Stuck fermentation X3

[The Epworth Brewer]

I know there have been many posts on this subject before. A lot of us will have suffered from a stuck fermentation occasionally but all 3 of my Christmas brews have stuck around the 1016-1018 mark when they should be 1009-1012.

I have tried dropping, fresh yeast etc and all to no avail. The one common denominator is the malt. The supplier is particularly cheap compared to others, up to 50p+ per kilo less. Does anyone know if the quality of malt could explain the problem?
All 3 brews mashed to the correct SG and all the pale malt (Crisp) came from the same batch.

[bigrichlock]

Hello,

I would say there is nothing wrong with the malt, well when it left the maltings, if there is a problem it's more likly to be the handling of the malt by who ever you bought if from, be that age or storage conditions?

But even more likely it will ba process issue, may be something as simple as a dodgy temp probe or unhappy yeast. Just because you hit your planned OG it does not mean it will ferment out to the planned FG especially if the mash temp was a bit high?

I would check your temp probe first and after that look at possible yeast problems, malt would be the last thing I would look to blame, not really the first.

Cheers

Rich

[orlando]

Quite a few possibilities. Could have something to do with mash Ph, could have something to do with a mash temp problem, could be a yeast handling issue, really need a bit more info to pin it down.

[Eric]

From your post you seem to have eliminated most causes of a stuck mash, so possibly they aren't.
It is possible you've a malt that would do that, but properly marketed it could command a better price, not a lesser one. Are you getting sufficient extract?
Mash temperature is the most influential tool at your disposal to control attenuation. How do you control this and how and when do you measure temperature?
Many times I've read supposed final gravities in the 1009 region which would be too low for a good beer of that particular style. What were your starting gravities?

[Marley]

You don't say what the OG of your three brews were and what style the beers are. It could be that if you've used a fair amount of crystal and roast malts that the brews will finish higher than usual as these malts contain a good proportion of non fermentable sugars. Or it may just be that you need to mash a few degrees lower and extend the mash time, say from 60 to 90 minutes which will help to lower the final gravity.

[Rick_UK]

I would expect a typical 'winter warmer' to finish about where yours has. What yeast did you use?

[Nofolkandchance]

I would expect a typical 'winter warmer' to finish about where yours has. What yeast did you use?

+1 Xmas brews are traditionally "big" in tems of og. It may be yours are just that (you dont mention this in your post) and youre under pitching on the yeast?

[The Epworth Brewer]

The brews are all from BYO 2nd edition and I have brewed them numerous times before without any problems.
Everards Old Original OG 1050 expected 1012 stuck on 1016 after 2 weeks. Gervin ale yeast.
Ruddles County OG 1049 expected 1009 stuck on 1018. Gervin again.
" " " " " " " " 1020. Safale 04.
The Ruddles is particularly puzzling as it has 335g of sugar and those recipes usually drop to FG no bother.
All 3 were 66-68c at start of mash and only lose 2-3 c in the 90 minutes mash.
Still, they are all over 4% ABV so it's not a complete disaster, just bewildering. I have been brewing for donkeys years and have done nothing different to what I always do.

[Eric]

2-3 degree drop during the mash works in your favour in this scenario. It's just as if you'd a small air bubble in a liquid in glass thermometer or calibration drift in an electronic type.