Re: Help My Kit Has Stopped Fermenting

[happyboy]

If you want something drinkable for the 23rd, try the Coopers Stout (Ditch's recipe is stickied)
I had 1 in the fermenter for 10 days, keged it yesterday and i'll start supping it on monday.

Another option is to do some turbo cider. I can have mine bottled and carbonated within 12 days.

Thanks Geezah,
Have decided to Keg the Pilsner at 1012 and taste it after 4 or 5 days to get an idea about what I have.
Meanwhile, am trying to find recipes for a wheat / Hoegaarden clone I can do with using the tin kits and some flavourings like Orange peel and Coriander seeds.
Considering buying the Muntons 1.8 KG Wheat Kit and using 1 or 2 KG of Muntons Light Spraymalt.

[Topcat]

HAVE I RUINED MY BREW?

Finally finished off primary fermentation only for a new problem. Barrelled the brew only to find a leak from the tap. Left it an hour and I'd lost about an inch of beer so knew that I had to do something. Unfortunately, it was midnight and I had an early start the next morning. So...I dumped the whole lot back into the fermentation bin, fixed the tap and then siphoned the whole lot back into the barrel. My concern is that a lot of oxygen got into the brew when i dumped it back in the bin and I'm sure I read elsewhere on this forum that this isn't good for the brew. Your advice, gentlemen, please.

[Geezah]

I had the same problem myself a few weeks back.... turned out to be a wicked pint.
I was carefull not to let the beer splash about too much during the triple transfer.

Just to make sure it didnt go bad, I done my best to drink it in 3 weeks

[Topcat]

Thanks for the reassurance Geezah - but I wasn't careful when I dumped it back in the bin - just sloshed it in! Anyway, fingers-crossed.

[Sooty]

I am currently fermenting a woodforde's norfolk nog, and after a week and a half, it's stuck at 1018-1020, i find it near impossible to read the hydrometer perfectly, so i can't be exact, but the instructions suggest it should be 1014 or under.

I think it's been hit by the same problem as my first brew, low temperatures getting down to 14-15 degrees at times. I've raised the temperature to 22-23, and left it a few days with no activity. Cannibalising another kit, i've added a sachet of young's yeast nutrient and carefully stirred it, hopefully without aerating it.

I've put in an order for some more nutrient to generally add to future brews, and a few sachet's of safale and nottingham's yeast, to have handy. If there's no activity by the time these arrive i'll re-pitch it and hope for the best.

if that doesn't do anything i may just bottle it, as it's pretty tasty even now!

[Paddy Bubbles]

Hi folks. I hope someone can reassure me that I don't have 5 gallons of lemonade sitting in the corner of my kitchen...

I racked my Muntons Gold IPA (my first kit) to secondary 4 days ago. It doesn't seem to have changed gravity since then - 1.018. It also tastes the same as I thought it tasted when I racked to secondary, a little too sweet and fruity. Is it normal for beer to be like this before it goes through carbonation and conditioning?? I didn't think it tasted particularly hoppy either (though I've read that this Muntons kit has very subtle hopping for what's supposedly an IPA...).

Now here's the weird thing - after taking my gravity reading I had a little taste and took another reading, where I agitated the beer/wort a little more. Saw a little fizz and the reading was slightly better - 1.016. Can anyone explain the difference in readings - there really wasn't enough bubbles clinging to the hydrometer to cause a distortion in the reading on the first attempt?

Anyone?

[Travis]

As a novice I was talking to a local small commercial brewer about techniques on adding yeast. I now follow his suggestion.

I prepare & mix up my brew at the correct temperature etc. in fermenter bucket (No1), have my yeast re-hydrating in my jug.

With the full fermenter bucket (No 1) on the bench I have another empty fermenter (No2) barrel ready on the floor, I the drop (drain) the prepared brew into the fermenter barrel (No2) adding the yeast as it drops, this gives the yeast a severe airation, seal it up with air lock & fish tank heater & lag the fermenter with a Hot Water Cistern Jacket. Bubbles within 2hrs

I have only ever had one brew “stick” must have been something I did wrong? as the yeast re-hydrated ok. So I just repeated the process & added another re-hydrated yeast. Dropping the brew from one fermenter into another creates a lot of air, as the brew set off quickly producing Co2 this will put a blanket on top of the brew as the air dissipates.

Travis.

(Works for me)

[Underthethumb]

Hi,

Just wondering what the perceived wisdom is from the old lags here.

I had a Woodfordes Wherry stuck at 1.020 (surprise, surprise!)

Anyway, stuck the FV in a bath and monitored it so that it didn't exceed 28C - got it down slightly to 1.017.

Is this a sensible strategy or just the muddled attempt of a novice?

[crafty john]

I am currently fermenting a woodforde's norfolk nog, and after a week and a half, it's stuck at 1018-1020, i find it near impossible to read the hydrometer perfectly, so i can't be exact, but the instructions suggest it should be 1014 or under.

I think it's been hit by the same problem as my first brew, low temperatures getting down to 14-15 degrees at times. I've raised the temperature to 22-23, and left it a few days with no activity. Cannibalising another kit, i've added a sachet of young's yeast nutrient and carefully stirred it, hopefully without aerating it.

I've put in an order for some more nutrient to generally add to future brews, and a few sachet's of safale and nottingham's yeast, to have handy. If there's no activity by the time these arrive i'll re-pitch it and hope for the best.

if that doesn't do anything i may just bottle it, as it's pretty tasty even now!

I would leave the Nottingham alone, myself and quite a few others have had problems with little or no fermentation. Just a thought.

[adamlikesthings]

does adding yeast nutrient help to reduce FG, and can you add it at any stage during primary fermentation?

[EliteEvil]

Was post #1 Daabs and got deleted?

The thread doesn't read properly.

[Jim]

Was post #1 Daabs and got deleted?

The thread doesn't read properly.

Yes, I think you're right.

There's a (very basic) 'stuck fermentation' guide in the Brewniversity instead now, so I'm going to 'unstick' this thread.

Stuck Fermentation