Munton's Traditional Ale LME kit stuck

WillFrites · Sep 15, 2024

Hey all,
I set off my kit three weeks ago to 21l, 750g spray malt and 250g sugar.
Fermentation has been stuck at 1020 for a few days now. I believe the OG was around 1035.

Any advice?

Sandimas · Sep 15, 2024

Can you remember how much yeast was in the packet?

Muntons kits were notorious for stalling at 1020, the so-called "stuck brew", because they only had 6g of yeast with the kits rather than then usual 11/12g required for 23L of beer. Some Muntons kits then has 11/12g packets but some kept with the smaller 6g ones.

Not a lot you can you - adding 250g of sugar and a stir might move it a few points, but the yeast has run out of steam.

An Ankoù · Sep 15, 2024

WillFrites said:
Hey all,
I set off my kit three weeks ago to 21l, 750g spray malt and 250g sugar.
Fermentation has been stuck at 1020 for a few days now. I believe the OG was around 1035.

Any advice?

If the yeast is, indeed, knackered, it will already have given the beer it's character so why not make up a starter from a more "hungry" yeast and pitch it in there. At the moment, you've got a sweet beer with 2% abv.
What yeasts have you got in your "stock cupboard"?

WillFrites · Oct 2, 2024

Sandimas said:
Can you remember how much yeast was in the packet?

Muntons kits were notorious for stalling at 1020, the so-called "stuck brew", because they only had 6g of yeast with the kits rather than then usual 11/12g required for 23L of beer. Some Muntons kits then has 11/12g packets but some kept with the smaller 6g ones.

Not a lot you can you - adding 250g of sugar and a stir might move it a few points, but the yeast has run out of steam.

Hi Sandimas (sorry for the delay), I am afraid I dont tend to look, I am guessing it was between the two to be honest.

WillFrites · Oct 2, 2024

An Ankoù said:
If the yeast is, indeed, knackered, it will already have given the beer it's character so why not make up a starter from a more "hungry" yeast and pitch it in there. At the moment, you've got a sweet beer with 2% abv.
What yeasts have you got in your "stock cupboard"?

Hey An Ankou (also sorry for the delay).

A wonderful idea sadly as a man of limited funds I don't have a stock cupboard. I tend to buy and brew.
But will definitely have to look into getting a few packs on the next order for emergencies.

An Ankoù · Oct 2, 2024

It's been a few weeks. Has the beer gravity moved at all?

A good source of yeast is CML. I've been using their "Ale" yeast to good effect. It's not expensive to start with and if you can buy several packets the discounts are considerable.

MashBag · Oct 2, 2024

Sandimas said:
Can you remember how much yeast was in the packet?

Muntons kits were notorious for stalling at 1020, the so-called "stuck brew", because they only had 6g of yeast with the kits rather than then usual 11/12g required for 23L of beer. Some Muntons kits then has 11/12g packets but some kept with the smaller 6g ones.

Not a lot you can you - adding 250g of sugar and a stir might move it a few points, but the yeast has run out of steam.

I have never considered yeast to work like that. 6g is a little low, but it's not like popping sugar in your tea.

jof · Oct 2, 2024

MashBag said:
I have never considered yeast to work like that. 6g is a little low, but it's not like popping sugar in your tea.

Exactly, otherwise we would never be able to harvest yeast for the next batch, or put the wort onto the previous yeast cake would we.

Paulus · Oct 3, 2024

I have the same problem with the Munton's Conkerwood kit. I have made up a small yeast starter a bit of brown sugar in 100ml (the pack instructions) and left it til it was bubbling. I then stirred the beer for a few minutes in an attempt to get some oxygen in there. After that pitched the starter and raised the temperature from 19 to 22C (2C higher than advised)
It is moving now (about -0.007 per day). I should have used about 300ml of water with some more sugar or wort in hindsight to get a bigger yeast count going.
Next Munton's I'll be making a starter with the wort before pitching, they do seem to be touch and go. The same with simply packs as well

MashBag · Oct 3, 2024

Sprinkle finely. Wait 15. Stir or aerate*. Bugger the instructions.
You are better off without a starter for dried.

I would venture its a preservative in the ingredients rather than an intrinsic yeast issue.

*optional. Yeast manufacturers maintain dried yeast contain the necessary oxygen to get started.

parpot · Oct 3, 2024

Paulus said:
I have the same problem with the Munton's Conkerwood kit. I have made up a small yeast starter a bit of brown sugar in 100ml (the pack instructions) and left it til it was bubbling. I then stirred the beer for a few minutes in an attempt to get some oxygen in there. After that pitched the starter and raised the temperature from 19 to 22C (2C higher than advised)
It is moving now (about -0.007 per day). I should have used about 300ml of water with some more sugar or wort in hindsight to get a bigger yeast count going.
Next Munton's I'll be making a starter with the wort before pitching, they do seem to be touch and go. The same with simply packs as well

I've never had any problems with the Simply range of beers, always fermented down to the expected level!

MashBag · Oct 3, 2024

Tbh starters with low yeast doses are contributing to the problem.

Each time a yeast has to change is substrate (water > wort) it has to adjust again to living in fresh conditions and there are of course losses along the way.

MashBag · Oct 3, 2024

After that. Good temp control & nutrition.

Bitter_Dave · Oct 3, 2024

The OG is unlikely to have been 1035 with the 1.8kg kit and the fermentables you've added. More likely to be 1045 if you filled it to 21 litres, but it can read lower if it has not been mixed evenly (not always easy to do with DME, but should ferment out fine). So your alcohol/attenuation is higher than you think, but the FG is obviously still too high.

The yeast you get with most the 1.8kg can Muntons kits ('Muntons Active') is really designed for use with sugar as 100% of your additional fermentable. This is why they recommend you buy 'Muntons Gold' yeast if you are using DME or LME (although they have stopped selling Muntons Gold yeast!).

I've used the 'Active' yeast you get with the kit successfully with brews made with 1kg of DME, but always added an additional packet of 'Muntons Active' yeast, so pitched double the amount (but they have also stopped selling this too!).

So, it sounds like the the yeast is not really up to the task at hand, as others have said. This may particularly be the case if the beer kit in question has been sitting around at room temperature for a long time, as the viability of yeast decreases over time and the amount provided in the first place is not great.

WillFrites · Oct 15, 2024

Thanks all for the answers.....going to bottle it and see what happens.
I am ready for bottle bombs worry not!

I have show how little i know about homebrewing clearly!

Munton's Traditional Ale LME kit stuck

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