Muntons Midas Touch Seems To Be Stuck?

[markp]

Muntons Midas Touch Golden Ale.
Has been happily fermenting away (day number 6 today).....2 days in FV with lose lid and a very vigerous start, then lid sealed with an airlock added.
Instructions recommend 4-6 days fermentation and by day 4 there was very little activity through the airlock.

Judging by the airlock activity I felt that last night it would be going in to my second FV that is fitted with the bottler.....settled for another couple of days and then bottled.
I decided to take a hydrometer reading and it was way above the bottling range - I think it was 1.022.

The only changes I made to the kit were using Safale yeast and making a starter (which I never usually do).

What else can I say:
When sampling last night I did notice some rather large particles at/on the top of the beer in the FV - yeast??
The beer smells good....do not think it is infected.
There is a good layer of trub in the FV.

I have read that it may be possible to kick start the yeast with some nutrient.....is this the same nutrient that is used for wine yeast??
Some recommend giving the vessel a stir to disturb the trub??

So tonight, I'll take another hydro reading and go from there.
What do I do though if fermentation has stuck and I cannot get it restarted?? Will I have to throw the beer or will it be okay to consume albeit probably sweet and lacking in alcohol content?

Thanks in advance.

 

[A T]

It possible that it's still fermenting but it would do no harm to gently rouse the yeast using a long handled (not wooden) spoon. You don't need to make a starter when using dry yeast although i'm sure it did no harm
Take another reading tonight and if it's the same as last night then try rousing the yeast.

 

[markp]

Seems to be trundling very gently along tonight....certainly not stopped just yet

 

[markp]

So we are on to day 11 in the FV.
Things were just trundling along really, so I roused the yeast trub on Satuday afternoon.

The trub had set in to a very hard cake :hmm:
Fermentation now seems to have picked up a little and I was yesterday getting a good blast through the airlock every 60-90 seconds.

Gravity has dropped this morning to 1.007....so I'll check that again tonight. Less activity through the airlock this morning....but still some.

I still have a fair few bit and pieces (assuming this is yeast) floating on the top of the beer and I am worried about these ruining the final beer......I would appreciate any comments on this.

I'm just looking for comfort really from some more experienced brewers as I've never known a kit take so long and we're hardly in the depths of winter.

My plan now is to fill 10 or so bottles for long term storage and put the rest in a KingKeg......I've just got a funny feeling about this and would hate to waste the cleaning time of 40 bottles on beer that doesn't turn out right.

Thanks for listening :lol:

 

[markp]

Hydro reading 1.006.
Still a lot of activity through the airlock.

I am quite concerned about the smell though now. It smells overpoweringly of alcohol.....raw alcohol, almost like vodka.
No 'off' odours though.

If someone could advise on a course of action I'd be grateful......thanks.

 

[Wez]

Mark 1.006 you are done!

The smell is probably c02 coming off the beer - i'd get that bottled / kegged mate, what are you priming with?

 

[markp]

Thanks Wez......the raw alcohol smell nothing to be concerned about? :pray:

I'll leave overnight and then do a dozen bottles, the rest to keg.
I will use 85g LSM for priming.

Thanks again :)

 

[Wez]

I think the raw alcohol smell may just be the c02 - does it kind of tingle/burn the inside of your sneck (nose)?

 

[markp]

I ended up filling 20 bottles and put the balance in to the KingKeg.
The brew smelt really good.

Thanks for your advice everyone........now on to the next one I suppose.

 

[philip5660]

I ended up filling 20 bottles and put the balance in to the KingKeg.
The brew smelt really good.

Thanks for your advice everyone........now on to the next one I suppose.

Sorry to drag up an old thread but how did this one work out?
I have one of these kits that I got for free (due to one of their other kits becoming "stuck") and was thinking of doing it at the end of the month.
Given that these home brew forums seem to be littered with stories of Muntons kits sticking I want to be careful about I approach this.
I was also thinking about using S-04 instead of the kit yeast. Is this something you would recommend?

Thanks

 

[shearclass]

I am doing muntons Smugglers Special. Instructions say brew should take 4 - 6 days before being kegged/bottled. I'm currently on day 6 and gravity is 1.02.

