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After two weeks of fermentation my brew gravity leveled out well above the Target. A sample tastes yeasty (I think).

Putting the wort into the fermentor I splashed it pretty good or so I thought. The temp has been a pretty steady 64F.

Thoughts on how to proceed? I'm thinking of re-pitching.

Thanks.

We'll need more details. What was the starting and finishing gravity? What yeast? Was there a high percentage of crystal malts? 64ºF might be a bit cold for some yeast strains, so at the very least it might be worth raising it up a bit.

Starting Grav was 1.040, Current is 1.020-ish

Crystal malt was 16oz of 10lb 6oz total grains.

Well, the crystal malts shouldn't be an issue. What yeast were you using?

The dry packet Danstar - Nottingham

Hmmm. How old was the yeast? Was it stored in fridge? Nottingham is generally tolerant of cool temps and attenuates well...

I got it from Dave's so I'm sure it was good.

Did you hit your mash temps?

I did.

Did you rehydrate the yeast? Aerate your wort?

At what temp was the wort when pitching yeast?

Aeration should be inconsequential with dry yeast and low starting gravity. But direct pitching may impact (though lots debate that...)

Comforteagle wrote:I did.

I guess I should have asked what your mash temp was

What was your mash temp? If high 60's may have more unfermentable dextrins ...

Have you calibrated your hydrometer recently?

Hobbitfu wrote:What was your mash temp? If high 60's may have more unfermentable dextrins ...

154 F

amartin wrote:Have you calibrated your hydrometer recently?

Yes! With distilled water too!

Wow seems we have asked most questions! Probably not much else to do than pitch more yeast. Could have just been the package...

That yeast is probably the most notorious yeast out there for stalling at 1.020 or thereabouts. Home brew talk has dozens of threads that mirror yours with no apparent reason.


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mcgster wrote:That yeast is probably the most notorious yeast out there for stalling at 1.020 or thereabouts. Home brew talk has dozens of threads that mirror yours with no apparent reason.


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ooooooohhhhhh reeaaaaaalllllyyyyy? ok then.

Yes sadly i have seen the threads pop up many times. In general they go on for about two pages until the OP pitches another pack and fermentation finishes up. I'm not sure why this strain seems to have trouble with stuck-fermentations or if it is just reported more on the boards then S04 or S05.

Things to try in order.

1 Warm your beer up above 21c and gently rouse the yeast.
2 Get some new yeast (us-05) and a couple litres of 1.040 wort. Pitch yeast in wort and wait 6-12 hours for the krausen to form. Dump it into your stuck beer. Don't wait too long though you need the yeast to be in full sugar munching mode. They will have eaten all the easy sugars in your starter after 12-18 hours.
3 add beano and pray
Alternate to 3 is to brew a rescue beer. Basically make a really ferment able version of your beer (sub sugar for some of the base malt and mash low for a very long time) then blend the two beers. If your beer is 1020 and should be 1015 you need an equal amount of beer at 1010.