beer Ozzy's Beginning brewing

So my RIS hasn't moved down in gravity since last week.  Started at 1.082 been at 1.031 since last week.  Supposed to get down to 1.02 ish


hmmm ... well, it's a big beer if i recall ...

was there yeast nutrient? ...

is it colder than it should be by much? ...

have you swirled it at all? ... and, are there fault lines w/ little bubbles? ...

any bubbles i. the airlock? ...

they might have you warm it up, or pitch a wlp001 or somethin' ... i think safale us-05 is well known to chew shit up ...

you want Wheebz for sure, i don't really know that i know what i'mtelling you ... i hope i'm close though!

CHEERS!
 
I've been rocking it every day.  Its a steady 68F where it is.  It still gasses out, which is why I'm surprised it hasn't gone down.  I'm ask Wheebz

The nice thing is that my Blue Moon copy is now at 1.017.  So there is a bright side.
 
Yeah, who knows.  I was just doing what Bumper said to keep the yeast in suspension.  It wouldn't be the end of the world if it stalled.  It actually taste pretty good right now and is at about 6.5 ABV.  I'd like that extra 2% but I wouldn't be devastated if it doesn't happen.
 
The problem is that you kind of can't bottle ... or bombs.

That's how I lost batches #1 , and maybe #3 (that one I cooked the mash (170F+)) ...
 
grantmichaels said:
The problem is that you kind of can't bottle ... or bombs.

That's how I lost batches #1 , and maybe #3 (that one I cooked the mash (170F+)) ...
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Yeah, I'm kind of stuck. Here is the yeast tht came with the kit.

Not sure what the yeast company's idea of medium is. The kit said it should get down to 1.02ish. I could try to put more yeast in, but it seems that it wouldn't be the greatest environment when it's already 6.5% alcohol now.

I'm thinking of moving it to a warmer spot of the house today see it it will move any more.
 
OK ...
 
1st thing's 1st - Wheebz will reappear in the morning tomorrow, probably, so let's not do anything drastic (like repitch) ...
 
I would agree with warming it up a bit to try to stimulate some activity, but you might be able to just put some warm in a bottle or bucket and put a blanked or tarp around both to raise it up some - without having to move it around and fully disturb it ...
 
Did you pitch the dry packet direct to wort? ... I know my Brooklyn Brew Shop instruction have one pitching direct to wort, but it's been tested really clearly that this is far from optimal - compared to pre-preparing the dry yeast w/ some GoFerm ...
 
Here's an experiment: http://brulosophy.com/2014/09/15/sprinkled-vs-rehydrated-dry-yeast-exbeeriment-results/
 
I've reinvigorated sluggish ferm by warming with straightforward results, so I think you have the best move for today, to just warm it up a bit ...
 
It'll be interesting to see what Wheebz thinks, or I think Bumper could help too, but he hasn't been around this weekend that I've noticed ...
 
You could PM RocketMan or HTH ... Roguejim brews, HopsNBarley brews ...
 
I think I'd just let it sit today and wait for Wheebz ...
 
Actually, I'd probably order a packet of the same yeast from Amazon and have it on-hand to re-pitch when I got the go-ahead!
 
I think this would probably be a good batch for some yeast nutrient and multiple packets of dry yeast, since it's a pretty big beer ...
 
I've been reading about RIS on HBT and in the forums at the AHA website, and people are pitching 2 and 3 packets for their BCS and TF clones ...
 
Sorry!
 
CHEERS!
 
Yeah. I haven't done anything yet, and I have another packet of the same stuff. I did pitch directly to the wort per the directions, but read afterwards that it isn't the best. Which is why I rehydrated for the Blue Moon clone. I definitely think that was the problem on this one. I did have the temp down to 70 when I pitched it.
 
Ozzy2001 said:
Yeah. I haven't done anything yet, and I have another packet of the same stuff. I did pitch directly to the wort per the directions, but read afterwards that it isn't the best. Which is why I rehydrated for the Blue Moon clone. I definitely think that was the problem on this one. I did have the temp down to 70 when I pitched it.
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So yeah, I'm pretty impatient, and I would probably warm it up and pitch the second packet if it were me ... but as for advice, I recommend waiting for one of the others to chime in ...
 
Patience is one of the important qualities in brewing, I've read ...
 
=)
 
Ok, it's down to 1.031 and supposed to go down to 1.02. You could rack it off the trub to a secondary and let it go another week or 2 then cold crash and bottle or since that's really not that far off go ahead cold crash and bottle. if your concerned about bottle bombs then only use say 1/2 cup of priming sugar, though you could probably stay with 3/4 cup and be fine, for bulk priming in the bottling bucket. By bulk priming you ensure that every bottle will come out at the same level of CO2. Easier to do too, put the sugar in a pot with a pint of water and heat till the sugar has dissolved. Allow it to cool then pour carefully into your bottling bucket. Rack your wort on top and the swirling action will mix it all together nice and evenly. Then bottle normally.
 
