Re: Help My Kit Has Stopped Fermenting

[Parva]

Ah good, he just sounds like someone I know.

[garwatts]

Chris-x1 wrote

Firstly I'd check the gravity. It's not unusual for it to ferment out in 2-3 days or less. If it's not below 1010, fermentation has stalled, if it is then treat it as normal, bottle or keg and find a warm place for secondary fermentation.

If it has stalled or stuck then find a warm place for it (18-24 deg c) and gently rouse the yeast (stir the yeast back into suspension).

Fish tank heaters are good to use with fermenting beer as they are thermostatically controlled which us useful as beer can be spoiled by fermenting it to hot also.

Thanks for that Chris. I did two brews on Friday a Geordie Bitter and a Woodfordes Great Eastern. Just checked them and the Geordie is still going slowly and the SG is down to 1010 already and clearing nicely. Tastes nice (never watse the trial jar ) The Great Eastern looks dead, cloudy and the SG is about 1016 and very sweet. Had turned off the brew belt on Saturday so turned it back on to see if that helps. If not will try a gentle stir as recommended.

[Sir Real Ale]

(opt2) Although this should work for most stuck fermentations by activiating fresh healthy yeast and adapting it to its new enviroment gently, if the cause is an improper balance of sugars option 1 will always be the most sucsessful.

Rehydrate some Safale04.

Take 1 pint of beer, put in a pan, add 2 tablespoons of dry malt extract, mix then bring to the boil and simmer gently for 5 mins.

Cover with a sanitise lid/plate and allow to cool (in a sink of cold water helps).

Dry off the bottom of the pan and funnel the contents into a 2L pet bottle, add rehydrated yeast, cap, shake then loosen the cap (to release any gasses created).

Once fermenting (it may take a few hours) you can either add more beer over the next 30 mins or so to attemperate/acclimatise the yeast or just pour it straight into the fermenter.

I have an Old Conkerwood stuck at 1020. I maybe didn't put enough effort into the aeration, maybe the yeast temp was too low, definitely the brew temp in the garage was too low c15deg until I moved it into the kitchen when it was a happy 18-20.
My other two brews were Muntons Premium Stout and Woodforde Wherry, neither of which stuck (probably bottled around 1014).

Anyway, I've followed Opt2 above because I have no yeast-vit or DBE and a gentle rousing didn't work. Pint sample appears to have come down satisfactorily (separately rehydrated yeast, poured off a pint into plastic bottle and shook well). This was yesterday. Do I now need to aerate the wort again before re-pitching or can it just go straight in?

Many thanks

SRA

Oh, I bottled 10 pints worth because there were plenty suggesting they had had satisfactory results even at 1020. I gave half the bottles no sugar, and half a little sugar, so at least there's some experimentation going on there.

[Invicta]

For what it's worth, I had a stuck fermentation last week with Woodford's Great Eastern Ale (@ 1023) and went straight to option 1. Maintained the temperature at 22C and it fermented out to 1008 in 3 days

[LeeS]

My Great Eastern (my first brew after 20 odd years) stopped at bang on 1020

I got a restart pack from brewking in Bradford and put it with a little warm water and small half teaspoon of sugar

Within the day it was frothing away but stopped again at 1014, so i kegged/bottled it, 2 weeks on tastes a little homebrewy but I had added a cascade teabag to it and its got a nice bite, not clearing at all yet though


My second brew, muntons premium gold, had slowed dramatically at 1022 after 8 days so not wanting the messing about i've stuck some nottingham & yeast vit to try and keep it rolling


Lee

UPDATE

18 hours later its formed a good frothy head again and is definitely brewing.

After this I think I'll just buy nottingham (seems to be very good at varying temperatures etc, my local micro brewery uses it too)

No point risking it with the provided sachets for £1.25

Lee

UPDATE AGAIN

OK it's now almost 2 and a half weeks since I started this Kit, its now down to about 1014-1015 but still has that malt extract flavour going on, its taken its time to get this far so I will leave it going a while longer.

Tastes sweetish with a very bitter after taste at the moment, hope it settles down soon, damn frustrating!

Lee

UPDATE YET AGAIN

It was sat on the yeast for a month, still smelt/tasted sweet, not fresh etc, so threw it down the drain, not happy!

[phildodd]

So I put on my first ever brew (barring the lager my brother and I did as teenagers) last Friday. It turns out it is not at all warm enough in my house currently, hovering mostly around the 15-18C mark, probably dropping below that at night, so I have ordered a heater thing to go in my next brew. Anyway, this one is bubbling occasionally so I just want confirmation that this means SOMETHING is still happening. SG has dropped from the starting of 1040, but hasn't dropped much for the last couple of days (I'm not being very accurate at reading it off so can't say how much it has dropped.)

