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  • Stuck Fermentaion, Please help

    Hello Everyone,
    We are having issue with our flagship beer. It is a farmhouse ale brewed with WLP670 American Farmhouse Blend.
    We have brewed it many times without ever having any issue. The beer is on day 8 of fermentation and it has been stuck to 1.030 for the last 3 days.
    Temp of the beer is at 70F and has been since the beginning of fermentation. The yeast is still very much in suspension it seems like as the samples are very cloudy.
    Original gravity was 1.059 and it usually finishes around 1.011. The yeast is a first generation that we just received from White Lab.
    Please let me know if you have any idea of what the problem might be and what we can try to get this beer to FG.

    Cheers,

    Julien

  • #2
    Decent thread about stuck fermentation here

    Comment


    • #3
      My guess is Mash Temp/Ferment Temp/Dissolved O2. If you are confident that you didn't mash way too high then repitching may be your best bet. Maybe take a small sample and repitch/force ferment to see what happens. Also, maybe try a different hydrometer, that is where I would start. Good Luck

      Comment


      • #4
        What's your oxygenation/aeration procedure? Do you do any calc or measurement?

        Re-read the thread einhorn linked ... not sure it ever reached a decisive conclusion (though last post is re: oxygenation). I think you'll find there's several ways and opinions on where to go from here, given so many unknowns. For me, the quickest, easiest way that has worked for a bigger beer has been to inject sterile air/oxygen bottom-up. How much? Yeah, good question for your supply and setup. Air?: a slow gurgle rolling but not breaking the surface significantly a couple times for 10 minutes or so has helped finish out big fermentations for me in the past. Not my preferred procedure, but things happen. Rates I couldn't tell you, and may not do you any good not knowing your setup. Best of luck. Interested to hear what works for you, and how she turns out.

        Comment


        • #5
          If it has been stuck for 3 days, I suspect simple aeration / oxygenation will not work unfortunately, and that you will be forced to repitch it with more fresh yeast, though I suggest that actively fermenting yeast slurry will prove best, rather than cropped yeast. It will still need aeration and possibly addition of a yeast food such as zinc.

          Unfortunately, this is all likely to mean the beer has an atypical flavour and will need blending with normal beer, probably also after extended maturation to make sure the diacetyl is reduced to normal levels, and you will of course lose your culture and have to start from scratch with a fresh culture.

          It sounds as though you would generally benefit from improving the wort aeration, though of course at least part of the blame may be because of unusually low yeast count in your culture.

          Even if you can get it going again without repitching, I suggest a fresh culture as soon as possible to make sure you have good healthy yeast in future.

          Good luck with this
          dick

          Comment


          • #6
            Thank you guys for all the suggestions. Here is what i can rule out:
            Mash temp: The mash wash at 148 during the entire mash, so i doubt it would be the fermentability of the wort. Plus this is not our first time brewing this recipe and never had this issue before
            Temp of the wort: The yeast was pitch at 68F and was let to rise to the 70F. It has been at this temp the entire time.
            Yeast count: This is a first generation yeast that we just received from white labs. According to the test they done to our culture prior to shipping to us the yeast was very healthy and when we weigh it for density it was accurate.
            Hydrometer We tested it with other wort and water and it worked fine. We also used another one and got same reading
            Here are a few thing i have noticed: The yeast is still very much in suspension. When we draw samples it is very cloudy. Also the pressure in the tank is rising up every time we release it, which indicated that CO2 is being produces therefore that sugar is being consume by the yeast.
            Here is what we intend to do if we still get the same reading today: Rouse the yeast, by injecting CO2 through the bottom of the fermenter. Also we may also re-inject O2, as it seems that under-oxygenation may be the problem, even though we never really had this issue before and we have always use the same process.

            If Anyone has any other ideas please let me know.

            Cheers,

            Julien

            Comment


            • #7
              Since WLP670 is a blend with Brett, it throws a bit of a wrench in the works...

              I've had this blend stall on me, much like using the Dupont strain alone. If it usually doesn't happen for you, I would check to make sure your cooling control is solid. Both strains like to get warm and stay warm.

              If you're going to repitch, I suggest ordering a pitch of the single saison strain instead of the blend. This way, you have the best chance of keeping your sacch/brett flavor contribution fairly consistent. I'm not sure which strain WL uses, but you can ask them.

              Let me know how it turns out - I'm very interested in how these sacch/brett blends are fairing commercially, especially through a troublesome fermentation! Are you harvesting/repitching slurry?
              Kyle Kohlmorgen
              Process/Automation Consultant
              St. Louis, MO

              Comment


              • #8
                So we just got the results for the gravity. It is now at 1.027, so it is fermenting but just very slow. It dropped 0.003 gravity point over the weekend.
                Would adding yeast nutrients and re-oxygenating at this point be helpful to help it finish faster?

                To SouthHouseBrew: Yes we do harvest and repitch for up to 5 generation. This is a fresh 1st generation that we just received from whitelabs.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Pull your Mash tun temp probe, and FV temp probe, and test them at several different temps against a known working thermometer. Something in your dynamic changed or we all would not be talking about the issue. Also, how do you go about pitching your first gen yeast? Could it have been added to a hot FV, or maybe the first wort in was too hot? Best of luck trouble shooting. J
                  Joel Halbleib
                  Partner / Zymurgist
                  Hive and Barrel Meadery
                  6302 Old La Grange Rd
                  Crestwood, KY
                  www.hiveandbarrel.com

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