Belgian Wit stuck fermentation?

dhb368 · Feb 17, 2017

Sorry for my first post to be a question but I have a problem.

I am 4 brews in on my Grainfather.
1st brew Ok, possibly needed a more thorough cleaning before first use

2nd brew much better, remembered the protofloc as well.
3rd brew, realised that my water needed some additions (I use Tesco Ashbeck), a very good Porter, IMHO and
4th brew, I have hit a snag.

I have brewed the following recipe.

2.6kg Dingemans pilsen
2.4kg Flaked Wheat
0.2kg Barley Hulls
0.12kg Munich

*EDIT*
Mash:
17.2L @ 71c, mash @65c for 90 mins, 15L sparge @ 75c. 28l for the boil

60g Hallertauer Mittelfrueh
90min boil
Orange peel and Coriander seed
Mangrove Jacks M21 Belgian Wit yeast

I was expecting (Beersmith) OG 1.051 and got 1.050 post boil.
The final OG is calculated to be 1.009
Into FV on 2/2/17 @ 20c and left for 7 days (I was away)
OG on 10/2/17 was 1.018 with no activity so I upped FV to 21.5c.
OG on 14/2/17 was 1.018.
After hitting google I decided the M21 had given up and added rehydrated packet of US-05 to finish.
16/2/17 I have very little activity and OG is 1.018.

I will give the US-05 some time yet but any advice on next steps or what has happened?

Sadfield · Feb 17, 2017

Hi.

What was your mash schedule?

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dhb368 · Feb 17, 2017

Oops. Knew I would miss something.

Mash:
17.2L @ 71c, mash @65c for 90 mins, 15L sparge @ 75c. 28l for the boil

Sadfield · Feb 17, 2017

Ta.

As you're using a grainfather I'm guessing the mash temp is pretty accurate.

I'm wondering if the large amount of unmalted wheat in the grain bill has led to an insufficient amount of Free Amino Nitrogen (FAN) in your wort. FAN is normally provided by malted grains and aids healthy fermentation as it is needed by yeast for cell growth.

http://howtobrew.com/book/section-1/fermentation/wort-factors

It may help if you do a Protein Rest in your mash next time you use this type of grain bill or use some yeast nutrient.

Probably not much you could do now if the FG isn't dropping. Carry on as normal, it may still be a nice beer, if a little fuller and sweeter.

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Grizzly299 · Feb 17, 2017

I experienced the same when I brewed a Wit with mangrove Jack's M21. I believe mine got stuck at 1.013 ish.

After a couple of months in bottles they were all gushers. I probably ended up with over 3 volumes of C02 in there, where 2.8 would have been ample.

If you can wait it out a little longer then go for it. I'd be hesitant to bottle at 1.018.

Here's my recipe

G: 1.044
FG: 1.012 ish (I bottled at 1.013 and it over carbed)
Volume: 19 litres in fermenter
Efficiency: 64%

Grains;

2 Kg Unmalted Wheat
2.6 Kg Pilsner Malt
87g Acid Malt (Depends on your water, mine is very hard)
230g Oat Husks

Mash Schedule(Multi Infusion);

45ÃÂ°C for 20 mins - 8.8 litres @ 51.2ÃÂ°C
65ÃÂ°C for 60 mins - 6.2 litres @ 100ÃÂ°C
76ÃÂ°C for 10 mins - 7.8 litres @ 100ÃÂ°C

Hop and other additions;

12.5g Perle @ 36mins (11.6 IBU)
12.5g Perle @ 12mins (5.8 IBU)
5g Orange peel @ 12 mins
12g Orange peel @ 5 mins
15g Corriander @ 5 mins

Dads_Ale · Feb 17, 2017

Timely post as I am brewing a Wit beer tomorrow using M21.
I am using Pale malt and wheat malt (50/50) so keeping my fingers crossed I don't get a stuck fermentation.

This is one of my first drifts away from US05 and S04 so will see what happens as I usually get a very fast fermentation with all done and dusted in 7 days.

Hope it turns out OK as this is being brewed for the local CAMRA branch who are visiting the Compton Brewery Tap (my shed

) in mid March. Need to show that homebrew can be as good, if not better, than commercial stuff. (I might even start a new thread on the visit :))

dhb368 · Feb 17, 2017

Thanks Sadfield. I will check out your link.

If it is drinkable it will be 1 bottle at a time. The samples that I have had are very sweet, almost sickly so.

Grizzly, I am also very hesitant to bottle at 1018 and although I have a keg I do not have a CO2 setup yet.

Ideally i would like my fermentation fridge for another brew so may risk pulling it out and running it at ambient (21c) for a few more days and see what happens, or I just cold crash it and see if it is drinkable in a few weeks.

Sadfield · Feb 17, 2017

dhb368 said:
Thanks Sadfield. I will check out your link.

If it is drinkable it will be 1 bottle at a time. The samples that I have had are very sweet, almost sickly so.

Grizzly, I am also very hesitant to bottle at 1018 and although I have a keg I do not have a CO2 setup yet.

Ideally i would like my fermentation fridge for another brew so may risk pulling it out and running it at ambient (21c) for a few more days and see what happens, or I just cold crash it and see if it is drinkable in a few weeks.

