Worried about stuck fermentation on second brew

[MrN]

Hello,

Last week I started off my second ever beer (first not from a kit!) using a combination of steeped specialty grains and extract. I'm using a recipe for a mild ale with a target OG of 1035 and aiming for FG of 1005.

My measured OG was pretty much spot on 1035 when it went in the fermenter. I took another reading on Monday (3 days of fermentation) and it read about 1012 which seemed ok to me as it hadn't been in too long, however I just took another reading yesterday (4 days after the previous one and about a week after the beer went in) and it's still showing around 1012.

Now this seems like a way off my target FG and I'm wondering if my fermentation has got stuck? I've given it a gentle stir to try and re-suspend the yeast and will check again in a couple of days but is there anything else I can do in the meantime or if this doesn't work?

It's a 20L batch and I used one sachet of Nottingham yeast (11g), which I rehydrated beforehand. The temperature has been pretty much spot on 20/21 degrees whenever I've checked. Only issue that I ran into which might be relevant was it took me longer than expected to cool the wort so the rehydrated yeast ended up sitting about over night (learning experience for next time).

Thanks for any help.

 

[CreweBrewer]

It's not stuck, it's finished. I've never had an FG go as low as 1.005 before. Mine are normally 1.010 or 1.008.

Let it settle again then get it bottled.

Dave

 

[MrN]

Ah interesting, thank you. Guess it'll just be a little weaker than I expected then! I'll probably bottle next weekend.

Out of interest, why would the recipe suggest such a low FG? I've seen others with target FGs below 1010 too, are these generally not realistic?

Also do you happen to know if leaving the yeast sitting, rehydrated for such a long time could cause issues?

 

[Covrich]

Quite probably is finished, but does seem a little under attenuated perhaps..

I wonder whether leaving the yeast rehyrated overnight perhaps left it in poor health.. did you aerate really well too??

 

[MrN]

Quite probably is finished, but does seem a little under attenuated perhaps..

I wonder whether leaving the yeast rehyrated overnight perhaps left it in poor health.. did you aerate really well too??

I did aerate well (very frothy) but because it still wasn't cool enough, I left it over night before eventually pitching in the morning. I wasn't sure if it needed to be aerated again at this point or not, but I didn't bother...

 

[Covrich]

I did aerate well (very frothy) but because it still wasn't cool enough, I left it over night before eventually pitching in the morning. I wasn't sure if it needed to be aerated again at this point or not, but I didn't bother...

Okay, I think the rehydrating the yeast and leaving it overnight might not have helped though.. that could starve the yeast I think..

 

[MyQul]

Tbh, although 1.012 is a little high for notty, I'd be happy with 1.012 as your going to want some body in a mild because of the low OG. So, I think, 1.012 will be better as a FG than the 1.008 (unless you like dry milds) should have given you to lend it extra maltyness and body.
I've made several milds and personally I wouln't put notty in a mild because of its very high attenuation. I think the beer gods we're looking down on you with this one

 

[Sandimas]

Like others, I've never had a brew go down to 1005 in 88 brews: 1010 is the norm, some finish a little higher, very occasionally get one finish a little lower.

I've got consistently lower FGs since using temp control (trug full of water and fish tank heater) rather than leaving it out in varying night/day room temperatures.

 

[MrN]

Thank you everyone for the responses, I've learned some lessons for next time. I think I'll bottle next weekend, should be a nice weekday brew for when I don't want to get completely smashed.