If this is still on 1.02 in a couple of days time, what should I do? Stir the whole thing including the sludge, for want of a better word, at teh bottom? Do i need to add any nutrients to it?

In general, is it wise to add any nutrients when using the yeastfrom a kit?

I am newbie, please help!

 

[philip5660]

1.02 sounds very low, are you sure it's not 1020? If it's staying at a constant 1020 then it could well be stuck and some further action may be required. Make sure your temperature is 18-20 degrees, you can try *gently* rousing the yeast, nutrient probably won't do any harm, you can also trying pitching new yeast.
In any case if it is stuck you should complain to muntons they'll send you a new kit - they may also send you a dry beer enzyme to finish that one off (although as the name suggest it leaves the beer very dry)

 

[markp]

Sorry to drag up an old thread but how did this one work out?
I have one of these kits that I got for free (due to one of their other kits becoming "stuck") and was thinking of doing it at the end of the month.
Given that these home brew forums seem to be littered with stories of Muntons kits sticking I want to be careful about I approach this.
I was also thinking about using S-04 instead of the kit yeast. Is this something you would recommend?

Thanks

Hi,
The brew turned out very well indeed, although it took a long time to clear.
Easily the best kit that I did.....though also my last.
I used US05 in mine.....a this was a big factor in the length of time it took to clear.
Replacing kit yeast with S04 is never a bad idea IMO, particularly as it drops out so well.

ATB

 

[shearclass]

@philip5660 - or anyone else who can help

1020, my hydrometer has the decimal point, i.e. 1.020, but i think we mean the same thing.

Two days later i'm still 1.020 (1020). Do you think I should give it a gentle stir? I've been advised against doing this. I don't own any nutrient, though i could buy some. Do you think i should just add more yeast? I have yeast from another kit that I haven't started yet. Do i add all the pack or just some of it? Does this need stirring in or just sprinkling on top?

Good idea about contacting muntons, I'll try that see if they offer any advice.

Sorry for my ramblign questions, i'm a newbie who has just tried his first pint of home brew yesterday!

 

[Moley]

Two days later i'm still 1.020 (1020). Do you think I should give it a gentle stir?

Well I would, and what's its temperature like?

 

[philip5660]

Funny mine seems to have slowed down around 1020 too. I racked mine to a secondary fermenter and added some tronozymol. If there's no movement I'll add more yeast.

 

[shearclass]

Temperature is about 19 C.

OK then, mroe people telling me to stir than people telling me not to. When I stir i assume i stir all the gunk at the bottom too?

 

[BigYin]

'Stuck Fermentation' is one of the most common cries for help on here :hmm:

I suspect that in many cases the first answer is "Be patient" - the kits may say 4 to 6 days - I've so far found that 10 - 14 days is more like it.

Sometimes a simple stir will help - use a long handled, plastic, well sanitised, spoon/paddle, and stir gently without any splashing.

After a stir, the beer will need time to clear, so leave it the hell alone and let it clear :thumb:

Again, patience is your biggest ally :drink:

I suspect temperature control might be another problem. Your house might be warm enough through the day - but what about at night? If you can't heat it maybe wrap an old quilt (or dressing gown, or towels??) at night to stop the night time temperature drop. (I use an aquarium heater in mine - and for the FV's I have without a heater, I use a fan heater on a thermostat to keep the room from getting too cold)

The one time I did add a fresh pack of yeast to a 'stuck' brew, the SG never shifted anyway after a further week, so clearly there wasn't anything left in there for the yeasties to feed on :nono:

I've pretty much formed the opinion that if a yeast pack has worked in the first few days of the fermentation, there is no reason to expect it will suddenly stop working on day 4 :hmm:

 

[philip5660]

I agree with all of the above - but the issue seems to be that Muntons kits don't contain as much fermentable material as you would expect. i.e. they get as far as 1020 then stirring, repitching etc doesn't help. My brew is kept at 19 - 20 degrees with a thermostat and a tube heater.
The jury is still out on the midas touch (i'm going to pitch fresh yeast today as it has been at 1020 for 3-4 days now) but with the winter warmer I had no choice but to add an enzyme which made it ferment way down below what was expected (gets you pished though! :))

 

[BigYin]

what was the enzyme?