Any change in fermentation temp at this stage will have little impact on the flavour, so you are good to free up the fermenting chamber.

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dhb368 · Feb 17, 2017

Thanks.

Out it comes then and in with a new brew this weekend.

Grizzly299 · Feb 18, 2017

dhb368 said:
Thanks.

Out it comes then and in with a new brew this weekend.

Try rousing the yeast, without splashing. You could even add a little dextrose, dissolved in boiled water and allowed to cool.

I think it was a combination of the bottling agitating the yeast and adding sugar that got mine going again.

BeerCat · Feb 18, 2017

I have had problems recently with my Stouts only getting down to 1018. I put it down to too much flaked barley. I don't think flaked wheat is diastatic either. I normally use 2.5 kg pale malt and 2.5kg wheat malt which will get down to 1010. You could try stirring though. Does it look clear?

BeerCat · Feb 18, 2017

Dads_Ale said:
Timely post as I am brewing a Wit beer tomorrow using M21.
I am using Pale malt and wheat malt (50/50) so keeping my fingers crossed I don't get a stuck fermentation.

This is one of my first drifts away from US05 and S04 so will see what happens as I usually get a very fast fermentation with all done and dusted in 7 days.

Hope it turns out OK as this is being brewed for the local CAMRA branch who are visiting the Compton Brewery Tap (my shed ) in mid March. Need to show that homebrew can be as good, if not better, than commercial stuff. (I might even start a new thread on the visit :))

Never had a wheatbeer not finish at 1010. Crossmyloof sell some new wheat beer yeast. Its meant to floc clear but you can rouse it and drink the yeast if you prefer. Am most impressed with the US pale ale yeast and its very cheap. Good luck.

Dads_Ale · Feb 18, 2017

BeerCat said:
Never had a wheatbeer not finish at 1010. Crossmyloof sell some new wheat beer yeast. Its meant to floc clear but you can rouse it and drink the yeast if you prefer. Am most impressed with the US pale ale yeast and its very cheap. Good luck.

Fingers crossed. Tucked away in the fv with yeast rehydrated and stirred in. OG 1050. Happy with that.
The sun makes the brew day and clean up much more enjoyable

dad_of_jon · Feb 18, 2017

dhb368 said:
Thanks Sadfield. I will check out your link.

If it is drinkable it will be 1 bottle at a time. The samples that I have had are very sweet, almost sickly so.

Grizzly, I am also very hesitant to bottle at 1018 and although I have a keg I do not have a CO2 setup yet.

Ideally i would like my fermentation fridge for another brew so may risk pulling it out and running it at ambient (21c) for a few more days and see what happens, or I just cold crash it and see if it is drinkable in a few weeks.

I find if bottling on the highish side to put less priming sugar in than you would have otherwise.

I used a fermentis wb-06 yeast and it was 1019. so instead of 160g sugar I used 90g If you have a plastic bottle as a carb tester what will let you know when to move to a cold place.

BeerCat · Feb 18, 2017

I just done a batch with the Polish yeast, fermentum banana wheat. Its come out really good. Will do a review soon. Tastes delicious with a banana taste and only fermented at 20c.

dhb368 · Feb 19, 2017

I think the move (a 40mtr and 1 flight of stairs journey) has roused it a little despite me being 'careful' as I have 3-4 bubbles a minute in the airlock at a steady 20c.

Grizzly299 said:
Try rousing the yeast, without splashing. You could even add a little dextrose, dissolved in boiled water and allowed to cool.

I think it was a combination of the bottling agitating the yeast and adding sugar that got mine going again.

dhb368 · Feb 19, 2017

If the agitation of moving it does not make a difference I will stir the yeast up a bit and see what happens. My sampling port is quite low, but is is VERY cloudy.

BeerCat said:
I have had problems recently with my Stouts only getting down to 1018. I put it down to too much flaked barley. I don't think flaked wheat is diastatic either. I normally use 2.5 kg pale malt and 2.5kg wheat malt which will get down to 1010. You could try stirring though. Does it look clear?

Grizzly299 · Feb 19, 2017

That'll do it haha. I would avoid putting things in the beer if you can.Although it is perfectly reasonable to sterilise a paddle or spoon, it does mean taking the lid off and exposing the beer to oxygen.

I find that just lifting the fermenter and spinning it or shuffling it without splashing gets the yeast off the bottom.

BeerCat · Feb 19, 2017

dhb368 said:
If the agitation of moving it does not make a difference I will stir the yeast up a bit and see what happens. My sampling port is quite low, but is is VERY cloudy.

I very much doubt it will help. You used too much flaked wheat according to this. Only ever used small amounts with no problem.

"To use in conjuction with high percentage wheat or rye mashes to prevent a stuck mash. ... Flaked Maize EBC 2.5-3.5 Up to 10% of grist SOLD PER KILOÃ¢â¬Â¦ ... Application - Adjunct max 10% of grist for ales Main Characteristics -Head retention"

fuzzy · Feb 19, 2017

BeerCat said:
I very much doubt it will help. You used too much flaked wheat according to this. Only ever used small amounts with no problem.

I've used 60%flaked wheat on a few occasions and never had one stuck but that was with wlp300 yeast.

Belgian Wit stuck fermentation?

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