Stout stalled after 5 days

The Homebrew Forum

Help Support The Homebrew Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Bvk1983

New Member
Joined
Jan 21, 2022
Messages
10
Reaction score
2
Location
Eindhoven area, The Netherlands
The stout I brewed 7 days ago stalled after 5 days. OG was +/- 1.140 but after I added al large yeast starter it dropped already to 1.120. The yeast starter was 3 liter, White Labs WLP099 Super High Gravity. I didn't aerate actively because my aeration pump wasn't delivered yet but I rocked the vessel heavily before pitching the yeast. I was already afraid this would happen because the WLP099 was nearly a year old when I got it delivered.

It stalled at 1.084 so it didn't work very hard. To boost the fermentation I added two packages of US-05 yesterday but to this moment (nearly 24h after pitching) the fermentation isn't doing anything.

Is there something I can do to get it going or is this a lost batch of stout?
 
Last edited:
I did a double mash at 65C for 75 minutes each. This was my grain bill:

tokyobill.jpg
 
1.120 - 1.140 will seriously stress the yeast (ask a winemaker!). Throwing an out-of-date liquid yeast at it may have been asking for trouble? The US-05 had only been given 24 hours? A far less stressed "stuck" situation I added S-04 to took 6-7 days before fermentation took off again. US-05 may not have the alcohol tolerance to do the job (only 11% ... !) but give it a lot more time than you have.

I have seen suggestions to aerate strong beer later into fermentation, but it's not usually considered to be a good thing.
 
I grew some more yeast cells in the starter but obvious not enough. I had some doubts about the date of the yeast but some people at the Dutch homebrewing forum ensured me that a 3 liter starter would do the job...

The reason I added US-05 is because I assumed it could handle the current gravity of 1.084. I added 2 packs on 13 liter so that should be sufficient. Would it help if I added a little amount of sugar so the US-05 can multiply on the sugar? Let's hope it will start again.
 
Presume your pitching temperature and conditions are all ok, basic I know as you rocked it about there should have been enough oxygen to get it moving , so don't see anything other than a yeast issue
 
Back
Top