2 stuck + pedio

[BlackSands]

I've had a number of fermentations in the past that have never quite reached the expected FG, finishing a few points higher, but now I have not one but two 'proper' stuck fermentations!  

The first is a 1/2 batch AG stout.   Coopers kit yeast ground to a halt at 1.021 sitting at 18ºC.  It could be that I screwed up the mash and ended up with a lot of unfermentables in there... but I don't think so?   Meanwhile... pedio has now taken hold of this one.  DOH!  The irony there is the fermenter I used, my oldest one, is the container I was currently storing my starsan working solution in.  There was still around 5 litres of usable starsan still sitting in there which I used to sanitise the FV and equipment.   The tap was boiled as is my usual practice.   

The second stuck batch is an M42 fermented pale ale.  It's been sitting at 20ºC and still is, but the SG has stopped at 1.022 and has sat there for a couple of days now.   I'll see how that one goes over the next few days...  

 

Meanwhile, for the stout I've tried the usual suggestions all of which, I might add I'm pretty skeptical about! 

- Stirring up the yeast and getting back into suspension.  I've never read any account of this actually working and it certainly didn't in my case.

- Warming up the FV.  Again, I've never actually read an account anywhere of this actually working either.  It too didn't work in my case.

- Rehydrating and pitching more yeast.  I haven't heard of this one working though I have read some have made a proper starter and had a positive result.  I rehydrated some kit yeast and added that.  Didn't work.

- Another thing I tried was adding some sugar solution.  100g dissolved in pre-boiled water.   My hope was that the yeast would at least take to this and that perhaps would trigger the yeast to then continue to work it's way through the remaining fermentables in the brew.  That doesn't appear to have worked and in fact the SG actually seems a fraction higher now.  And it was when I was adding the sugar solution I noticed signs of pediococcus.    

- I have yet to consider the champagne yeast idea...

 

The quandary now is to decide whether to tip or bottle?  

 

[John304]

Seems like a run of stuck fermentation, I also have a slow one. Kilkenny Irish cream clone, started at 1.040 and 5 days into fermentation still at 1.020, WLP004 Irish ale yeast. Have turned it up to 20.5 and give it a few more days 

cheers

john

[BlackSands]

On 4/17/2019 at 12:29 PM, John304 said:

Seems like a run of stuck fermentation, I also have a slow one. Kilkenny Irish cream clone, started at 1.040 and 5 days into fermentation still at 1.020, WLP004 Irish ale yeast. Have turned it up to 20.5 and give it a few more days 

cheers

john

How's that going?

When I was managing my LHBS I had a run of customers at one time with stuck fermentations... almost seemed like an epidemic! 

Meanwhile, my stuck stout, which I've since re-styled as a Sweet Stout is now in PET bottles.  Interestingly, the sample tasted exceptionally good... very smooth and rounded which was quite surprising.  We'll see how that one turns out in due course! 

As for the PA...   it's come down a few more points over the last couple of days, but it certainly has slowed which is odd behaviour for M42...  normally it's an absolute beast of a yeast and would ordinarily chomp it's way through a brew like this in about 4 days.   

 

[John304]

41 minutes ago, BlackSands said:

How's that going?

 

 

it is now day seven and stable at 1.015, so I would presume that would be the final FG.  Never had a brew finish that high before, anyway I have set it to cold crash and will bottle in 2 or 3 days, fingers crossed, I will reuse that yeast in a dry Irish stout and see if it improves second time round.