Another dreaded "has my fermentation finished?" thread.

[Random Badger]

Stout started out with OG reading of 1042, a vigorous first few days fermentation followed by steady bubbling slowing right down in the last few days. It's now had two full weeks in the fermenter and today airlock activity seems to have ceased so I took a reading which came out at 1020, which is only about 3% alcohol. I believe 1020 is within the realms of credibility for a final gravity, but I am a bit surprised as 1042 was lower than I was expecting to start with and 1020 is higher than I was expecting to finish with.

The fermenter has remained sealed and unmolested thoughout. I've turned the thermostat for the heat pad up to 22C to see if that gives it a final kick. Would experienced folks here recommend leaving it at that or is it worth chancing something more drastic such as opening the fermenter and giving it a good stir? Taste seems ok - despite not having much kick it does appear to be beer.

 

[steve123]

Does seem to finish quite high. Is it very sweet. Have you checked your hydrometer in water. How old was your yeast. How much yeast and what size is the fermenter.

 

[Clint]

Kit or grain? What type of stout? What type of yeast?

 

[Random Badger]

Ritchies Simply 40 Pint Beer Kit - Export Stout fermented with the included yeast sachet and Mangrove Jacks 1.2kg Pure Malt Enhancer and 454g of Lyle's Black Treacle. All purchased recently.

Checked with a second hydrometer today which confirmed the 1020 reading.

 

[Clint]

As you say increase the heat a bit..stirring won't harm.. obviously sterilise your stirrer!
You like treacle..?

 

[Pezza24]

Maybe the yeast is struggling with the extra fermentables? Wouldn't hurt to pop some more yeast in.

 

[Random Badger]

As you say increase the heat a bit..stirring won't harm.. obviously sterilise your stirrer!
You like treacle..?

I added treacle to a stout I made years ago and it came out well.

 

[Random Badger]

Just gave it a stir! The airlock has started bubbling again although presumably that could be existing CO2 getting released. I suppose now it's a case of wait a few days and check again.

If nothing moves would adding yeast nutrient be a good idea?

 

[Random Badger]

The airlock is still bubbling so hopefully the yeast are getting stuck in again. I'll be much happier if it gets down to 1012 or even 1010.

 

[Random Badger]

After a couple of days gentle bubbling airlock activity has stopped again. Gravity reading has only dropped slightly and looks between 1018 and 1020. What's the best option to give it one final push?

1) Add yeast nutrient
2) Add another packet of yeast (I have a Coopers Stout kit here so could use that one)
3) Add live yeast! I pitched an IPA late on Thursday evening and it's currently fermenting vigorously. Presumably I could open it up, scoop some yeast off the top and put it in the stout?

 

[foxbat]

Restarting the very common 'stuck at 1.020' scenario never seems to work (what is it about that number??).

Best reliable bet to get the ABV up would be to add a DME solution. There'll be a calculator somewhere that tells you how much to add.

 

[Random Badger]

Restarting the very common 'stuck at 1.020' scenario never seems to work (what is it about that number??).

Best reliable bet to get the ABV up would be to add a DME solution. There'll be a calculator somewhere that tells you how much to add.

I just looked this up. Sounds as though you get some new yeast fermenting with some malt extract and then add it to the beer. Why would this be much better than scooping some yeast from another active fermentation as I suggested in my option 3 (above)?

 

[foxbat]

I just looked this up. Sounds as though you get some new yeast fermenting with some malt extract and then add it to the beer. Why would this be much better than scooping some yeast from another active fermentation as I suggested in my option 3 (above)?

Try your option 3 first because it's the easiest. If that doesn't work and 1.020 is the end of the road for this wort then a quantity of DME adds sugars that will definitely be taken by the yeast to boost your ABV.

 

[Random Badger]

Fingers crossed, the beer/yeast transplant experiment seems to be working. Airlock activity resumed and as of today the previously stuck stout has made it from 1020 down to 1014 and is still bubbling away. Now I'm starting to hope that it gets a move on and finishes as on Monday the brew will have been in the fermenter for no less than 4 weeks, so I would like to get it bottled.

 

[moto748]

Wow! The longest any of the 15 brews I have made this year have gone, from pitching yeast to bottling,is 11 days!

 

[Random Badger]

Wow! The longest any of the 15 brews I have made this year have gone, from pitching yeast to bottling,is 11 days!

It is indeed turning into an epic. If I had realised it was grinding to a halt I would have taken action much earlier, but then hindsight is a wonderful thing.

 

[moto748]

Well if it's on the move now, I'm sure there's no harm done.

 

[Random Badger]

After getting on for five weeks in the fermenter the beer didn't seem to want to go below 1014 so I bottled it and and now waiting for it to condition.

In response to asking about the issues myself and another forum member have experienced with this kit (high OG, short fermentation time, high FG) we received some interesting information. It seems that the target OG is 1038 (with an apparent assumption that 1KG brewing sugar is used rather than a malt extract) and the FG should be 1005 to achieve the advertised 4.3% ABV. To me that seems low for a stout (especially one described as being rich and smooth) and a long way from 1020 where the kit stopped for me with the original yeast (although I did use malt extract and treacle rather than brewing sugar).

Having got three more kits on the go since starting this stout, the fermentation experience has been very different and reading my original post in this thread I think I was too generous in my description of the amount of activity. Looking at my daily notes again I think it had effectively finished after about 3 days and the "steady bubbling" referred to for the next few weeks was decidedly timid compared to my subsequent brews and most likely just dissolved CO2 being released rather than solid evidence of ongoing primary fermentation.

 

[Random Badger]

So how did it turn out?

Colour = very dark indeed.
Bit of a roast malt aroma but not much else on the nose.
The treacle really comes through in the flavour. Not so much in an overpowering everything else way, more a case of it not having much competition.
Presumably due to the high finishing gravity the beer has plenty of body/mouthfeel.
No real kick from it which makes sense as it ended up being around 3.5% ABV.

It's perfectly drinkable and I know people that are into mild who would probably love it, and indeed if I had been aiming for a mild I would doubtless be quite happy with it. However, as I was hoping for a tasty stout of at least 4.5% with a nod towards Theakstons Old Peculiar, it seems more of a miss than a hit. I'm still of the view that the performance of the supplied kit yeast was sub standard and will always have the sneaking suspicion that Ritchies mixed up the packaging of their mild and export stout kits.

 

[moto748]

Maybe try with a different yeast next time, then?