Stuck ferment......what they look like?

[MitchBastard]

Howdy, 

Day 6 of a current brew. Things were churning around days 2-4. Day 6 things have come to a stand still. Krousen is still decent. Just doesn’t look like much is happening. I’m only asking cause my previous brews have started clearing about now and krousen is usually gone too.

just a slower ferment this time around maybe?

if there’s krousen is that an indication things are still happening or can it sit on the surface regardless?

 

cheers!

[Greenyinthewestofsydney]

Check your hydrometer. Have had ferments which are completed and there is still a krausen there. The bible is the glass in the tube. 

Stuck or stalled ferments are very rare to be honest. Even an underpitch of yeast will still finish eventually if not taking a long time. Some yeasts do stall. 3724 dupont is an example. But even that yeast will finish off given time.

[Otto Von Blotto]

I almost always still have krausen on my brews at 6 days. It's probably at FG but the krausen usually hangs around for another couple of days. As above go by the hydrometer. If it stops at an SG somewhat higher than the predicted FG then it's probably stalled but that's the only real indicator.

[Titan]

+1 to both above. Rock the fv a little as this can be enough to: a, break the surface tension and b, rouse the yeast a little.

[Beerlust]

Hi Mitch.

I took the liberty of looking through some of your previous posts to find out what yeast you are using for this current brew, & I see it is US-05.

Your description of how your brew has behaved (thus far) is pretty much spot on for how this yeast ferments in most situations. It is quite vigorous during the noticeable part of fermentation but does often take a few extra days to clean up & finish off the last few gravity points. A hard, thin krausen is typical with this yeast strain & it often hangs around for quite a while before dropping unlike most other strains.

In the past PB2 has suggested using a decent long stirring spoon & giving quite a few whacks on the outside of the fermenter around the krausen height to dis-lodge it. As has already been mentioned, your specific gravity readings with your hydrometer will tell you when the brew has finished fermenting. Day 6-7 is a good time to take your first.

P.S. I'm still waiting for the release of your demonstration video for this krausen dislodgement Paul. 

Cheers,

Lusty.

[MitchBastard]

Thanks all! I’ll have a squiz at the grav tomorrow. 

 

Mitch