Failed Milestone IPA - what to do next to help save it?

[Scotty]

My Milestone kit that I have been having problems with (see here viewtopic.php?f=4&t=19207), is still failing to ferment.

I got some more yeast yesterday and under instruction I siphoned the wort into another vessel and added the yeast. Stil no further forward today. The gravity is still at 1.020 and I am highly annoyed to say the least (especially as it was a present!)

Any ideas on what I can do to save it?

[beer today]

hi, I am a newbie and tried a milestone IPA kit as my first venture. I had it in my dining room in a FV with an aquatic heater thru the lid, to ensure a steady temp thru out, it all went textbook, and I have been drinking it as its been conditioning now for just over 3 weeks, next weeks poker night should be such be a great night. In fact my only concern is that my KK with s30 cap has been leaking even tho its new. The brew seems great, cant really fault it, not foul smelling, tasting or tcp taste, all in all happy with the kit, just concerned about the kk, so hopefully someone can advise you cos I imagine you can save it with just a little know how, - good luck
Fraz

[stevezx7r]

If your temps are between the 18 to 25 range and it has fermentable sugar then it sounds like the yeast has died. Re-pitching should sort it (use Safale s04 to be certain but the Geordie Lager yeast will do if that's all you have). Another thing to try would be to add some Dry Beer Enzyme. This will make the normally unfermentable sugars, ferment. It will result in a stronger beer that is also dry. Remember to sterilise everything that comes into contact with the beer.

[verno]

I recently had real problems with the milestone old home wrecker. Similar to you it got stuck at 1020, however I believe mine was related to temperature. I gave it a stir and tried to warm it up which didn't seem to work, so I then monitored the temperature a bit more closely and found that the liquid was probably at 15 degrees.

I then wrapped it in an electric blanket on low heat for a day and gave it a rouse. I then left it in the blanket for another few days. This seemed to do the trick as it got down to 1012.

I would suggest double checking the temperature as my yeast just seemed to go to sleep.

[RatboyOllie]

im sure someone far more knowledgable than me will reply with a proper answer, but, i had the exact same problem with a Brewferm kit ive got on the go as we speak. As I was calling into my homebrew store anyway i thought i would ask him what to do. he said it was probably a lazy yeast and that repitching should rouse it back into action. He actually gave me a champagne yeast and said "use this one because this one is alcohol tolerant". Its all double dutch to me as im still a newbie but he said to put the yeast in and give it a stir without making it bubble and splash and watch it kick off again, and kick off it did, not a problem, im just hoping it wont affect the taste of my beer............

[Scotty]

well, after re-pitching I have yet again roused the yeast but to no avail.

Is is time to just throw it out?

[Parva]

If you're certain it's stopped I would still bottle / keg it. It might not be quite as strong in alcohol as you'd hoped but that's not to say it won't be a nice beer. Priming it may also be enough to kickstart it and bring the gravity down a bit more so if putting into bottles I'd use plastic PET bottles, just in case.

[Scotty]

I'm out of bottles now as I was saving this for my keg.

Should I add a bit more sugar than normal to the keg and siphon the whole vessel into it to see if it will help? (I siphoned from original FV to re-pitch yeast)

[Parva]

Keg would be ideal for this as it'll have a pressure release valve if it does indeed start fermenting again. I'd add the usual amount of sugar rather than add more as hopefully, the priming sugar will get chewed up and maybe it'll hit the unfermented sugar too. As for siphoning the whole vessel that's a tricky one. If there's not too much sediment on the bottom then yes, I'd do it.

[Scotty]

great stuff, thanks for the info!

There's hardly any sediment so it should be ok

[Parva]

In that case put the whole lot in. I've had beers that I nearly chucked down the plughole come out as absolute belters. It's certainly worth a try anyway and you may well be very surprised.

[Scotty]

UPDATE!

Just check the gravity again today and it's dropped to 1.012!

Do you recommend leaving it a further 12-24hrs before kegging?

There is no visible activity at all

[Parva]

1.012 is a respectable figure, I'd keg it now.

[KevP]

UPDATE!

Just check the gravity again today and it's dropped to 1.012!

Do you recommend leaving it a further 12-24hrs before kegging?

There is no visible activity at all

How was this beer in the end Scotty?