Stuck ferment or just high FG?

The Homebrew Forum

Help Support The Homebrew Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Joined
Aug 24, 2017
Messages
484
Reaction score
167
Location
NULL
Need some help guys, bottled the ghost ship clone yesterday, which had fermented out nicely from 1.043 down to 1.010.

Now the Christmas beer has stopped at 1.023. This was using the same yeast and was stored next to the other. Normally I would be definitely thinking its a stuck ferment but because it was a made up recipe with other "stuff" in it I just wanted to get some more knowledgeable perspectives...

It started at 1.060.

1000g maris otter
100g crystal
100g chocolate malt
50g wheat

3g northern brewer- 60 mins
50g dried cranberries- 60 mins

Flame out
50g dried cranberries
3 crystalised ginger in syrup (including some of the syrup)

I have swirled it lightly and pitched some fresh yeast to see if that helps, also moved it into a much warmer environment as my normal place is currently about 17 degrees. Also going to add in some cinnamon syrup later as I was going to use this for bottling but might as well see if it helps it ferment out. Didn't taste sickly sweet although the cranberries have given it a bit of a acidic twang at the end so not sure what its going to be like to drink anyway...
 
What temperature did you mash at? And what yeast is it?
 
What yeast was it? 1.043 to 1.010 is 76% attenuation 1.060 to 1.023 is 60% attenuation. (according to brewers fiend atten.calc.). So I would say that the yeast has more work to do (unless you used a lower attenuating yeast). You've got some specialty malts in the second brew but not outragous amounts
 
Thanks guys, thats what I thought.

It was lallemands WINDSOR BRITISH-STYLE BEER YEAST.

Mashed at 67 Degrees for 60 minutes

Fermented at around 16 degrees which is at the low end but within its range.
 
Thanks guys, thats what I thought.

It was lallemands WINDSOR BRITISH-STYLE BEER YEAST.

Mashed at 67 Degrees for 60 minutes

Fermented at around 16 degrees which is at the low end but within its range.

Aha, Windsor!. This is a lower attenuating yeast so your 1.060 beer sounds fine as thats around what attenuation you get with windsor. You did very well to coax 76% out of it for your 1.043 beer
 
Ah, really should pay more attention to my yeast choices, didn't realise about attenuation... :oops:

May have messed this up a bit now as I dumped in quarter pack of West coast pale ale yeast I had left over... Will leave it to settle out and then bottle with the cinnamon syrup and let you know how it turns out!
 
A lot of people get caught out with Windsor. If you google 'Windsor yeast' and look at forum hits (rather than places sellng it) you'll see many posts along the lines of 'Windsor is ****. It sticks' when in fact, it's supposed to 'stick'. As it only has a medium attenuation. But people often dont research the yeast their going to use and just chuck it into their FV thinking it's all the same as US-05/S-04/Notty
 
Its probably worked out luckily then because actually with the beer I did want it to be sweeter with it being a christmassy brew. Its like I meant it....
 
OK so just a quick update, I bottled this 3 days later, Gravity was still the same so the west coast ale yeast didn't make any difference...

I have now bottled this but slightly paranoid about bottle bombs... I used 1/2 teaspoon sugar per bottle (500ml) and also 1/2 teaspoon of monin syrup... I thought the sugar content would be lower due to the water content but not sure if this is actually the case.

The biggest problem is this was meant to be a christmas gift for various family members and I only made 6 bottles. Would it harm the beer for me to open a bottle and make sure it isnt overly carbonated and then recap?
 
I used Winsor in a NEIPA attempt, 1.058 to 1.020, for a "whopping" 65.5% attenuation... I mashed at 68c and used the oven to maintain temp since the previous attempts lost heat and ended up too dry, this one got hotter and ended at 70c ish. Having said that, it was a seriously tasty brew, the high residual gravity balanced the hops nicely.

Your Chistmas beer should be very tasty.
 
This is the second thread today that I have read of someone using Monin syrups to prime with (I think the other was a strawberry syrup in a cider). These are the syrups that you can use to make flavoured coffee, aren't they? I haven't tried them in beer but have tried the caramel ones in coffee before. I find that they have a good aroma but something gets lost in the flavour of my coffee, although I do prefer my coffee strong. It should tell you on the label how much sugar is in a bottle or a measured amount which will help you calculate how much you have primed with.
 
Thanks guys, will remember the plastic bottle! I have put them in a cooler room (in 2 cardboard boxes just in case).

The monin syrup was a bit of a last minute idea so didn't really research it properly.

I did calculate it yesterday and think 4.5g sugar in a teaspoon of syrup, so have ended up priming with around 6g per bottle...

I have run this through brewers friend calculator and seems like it will be safe, just maybe overly carbonated for the style.

there is also some preservative in the syrup so might have just killed all the yeast and it will end up as a flat syrupy mess...
 
I recommend always using a fizzy water plastic bottle as a carbonation tester. When the bottle turns rock hard the beer had carbonated and its time to put it somewhere cooler :thumb:

That is a brilliant idea! Why didn't I think of that sooner!!
 
So just a quick update as i thought, sod it, its Christmas. So i tried a bottle of the christmas ale. It was over carbonated but when poured vertically it formed a nice pint.

Taste wise, sweet as expected from the windsor yeast (thanks @myqul). The syrup didnt seem to make a blind bit of difference, a slightly tart flavour came through from the cranberries and the ginger didnt really come through either.

All in all it was a dark beer with coffee and treacly flavours with a somewhat odd marmitey flavour at the end.

Not my finest pint but with a label on including a picture of my daughter in a santa hat, still an ok present!
 
Back
Top