that many people are aware of this) in the hopes of helping someone else avoid making the same mistake. Five years in and there's always something new to learn with homebrewing.

I took a reading with my hydrometer tonight, and got a reading of 1.042. Disregarding the erratic readings I've gotten with my refractometer (for whatever reason), the hydrometer confirms the beer hasn't continued fermenting. The sample I tasted seems pretty sweet, even though it's somewhere around 10-11% at the moment, so I want to say that it could continue a bit more. Browsing information across the internet it seems like pitching onto a yeast cake is the best chance of restarting. I'm willing to give it a shot in the hopes of dropping the gravity a bit more; even though the sample I tasted was good it would be better it it was slightly less sweet. Thoughts?

 

So it’s been a while and I figured I would add some closure to this topic.

I decided that I would try to rack the beer on top of a yeast cake so I brewed up a stout I had been planning on brewing anyway. I used Wyeast 1084 Irish Ale yeast; even though the barleywine’s alcohol content was already near the yeast’s tolerance I didn't have many other options so I decided to try it. The stout fermented without any issues, and I bottled it and immediately racked the barleywine on top of the cake. I also added a small amount of corn sugar (~1 oz) and yeast nutrient dissolved in a cup of warm water to try and restart fermentation. I left it at room temps for a couple weeks, rousing the yeast gently halfway through, but didn’t notice any changes in the gravity.

I finally decided to take the risk of creating bottle bombs and went ahead and bottled it. I tried to try and cut some of the sweetness by adding an ounce of Chinook hops to the priming sugar water (before adding sugar) and steeping for a couple minutes. I added it to the bottling bucket and racked the barleywine on top.

I cracked a bottle with a buddy a couple weeks later and the entire 12 oz bottle gushed out. I got to taste a tiny amount and I noticed an odd flavor, but I didn’t dwell to long on it since I wasn’t sure if A) the bottle was infected or B) my sample was oxidized due to the heavy foaming. I ended up taking the risk (although I wore safety glasses and a thicker shirt) and opened each bottle to vent some of the CO2. Oddly enough some bottles were overcarbed and others weren’t. I would suspect uneven distribution of priming sugar solution but adding to the bucket and racking the beer on top has always worked well for me in the past. In any case I opened another bottle and definitely noticed the odd flavor I had noticed before. Almost like diacetyl but with a sort of vegetal flavor. The beer started off bready with some sweeter caramel flavors but the off flavor quickly dominated afterwards and lingered unpleasantly. I’ll have to do some research and see what might be causing these new issues. I might keep the beer around a bit longer to see what happens but I’m not holding out much hope.

So there you have it. Lessons learned? 1) Forget the SG scale on a refractometer. 2) Make sure wort is adequately oxygenated prior to fermentation. I started adding pure oxygen since I ran into this issue and my fementations have started much faster and stronger than before. 3) Double check yeast pitching rates prior to making a starter.