First Home Brew Question

[skrewdriver]

Hey boys.
I have a homebrew quandry for you, since I'm at a loss. There seems to be all kinds of suggestions on the web, but I thought maybe someone here could help.
I brewed up my first batch of homebrew (a stout ale) back on the 9th of April. It's been sitting fermenting since. The starting gravity was 1.048. The final gravity should be between 1.011 and 1.014. It seemed to ferment just great for the first two weeks, but hasn't really budged since. It's stuck at about 1.019. How do you deal with this issue? Can I just pitch some more yeast? I think part of the problem is that it got pretty cold for a few days here, and that might have slowed it down. Any ideas?

[Etcetrah]

Hey skrewdriver, great question!

My first impression is that 1.019 is not a bad FG and if its been stable at 1.019 for a couple of weeks you should be good to bottle or keg. Most ale yeasts, esp. with a reasonable 1.048 SG will complete fermentation within the first week.

The only fear is that if there is some available sugar still left in the wort, it could result in over-carbonation and potentially exploding bottles. Tastewise, a stout at that FG might be a little on the sweet side, but it will be balanced by the roasted grains and should be great. I try to have my stouts finish on the sweet side. If you're worried, bottle with a little less priming sugar.

If you want to try something to move the FG, I have a few questions for you. What type of yeast did you use? There is a great, inexpensive, neutral flavor yeast called Nottingham that is made by Danstar, I think. You could pitch a packet of Nottingham and see what happens. It won't hurt anything. BTW, I use Nottingham on any beer I brew that doesn't require a yeast flavor contribution, so all my stouts, brown ales, pale ales, etc. It's fantastic.

You mentioned temperature, what have the temperatures been where you are fermenting? Dropping temps can cause yeast to shut down, but most ale yeasts are good between 60 and 70 deg F.

You could also rotate the fermenting bucket/carboy back and forth to stir up the trub at the bottom of the bucket. That could expose some otherwise isolated yeast to any remaining fermentable sugar. With my bucket, I pick it up by the handle and just rotate my hand a few times back and forth.

To sum up, you're probably OK to bottle now since your gravity has been constant for a while. If you want to try some of the things I suggested and then test SG in a few days, that may make a difference and it certainly shouldn't hurt anything.

Good luck!! Let me know how things turn out.

-Kevin

[skrewdriver]

Thanks for the response Kevin. Good info!

This being my first batch of homebrew, the beer was from one of those boxes that have all the fixin's. I am not really sure what type of yeast came with it, but I have read some things online that mention that the yeast in those types of kits may not be as good as it should be.

Because it's a kit, that's also how I knew where the final gravity should be.

I think the temperature of the fermentation bucket probably got down into the mid 50's at one point. We had a really cold week here, and it was sitting inside on a concrete floor, kinda by the front door. Perhaps that's what slowed it. I did take the lid off and stir it with a large brew spoon three times once I realized it had stopped fermenting. Didn't seem to do any good though.

Today around noon I stopped by the brew store and got a small packet of yeast, which I then pitched. I plan on rechecking the gravity this Saturday. If there is still no movement, I will just bottle and see what happens. If it does come down, I will probably let it sit another week. I'm getting kinda nervous about because it was brewed a month ago now, and I don't want it to go bad.

Anyways, I'll let you know how it turns out. Any other advice is greatly appreciated. I plan on doing up a hefeweizen next, it's a recipe I got from the chic that runs the brew store here. I'll keep that yeast info in mind that you mentioned.

Thanks again!

[Etcetrah]

Hey, no problem! I love this stuff - the process AND the product!!

You've got a good safe plan. Test the SG in a few days and if it hasn't changed, bottle away. Even if it does change a bit, I don't think there's any reason to wait more than a week after you pitched the second packet of yeast. Also, don't worry about it going bad. It would have to sit for at least a couple of months for that to happen, esp. if the temps are around mid-60s.

With the hefe, typically there is a yeast contribution to the flavor. "Hefe" is German for "yeast." If you are going to do a hefe, ask the chick at the brew store for a yeast recommendation. She'll probably recommend a liquid yeast product, either White Labs or Wyeast brand, depending on what they carry. The last hefeweizen I brewed I used Wyeast "Weihenstephaner" (sp?) liquid yeast and it turned out great, but there are several others that I'm sure would work well. I also added coriander and dried sweet orange peels for a little lemony, orange-y flavor, respectively.

Good Luck!

-Kevin

[Tom McClure]

A'hem... I'll be over for sum dat hefeweizen, Hastings!

[skrewdriver]

Thanks again Kevin. She does have a yeast recommendation on the recipe, though I can't seem to find it to get the brand. Doesn't matter much anyway. The advice is very much appreciated!

Careful McClure, I might hold ya to that one.

[skrewdriver]

The beer is done, and it turned out really good. Thanks again for the advice Kevin! Cheers.