Am I best off just leaving it and praying it'll drop before futzing with it?

[delta9]

My 'EDME' Bitter has just stopped fermenting. Made the brew on friday night, so thats like 36hrs + total.

I have agitated the bottom like chris suggested, it is not bubbling, there is slight pressure on the bucket though.

Bit of a bummer really.

more info:

bubbled 20 Litres of water for 12hrs (airpump + airstone) *experiment
boiled 5 litres of water in the pan

put the malted barley into the fv, added the boiling water, added Muntons beer kit enhancer (realised after, the enhancer should of gone in before the water)

added the remaining water

took temp reading, it was 23c,
yeast was then added

it was bubbling lovely yesterday, woke up this morning and there was no bubbles
Current SG is 1030

[delta9]

Good news, my FV just started bubbling again, well chuffed.
did what chris said, stirred the bottom, punched it a few times

[Parva]

Hi

I am curious as to why you do not want to add more air into a wort that has stuck, why the gentle stirring and not some aerating froth inducing gung ho stirring ?

Oxygen into an unfermented wort is what you want, yeast thrives on it. When it's fermented (or partially so) you do not want to introduce more oxygen as the beer will then likely oxidise and not taste particularly nice, this is why we use the term 'rouse' the yeast rather than stir it.

[GaryJS]

Glad to see I'm not the only one having problems! I'm brewing my first ever brew (Geordie Lager that I've inherrited) and it has stopped after 36 hours. After reading this thread, I gave it a gental stir, still nothing. I went to the home brew shop in Barnsley market to get some new yeast and nutrient (my kit was right at the end of it's date) and they only had ale yeast but said that would do the trick. I'm very new to this but I thought ale yeast and lager yeast were different? Do you think I should add it or should I just try the yeast nutrient (which doesn't seem to come with any instructions)? I have bought a hydrometer and will take a measurement when I get home.

[GaryJS]

Well... It was 1.030 so I've added the yeast and nutrient anyway. Went a bit mad when I put the nutrient in but settled down. Fingers crossed for some magic!

[kippa7]

My first brew - Muntons Gold Pilsner doesnt seem to even have started fermenting.
Frothy head after 1 day, no bubbles in airlock. Apparatus seems tight and is brand new.

All apparatus sterilised and rinsed well.

Did what it said on the box - used tesco bottled spring water.

Added yeast to wort when the temp dropped to around 26 degrees then place in my spare room which is around 22-23 degrees all the time.

No life. Day 4. Took lid off and gently stirred. Couldnt even feel a sediment in the bucket really. Day 5 (today) still no life.

Tonight i will take a hydrometer reading. If still above 1010 then apparently fermentation has failed.
Can i kick start this by adding another sachet of yeast, or a few spoons of muntons beer enhancer????

I dont have enzymes or Vits, but can always get some i suppose.....??

Your help would be much appreciated lads - im new to this, and getting addicted, however, i can see how these failing kits will put new brewers off...

[Parva]

Tonight i will take a hydrometer reading. If still above 1010 then apparently fermentation has failed.

What's the reading? Anything upto about 1.018 is ok. Whilst heading closer to that 1.010 figure to get a higher alcohol content is one thing the trade-off is that you end up with a 'thinner' beer, less body. Would you prefer a high alcohol pint of paint-stripper or a lower alcohol pint of beer that has taste and body? My beers usually finish at around 1.015 and I'm very happy with this.

[kippa7]

Thanks for the reply Parva - appreciate it!

Think i may have been panicking a bit too early.
Did a reading last night which was approx 1014, this is after 4-5 days, so everything seems fine.
Beer is cloudy mind you, but tasted really good! (a biased opinion obviously) - is this normal for lagers to ferment this quickly? I was expecting a week or two.

Im going to take a further reading tomorrow and if it remains the same i will prime & bottle on saturday/sunday (would you recommend this as a good timescale?)
I take it that its supposed to be cloudy before priming? Would you recommend a few drops of finings before bottling or will this affect taste/body?

For the record. i enjoy a full bodied and tasty paint stripper!!!!! (nah, taste over strength any day!!)

Thanks again for the response pal, its good to chat with people who have heard it all before! Apologies for all the questions...

Kip

[Parva]

I'd expect it still to be cloudy after 5 days. I personally leave mine for 10 days before bottling / kegging and whilst it may not be crystal clear it will drop bright in the bottle after secondary fermentation. I wouldn't bottle it until day 7 if I were you as even when fermentation has completed the yeast continues to clean up after itself. Check gravity on day 6 and provided that it remains the same on day 7 then go ahead and bottle it.