First Brew - Stuck!

[davechorlton]

Hi everyone. Newbie on here so I am sorry for stupid questions. First brew for 20 plus years and it was all going well. Youngs American IPA. - fermenting started after a few hours and all looked good for several days, but I think the recent heatwave may have affected it. It seemed to stop fermenting after 9 days and the gravity seems stuck for 3 days at around 1018. Generally it was at fermenting at 22 degrees which is middle of guide 20-24, but at 2/3 days in it hit 26 for a few days. I don't have any additional yeast etc. I gave it a stir today in desperation and it did start bubbling once every 10 minutes, but thats it. Not sure if i carry on and dry hop and prime and bottle - but graity shodl be 1010? and if yeast is dead will it be awful? Or leave it and try and buy some more yeast or something? I googled but don't have yeast or extract for a starter etc. Any bright ideas - dont want to bin it if I can avoid it, and have opened it 3 times to check now. Any help appreciated....

 

[Noodlebrew]

I haven't done a kit in a while, but i know people who say some kits finish higher than expected. It might be a case of taking two readings 48 hours apart and if they're the same pressing on with the bottling.

It might not be quite as high % wise, even a bit sweet maybe. But it'll probably turn out nice... And with the slightly higher temperature, just pretend you were trying to give it some Belgium flavours or something

 

[terrym]

I cant say I have ever heard of the AIPA kit getting stuck. They normally go down to 1.007/1.008 or even lower
Anyway if it has stuck try this
Simple strategies for dealing with stuck fermentations

 

[Andrew Elliott]

Have you tasted it? If it doesn't taste sweet out of the fermenter you might not be a million miles off. I would suggest bottling or kegging it. Alternatively give it a shake and see if you can get any more out of the yeast.

 

[xozzx]

How are you taking SG readings? Hydrometer or refractometer? Have you checked it is accurate (1.000 in water)?