JMHO, 
 
RM
 
Sounds good to me. I have a secondary ready so I may go ahead and put it in there since I'm not really in a hurry. Bottle bombs are definitely a concern so I will follow your advice there. Thanks a lot.
 
Ok.  Yep was up in Sydney over the weekend and down with influenza the week before so only just back up and running on here.  Not sure you can oxidise a beer by swirling when there is a blanket of CO2 sitting on top of the beer. Swirl away my friend.
 
RM has some good advice, but not sure I can completely sign up to RM advice on this one, I am sure wheebz will also have a view.  Cold crashing drops a lot of yeast out of suspension, but there is still more than enough yeast to start fermenting again in the bottle.  Do not add priming sugar to a stuck ferment!  
 
1030 is bottle bombs even without priming sugar in my book. It will, guaranteed, start fermenting again in the bottle.  The only way I would consider bottling this would be to pick up some home brewing PET bottles.  The brown plastic ones cope with a decent amount of pressure. It will shoot out of them when you crack one though.
 
The last 10 points can take up to 2-3 weeks. It may only move 2-3 points a week. 
 
GM advice is also good to keep working at it.  Check your temps, is it dropping overnight? Put a blanket on it for a couple of days or move it to a warmer part of the house could help get it going again.  Repitching can be done and done safely, make sure you rehydrate the yeast before you toss it in and sanitise the vessel you hydrate it in.  Crack the lid quickly and pour it in. 
 
Move up the line and pick up a keg, regulator and beer gun is another option.  Kegging at 1030 is fine! 
 
Well, I definitely won't be buying a keg anytime soon. No extra money right now to do that. I do have another yeast packet so I will pitch again. Should I just keep it in te primary? Or move to a secondary and then pitch. I'm in no hurry and bottling is the end game, so I can be patient to wait for the last points to drop.
 
I'm enjoying answering w/ disclaimer of being new myself, so ...

I'd leave it.

Lots of leading minds (Palmer and Mosher) saying secondary isn't "a thing" at homebrew scale brewing. Beersmith radio podcast #100 those two agreed - probably not worth the exposure to baddies, and nobody is seeing much autolysis at homebrew scale.

As always, will be interesting to hear from those with more technical knowledge and perhaps more importantly the wisdom of actual experience!

That year round basement temp is beautiful. Wort chiller is one thing you'll still need ...
 
If you can fit it in the fridge in 2 weeks for a few days to drop the yeast out of suspension it will be fine, with a big beer like that the chances of any dead yeast developing off flavours is pretty minimal.  At the moment it will be damn sweet which is as problematic in my mind.  To declare, I have brewed for coming up 8 years now, and never racked to a secondary. I have won prizes for my beers, so I don't think it is necessary really.  

I usually leave big beers in for 3-4 weeks as they also need to clean up after themselves too.
 
ok just got to this and just asked some questions in the ask wheebz thread before I read this
 
what was your mash temp for this beer?
 
If it was higher than 152, especially in imperial stouts, you are going to have an issue unless you made a huge starter and used proper nutrients/oxygenation
 
swirling it isnt a good thing, all you are doing is sucking in air from the top of your airlock into the beer, thats bad after the yeast are fully propagated and create an anaerobic environment. What bumper meant by rousing the yeast is making sure its still in suspension. Best way to do this is thoroughly sanitize a hose, attach it to the end of your c02 tank, purge the hose out, then stick it down to the bottom of the beer and bubble some through there for a couple of seconds. This is a last ditch effort, and usually only allows for a drop of about .5 plato, MAYBE 1 whole degree if you are lucky
 
What you can do is rack it off of primary, purge out a second fermenter with C02, throw the beer into there, and add 2 packets of US-04. That yeast is the shit, and will attenuate pretty far down plus flocculates like crazy.
 
That might drop you another 1.5 to 2 degrees plato. You are sitting at 8P right now, if you can hit 5.5 or 6 you should be good.
 
The biggest problem in going to have is that I don't have a CO2 tank.

I steeped the grains at 155F (according to the kit). I'll have to check if my local brewshop has that yeast.

Thanks for your input as well.
 
Ozzy2001 said:
The biggest problem in going to have is that I don't have a CO2 tank.

I steeped the grains at 155F (according to the kit). I'll have to check if my local brewshop has that yeast.

Thanks for your input as well.
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I think that is your yeast packet, just an FYI ;)
 
Fermentis Safale US-04 ...
 
Not sure what the use of the U or not represents ...
 
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