Help with Tripel!

[bandarker]

Hi all,

So I brewed up a tripel last weekend, and I was happy with my OG. I did a 36 hour 1.6L yeast starter and pitched and fermentation started great. Well I was out of town for work and came back to an airlock stuck with yeasty junk in it. It was no longer a liquid seal so no gas exchange would occur in to out or vice versa. I cleaned it up, and sampled today to find I'm at 1.020. Target FG is around 1.010 or lower, and it's on day 7 now and not much action through the now cleaned airlock. Taste was sweet and estery, which seemed a bit weird since it's fermented at 64-66 degrees.

Any recommendations on this? Wait it out as is? Try to re-start the yeast somehow with nutrient or something? Pitch more?

[Jimmy]

Put it somewhere warmer if you can, and give the carboy a bit of a swirl to get the yeast roused.

[bandarker]

That's the annoying part - I don't have a heat belt and the house is pretty cool everywhere.

[CartoonCod]

I've got one of those blue heat belts i could lend you, they say not to use it on glass carboys though because they could break, but lots of people do.

[bandarker]

That would be awesome - are you in Halifax? It's on a glass carboy. Does it have a temp sensor on it, or do you just crank it up/down?

[CartoonCod]

It doesn't have a temp sensor or a knob to turn up and down. You plug it in and it's on, unplug and it's off. It usually keeps the temps about 3-5 degC above ambient temp. I live on Larry Uteck and work in halifax.

[bandarker]

So I put on the heat belt, gave it a swirl, and its fermenting again - thanks all

Quick Q - should you keep swirling after a while? Is there a point where the yeast will keep eating and the beer turns out too dry?

[Jimmy]

So I put on the heat belt, gave it a swirl, and its fermenting again - thanks all

Quick Q - should you keep swirling after a while? Is there a point where the yeast will keep eating and the beer turns out too dry?

I'd stop swirling now. You don't want to keep introducing o2 into the beer, otherwise you'll end up with oxidized beer. Check the gravity again in a week or so and see how it came along.

[bandarker]

Will it still introduce o2 if it's air locked and co2 comes out?

Also don't yeast like oxygen?

[Jimmy]

Will it still introduce o2 if it's air locked and co2 comes out?

Also don't yeast like oxygen?

It shouldn't introduce o2 if it's airlocked. Once you get the yeast roused, active, and back into fermentation, you shouldn't have to keep swirling.

And yes, yeast like oxygen, though you want to minimize the amount of oxygen entering the beer once fermentation begins. The yeast will like it, but your beer will suffer because of it.