hufcat05
Active Member
- Joined
- Dec 7, 2016
- Messages
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Hello everyone,
I'm on my third batch and this thing is incredibly problematic. First things first, I tried new equipment (installed a brew thermometer in my kettle and added a spigot, bazooka screen for straining after mash). That said, I measured 78% efficiency using the process in my recipe below. At the end of brew day I measured 1.051 Original Gravity
I think I have a stuck fermentation and I can't seem to get it going again. I've attached a picture of a graph of the fermentation below (I have a bluetooth hydrometer that floats in the bucket and posts data about the current temp and gravity every 15 minutes). The blue line is gravity. Fermentation kicked off perfectly and ran for a few days then completely leveled off around 1.024/1.025 (this hydrometer is accurate within .003).
I decided it was stuck and went out and got a new batch of yeast. Boiled .35 oz of DME in 1L of water. After cooling I pitched the yeast and let it sit. I realize that I made a mistake here in that I never stirred, swirled, or oxygenated the starter wort (I don't have a stir plate). 15 hours later, there was a small amount of foam on top of the starter, I swirled it and a bunch of CO2 was released so I figured it was good even though there was a good amount of cake on the bottom. -- Yes, I know now that this was a mistake.
Anyways, I pitched into the beer and let it sit. The hydrometer readings dropped to 1.023/1.024. It is now 24 hours later and I'm getting concerned.
This morning, I opened it back up and took a sample. Glass hydrometer read 1.020. Glass thermometer read 61F.
So, with all of this information, what does a guy need to do to get anywhere close to his target gravity of 1.014?
Should I buy a stir plate and get a better starter going and try again?
Your help is greatly appreciated.
Recipe:
Amount Item Type % or IBU
1.82 lb Briess Gold DME
1.75 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain
2.00 lb Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain
1.75 lb Corn, Flaked (1.3 SRM) Grain
0.50 lb Barley, Flaked (1.7 SRM) Grain
0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain
0.50 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain
1.5 oz Hallertauer (60 min) Hops
0.50 oz Saaz [4.00 %] (5 min) Hops 5.2 IBU
1.00 items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs White Labs (WLP029) Kolsch Yeast -- Ale
Mash 60 Min @ 152 -- 2.8 Gallons
Batch Sparge 10 Min @ 168 -- 2.31 Gallons
Boil 60 minutes
I'm on my third batch and this thing is incredibly problematic. First things first, I tried new equipment (installed a brew thermometer in my kettle and added a spigot, bazooka screen for straining after mash). That said, I measured 78% efficiency using the process in my recipe below. At the end of brew day I measured 1.051 Original Gravity
I think I have a stuck fermentation and I can't seem to get it going again. I've attached a picture of a graph of the fermentation below (I have a bluetooth hydrometer that floats in the bucket and posts data about the current temp and gravity every 15 minutes). The blue line is gravity. Fermentation kicked off perfectly and ran for a few days then completely leveled off around 1.024/1.025 (this hydrometer is accurate within .003).
I decided it was stuck and went out and got a new batch of yeast. Boiled .35 oz of DME in 1L of water. After cooling I pitched the yeast and let it sit. I realize that I made a mistake here in that I never stirred, swirled, or oxygenated the starter wort (I don't have a stir plate). 15 hours later, there was a small amount of foam on top of the starter, I swirled it and a bunch of CO2 was released so I figured it was good even though there was a good amount of cake on the bottom. -- Yes, I know now that this was a mistake.
Anyways, I pitched into the beer and let it sit. The hydrometer readings dropped to 1.023/1.024. It is now 24 hours later and I'm getting concerned.
This morning, I opened it back up and took a sample. Glass hydrometer read 1.020. Glass thermometer read 61F.
So, with all of this information, what does a guy need to do to get anywhere close to his target gravity of 1.014?
Should I buy a stir plate and get a better starter going and try again?
Your help is greatly appreciated.
Recipe:
Amount Item Type % or IBU
1.82 lb Briess Gold DME
1.75 lb Pale Malt (2 Row) US (2.0 SRM) Grain
2.00 lb Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain
1.75 lb Corn, Flaked (1.3 SRM) Grain
0.50 lb Barley, Flaked (1.7 SRM) Grain
0.50 lb Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (20.0 SRM) Grain
0.50 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain
1.5 oz Hallertauer (60 min) Hops
0.50 oz Saaz [4.00 %] (5 min) Hops 5.2 IBU
1.00 items Whirlfloc Tablet (Boil 15.0 min) Misc
1 Pkgs White Labs (WLP029) Kolsch Yeast -- Ale
Mash 60 Min @ 152 -- 2.8 Gallons
Batch Sparge 10 Min @ 168 -- 2.31 Gallons
Boil 60 minutes