Perhaps stuck kit brew but weird conditions!

[Toredan]

Ok, so I wanted to experiment with a few different yeasts and see for myself the taste difference in the final product. I bought myself a relatively cheap Geordie's Bitter kit and divided by 4 and placed into 4 DJs. In the first I used half the yeast packet that came with the kit so by my poor math skills that is double the yeast needed. Into DJ2 went a packet of Ale Yeast (youngs). Into DJ3 went 1/4 of the kit packet (so the amount specified by the instructions). Into the last DJ went the yeast I use for wine. (Young's super yeast). Used 250g of DME in each DJ so ended up with 1.045SG in each. almost a week later and the only DJ still bubbling is the one using young's super yeast. Checked the SG on Sunday and ALL are between 1.025 and 1.015. Kit instructions say the kit should finish out at 1.005 but it did say to use sugar so I'm wondering if the yeast has consumed all the ferment-able sugars. Gave the trub a stir last night but nothing looks any different today. Should I get a new yeast on the go and chuck it in? Would assume if that doesn't restart then there is nothing left to ferment, can a brew be 1.020ish with nothing left to ferment? Any hints from the pros would be most appreciated though :)

 

[Slid]

Ok, so I wanted to experiment with a few different yeasts and see for myself the taste difference in the final product. I bought myself a relatively cheap Geordie's Bitter kit and divided by 4 and placed into 4 DJs. In the first I used half the yeast packet that came with the kit so by my poor math skills that is double the yeast needed. Into DJ2 went a packet of Ale Yeast (youngs). Into DJ3 went 1/4 of the kit packet (so the amount specified by the instructions). Into the last DJ went the yeast I use for wine. (Young's super yeast). Used 250g of DME in each DJ so ended up with 1.045SG in each. almost a week later and the only DJ still bubbling is the one using young's super yeast. Checked the SG on Sunday and ALL are between 1.025 and 1.015. Kit instructions say the kit should finish out at 1.005 but it did say to use sugar so I'm wondering if the yeast has consumed all the ferment-able sugars. Any hints from the pros would be most appreciated though :)

I would have expected much lower SG readings after 5 days, especially if only one airlock is active. Do you know if the temperatures were either far too warm or far too cool over this time?

In your position, I would try to keep the temperatures stable and around 20C - perhaps by wrapping a towel or some thing around each one and leaving them for a week or so.

Hydrometers and new brewers often means poor guesses, BTW, so it might be worth taking a look at something like this:

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTvmYaQq6Mc[/ame]

 

[Toredan]

I would have expected much lower SG readings after 5 days, especially if only one airlock is active. Do you know if the temperatures were either far too warm or far too cool over this time?

In your position, I would try to keep the temperatures stable and around 20C - perhaps by wrapping a towel or some thing around each one and leaving them for a week or so.

Hydrometers and new brewers often means poor guesses, BTW, so it might be worth taking a look at something like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTvmYaQq6Mc

Thanks for the info Slid and the youtube link, that helps quite a bit :) As far as the temp goes my apartment is double insulated so often ends up around the 26 mark in the day and down to the 22 mark in the evening. Is this enough of a swing to upset the yeast?

 

[Slid]

Thanks for the info Slid and the youtube link, that helps quite a bit :) As far as the temp goes my apartment is double insulated so often ends up around the 26 mark in the day and down to the 22 mark in the evening. Is this enough of a swing to upset the yeast?

From my experiences last summer, I can confirm that a high intial temperature (first 2-3 days) can make for very "lazy" yeast that leads to a stuck fermentation. Bottling at a high finishing SG can then lead to continuing slow fermentation in the bottle and hence over-carbonation. The risk is exploding glass bottles and super-fizzy beer that tastes horribly of casbonic acid with PET bottles.

22-26 was just about the range I was brewing at last August. I can't think of a better alternative than waiting and reducing the temperature a bit by some means or other.