XPA 1051sg has stalled day 9 at 1020sg

[DennisH3]

I put down my Coopers Purple XPA as per listed recipe (only addition 1 cup maltodextrin) on the 5th Dec using 10g safale-5  and temp 18 to 20 controlled in a fridge at 1051sg, it started to ferment well after a day and I added the extra hop pellets in a bag dropped on top on the 11th Dec day 6 from there on the fermentation seemed to drop of and I rechecked on the 15th Dec day 10 and it seems to have stalled at 1020 since, I gave it a light stir yesterday and upped the temp to 20 but it hasn't reactivated? What am I doing wrong? this also happened to my last brew a Lord Nelson 4 sheets clone that started at 1044sg after 4 days of fermentation I added the extra cascade hop pellets?  Day 7 stalled at 1020sg I stirred it, no go, day 10 added 7g ale yeast activated with 100g sugar still dead, left it for another week with no change and tipped it out. I had done 3 brews before this with great success and now 2 in a row that stall at 1020sg what am I doing wrong and how might I save my XPA as it is now day 12 and tastes quite nice ????? PLEASE HELP ME

Edited December 16, 2020 by DennisH3
Need to reword

[Titan]

First off, i would check my hydrometer in water at 20c. It should read approximately 1.000. What was the expected OG and FG. maltodextrin in the quantity you used would only add about 1 point to both OG and FG.

[Shamus O'Sean]

1 hour ago, DennisH3 said:

what am I doing wrong and how might I save my XPA as it is now day 12 and tastes quite nice

You're probably not doing anything wrong.  Sometimes we are just at the behest of the ingredients and the yeast we use.

Titan is spot on.  First check your hydrometer.

It sounds like you have tried all of the usual tricks to re-start fermentation (most of which never work in my experience).

If it were me I would bottle the XPA in PET bottles.  Use half as much priming sugar as usual.  Probably do not age this beer.  The risk of bottle bombs is minimised.

Options to improve it next time around. 

• Aerate your wort as much as possible.  At least give it a really good stir.  There are aeration stones and oxygen bottles you can use, but this is next level
• Use good fresh yeast
• Rehydrate your yeast
• Make a yeast starter like in the Coopers video
• Use fresh brewing ingredients
• Maybe use an enzyme addition (I have not, but others have)

Even following the above advice, you can still get a stalled ferment.  Such is the life of a brewer.

[DennisH3]

Thanks for the advice, I just checked sg today and it's now down to 1016, wow im so happy, leave it s few days and hopefully  get down to 1014 if not and it stabilizes at 1016 I should be right to bottle at that????

 

[Hairy]

Expected FGs are just guides. If you get close and it is stable then it is fine to bottle.

If you end up with a stable reading of 1016 then it is finished.

[MitchellScott]

Considering you added Maltodextrin (which does not ferment), I would say around the 1.016-1.018 mark would be about spot on the where this beer should finish.

Keep in mind your OG/FG are dependent on the in ingredients used. If you add different things in that aren't in the standard recipe, you should expect some outcomes to be different.

As Hairy said, if it stays at 1.016 for 3 days then bottle it as normal, its done.

Mitch.

[King Ruddager]

Do you know about the potential ways a hydrometer can give a false high reading?