Stuck Fermentation

[Pumbapoindexter]

I brewed an extract Malty brown Ale kit from MoreBeer with a O.G. of 1.056 and pitched a 1L starter of WLP002 and I also aerated it for 120 min with aquarium pump. that was on 3/13/13 I put it in my fermentation chamber at 66F and let it go. well I checked the gravity yesterday and its 1.021 it should be lower. I pitched a extra vile of WLP002 and shook it up but nothing really happened...

What can I do????

 

[climateboy]

First off, this won't really affect your beer, but 120 minutes is way, way overkill with the aquarium pump. 30 min max will do it.

Were you sure to correct your hydrometer reading for temperature?

What is the temperature of the fermentation now? You said you let it go, so what is it now?

I would just wait. You can gently rock the fermenter to get more yeast into solution, as it is highly flocculant yeast, but be careful not to introduce more oxygen at this point. It has only been 12 days. I rarely even look at a beer before 3 weeks, unless I'm in a hurry.

 

[Pumbapoindexter]

Yeah I know its over kill. I do 120 because its also part of my cooling process too. the carboy is in the fermentation chamber and the aquarium pump is in the freezer section it helps me get to pitching temps faster. Plus I rather go overkill than not enough since you cant get too much into solution using just air.

Oh temp it is still at 66F. Sorry I mean I set it there and let it go and it stays there. I haven't yet ever messed with raising temps. only dropping them to cold crash.

Ok I will wait. Thank you. I hope I didn't add too much oxygen by agitating it, I was doing it quite violently...

 

[climateboy]

Cold air as a chilling method--that's clever, haven't heard of that before. You do have a HEPA inline air filter, right? Please do that if you haven't already.

Check gravity again in five days to see about progress. You could also warm up to 68 deg (if you go over by a bit, don't sweat it too much, the yeast will clean up after themselves. Try not to go over 70), that might get them going. But yes, patience.

As for rocking/shaking, just make sure the carboy/bucket is covered. Take out the airlock while you do this, as it can provoke suckback. Just cover any openings with sanitized aluminum foil. After fermentation has begun, in general, do not introduce air--can result in infections/oxidation/staling.

 

[Pumbapoindexter]

Yes I do have a HEPA filter in line!

I will check gravity again in 5 days, and bring the temp up to 68.

Thank you. I hope this works. Worse case I guess I may have a really sweet brown ale.