Geordie Yorkshire bitter stuck

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Decided to have a go at modifying what is normally considered a 'poor' kit - with the idea that it will give me valuable knowledge for the future.
But it appears its suffering a stuck fermentation.....

This is what i brewed and what i have done - if anyone can advise where i may have slipped up or what else i should be doing, mega appreciate it!

1 can geordie yorkshire bitter
1kg amber DME
20gms challenger hops made in to a hop tea

Bunged it all in the FV up to 18 litres and whisked it like hell for 5 minutes to fully aerate.
Once it was at exactly at 21C i put in my yeast starter that had been bubbling for an hour on the side (500ml water at 20c with appropriate amount of youngs beer yeast, youngs beer nutrient and a table spoon of sugar)
Covered it up and put it in the office at a constant 20C
Initial SG of 1040

Bubbled like mad for 2 days and then stopped. Not being impatient I left it another 5 days and then took a reading and its at 1020........
damn.
Gave it a good stir, added a touch more yeast nutrient and put the heating on to bring it up to 22C and left it another 2 days. Nothing. Still showing 1020 on my hydrometer.

Other than pitching some more yeast in, am I stuck with bottling p*ss weak beer?
:doh:
 
appropriate amount of youngs beer yeast,

What's an appropriate amount? Stuck brews are usually caused by using too little yeast and/or too low fermenting temps, your temps are OK so it must be the yeast. Was it the kit yeast, if so how much was there to start with? Not familiar with that kit but some manufacturers are miserly and only include a 6g packet, you really need 12g for a full-size brew.

Try mixing 200-300g of sugar in some warm water and adding that, then give it a good stir, keeping the temp up around 22C - will give any remaining yeast something to chomp on. I've never been able to get a stuck brew going again just by adding more yeast as most of the fermentables are already used up.
 
Just for future reference, ditch the kit yeast and buy your yeast separately. You'll get 10-11g packs which is what a brew needs. The only thing I found the kit yeast good for is baking bread, bakes a gorgeous loaf.
 
Just for future reference, ditch the kit yeast and buy your yeast separately. You'll get 10-11g packs which is what a brew needs. The only thing I found the kit yeast good for is baking bread, bakes a gorgeous loaf.

I have a 100g dried yeast pack from Young's and used the right amount according to the destructions of the tub.

Just had a thought, is DME the same as granulated sugar in terms of fermentables?
The kit says use 1kg of sugar, so I presumed 1kg of DME would be the same? Maybe I should dump some more sugar in it with some fresh yeast.
 
I have a 100g dried yeast pack from Young's and used the right amount according to the destructions of the tub.

Just had a thought, is DME the same as granulated sugar in terms of fermentables?
The kit says use 1kg of sugar, so I presumed 1kg of DME would be the same? Maybe I should dump some more sugar in it with some fresh yeast.

For the situation you have on your hands at the moment I would certainly recommend that you go with what Darrell advised, I couldn't offer better advice than that. In the time it takes to brew out check out some other yeasts, Safale, Mangrove Jacks, even my favourite the Wilko Gervin yeast, that never stuck on me in 2 years and always seemed to finish at 1008 and I loved it.
 
Veggies!? Bugger that! See if it gets going again, it will but if only back down to 1020 get it blimmin bottled anyway! Even if it's in pop bottles and you carb it outside out of reach of soft furnishings :lol
Don't give it the veggies though!
 
Ok it's bubbling again!
Is there anyone that could work out or tell me how to adjust my OG based on adding that extra 200gm of sugar so I can work out the abv when I finally bottle?
 
Complete inactivity for 3 days with an FG of 1015
The fact I added 200gm sugar probably bumped the alcohol level up a bit so I reckon it's finished around 3.7% ish.
That'll do I reckon.
Ended up with 19l bottled and primed it with light DME.
Smells good and has a deep Old Peculiar colour.
In to the warm office for a week, then it can go into the cold cellar until I get back from my hollibobs in a months time and we'll see what it tastes of!
 

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