Thoughts on a stalled brew

[Hopperty]

Shamrock Velvet + 1kg spray malt + 250g dex
I have brewed this before with great success 1044 - 1010

It went a little wrong at the beginning, pitched the yeast at about 13°c but would have been warmed up to 21c in under an hour (heat belt)

After a fortnight went to check on it and it was only down to 1018. Took lid off give it a good splashy stir to get some air into it and warmed it up to 26 for 8 hours then let it drop back to 23c. Fermentation did start up agin and after a few more days it come down to 1015, and has now stopped again. It is going to be a bit weak but may as well bottle it.

Is it likely to be ruined ? I'm thinking this time of year there will be little wild yeast floating about ?

Could it have been pitching at a low temp that led to stall ?

would there be a better way of getting a bit of oxygen in there without exposing the brew ? bow air or oxygen directly into the water through a pipe ?

Would oxygenating the brew at a late stage cause problems whilst it matures in the bottle ?

 

[Gerryjo]

Shamrock Velvet + 1kg spray malt + 250g dex
I have brewed this before with great success 1044 - 1010

It went a little wrong at the beginning, pitched the yeast at about 13°c but would have been warmed up to 21c in under an hour (heat belt)

After a fortnight went to check on it and it was only down to 1018. Took lid off give it a good splashy stir to get some air into it and warmed it up to 26 for 8 hours then let it drop back to 23c. Fermentation did start up agin and after a few more days it come down to 1015, and has now stopped again. It is going to be a bit weak but may as well bottle it.

Is it likely to be ruined ? I'm thinking this time of year there will be little wild yeast floating about ?

Could it have been pitching at a low temp that led to stall ?

would there be a better way of getting a bit of oxygen in there without exposing the brew ? bow air or oxygen directly into the water through a pipe ?

Would oxygenating the brew at a late stage cause problems whilst it matures in the bottle ?

Pitching at a low temp would certainly have effect and would have left the yeast struggling and stirring so vigorously at near finishing gravity could certainly help to oxidise your beer but only time will tell.
Let it sit for another week and try keeping temps around 20° and if your gravity has not changed then go ahead and bottle.
This being a Stout I would advise a little less sugar when bottling and if its 500ml bottles use about 3g per bottle and condition for about a month.

 

[smcc]

as was said by Gerryjo the time to give anything a splashy stir is pre pitch as yeast needs Oxygen as a nutrient prior to going on its growth phase. 1.015 isnt uncommon for certain types of yeast. For your next brew dont be having temps go all over the place. Yeast like a nice stable environment to do their work and having temps that go up and down between 13 and 26 will just end up with beer that doesnt taste very well. I would leave it at a stable 20degrees for a week and if it still hasnt moved bottle it, bottle conditioning can smooth out the flavour profile so it may well end up being ok.

 

[Hopperty]

Generally go to great lengths to brew at a constant temperature, but in the case of this brew a mistake was made and then compounded by the very very low tap water temperatures (3°c)
So my question still remains - is this stalled brew down to pitching the yeast at 13c instead of 21c, since it was only there for an hour it suprises me it could make such a big difference.

As to giving it a good stir and raising it temperately to 26 in a bid to get the fermentation going again, what would have been a better tactic ?

it stalled at 1018 and my tactic got it down to 1015, which is probably the difference between pouring it or bottling it. Its going to be weak (3.8%) but it may still be drinkable but I won't know that for a month or two.