[dmtaylor]

Just to check, usually you all see Notty attenuate better than 61%, right? I am normally seeing closer to 80% by my records.

Notty gets me about 77-78% attenuation every single time, REGARDLESS of mash temperature or amount of crystal malt.  Maybe all you need to do is pitch more Notty.  I am very surprised by your result.  You did not use any lactose or maltodextrin, correct??

[wingnut]

You can even just grab some yeast off the bottom of the fermenter for krausening   (that way you can save the other packet)

If I need to get a yeast starting for another beer, I sometimes stick my racking cane into he yeast cake at the bottome of a beer and siphon off into a two liter flask and let it settle for an hour or so... then decant the beer on top and dump in some 1.036 wort I made up with DME. 

Do this an when the yeast is fully going, dump it in.

I would keep the yeast starter at room temp and dump into room temp beer. (That way temperature wont be a shock to the new yeast)  My experience is that you need to pitch in active yeast to bring the beer down further.   Sleeping yeast...stay sleeping.  Active yeast...stays active, and at the very least, grabs a bedtime snack before going to sleep.

[mchrispen]

Yeah no lactose or maltodextrin. The repitch is from a Maris Otter SMaSH that performed fine, gravity at 1.056... Finished at 1.012.

One last thing to check is my O2 bottle and stone... But I am fairly certain it is functioning.


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[pete b]

I had a similar problem with a Trappist Ale and got good advice on this forum: https://www.homebrewersassociation.org/forum/index.php?topic=19419.0
I ended up pitching a large starter and it worked perfectly.

[beersk]

Last resort would be an active at krausen starter. Even with rehydrating, dry yeast has only helped a couple of times.

No, I'd say the last resort is Amylase Enzyme. That'll dry it out, but there's no way to stop it where you want it. You could end up with a porter that finishes at 1.005.

[mchrispen]

Planning to brew tomorrow morning - will extend the volume a bit, harvest a bit of the yeast from the Porter and repitch when this hits high krausen. Will shoot for about 2 liters, oxygenate well and just let it roll.


Thought about the amylase... have never tried it. If this was a belgian - would give it a shot. Will be thrilled if I can get below 1.020 at this point.


Thanks all.

[beersk]

Planning to brew tomorrow morning - will extend the volume a bit, harvest a bit of the yeast from the Porter and repitch when this hits high krausen. Will shoot for about 2 liters, oxygenate well and just let it roll.


Thought about the amylase... have never tried it. If this was a belgian - would give it a shot. Will be thrilled if I can get below 1.020 at this point.


Thanks all.

I did use the stuff once for a stout that finished at 1.024 and dried it out to like 1.015...it's worth a shot. Just add a teaspoon and let it roll another week. But it adds an extra bit of complication if you're bottling the beer. I keg, so once it's crashed to cold temps, it doesn't matter.

[dmtaylor]

I used Beano amylase one time, and one time only.  I vowed never to use it again.  If you really want to kill the sweetness, you can try it, but use less than you think you need.  One tablet is probably all you need.  Then give it a few weeks to ferment out again.  But still....... I really do not advise it.  Absolute last resort.

[tress]

1/3 sachet of champaign yeast will take it down more.

[denny]

1/3 sachet of champaign yeast will take it down more.

Not necessarily.  If it's a highly unfermentable wort, champagne yeast will do nothing.

[klickitat jim]

Brett Lambicus! Pitch and set aside 6 months.

[mchrispen]

Ok... it was a gorgeous day to brew Saturday morning - such a welcome break from the heat and humidity. Brewed up a hoppy brown ale, hit all of the numbers, especially the spare gallon that would become the second starter for the porter.


Aerated into the conical and dumped about 2 liters into a gallon jug and pitched a fresh package of Notty. This was up and rolling well within 4 hours... waited till the 10 hour mark, with significant krausen showing and pitched the lot into the porter.


Happy to report there is fermentation going on again, although I would not call it vigorous. Going to let this go a few more days, then decide after another gravity measurement. Thanks for the ideas everyone.

[tommymorris]

Ok... it was a gorgeous day to brew Saturday morning - such a welcome break from the heat and humidity. Brewed up a hoppy brown ale, hit all of the numbers, especially the spare gallon that would become the second starter for the porter.


Aerated into the conical and dumped about 2 liters into a gallon jug and pitched a fresh package of Notty. This was up and rolling well within 4 hours... waited till the 10 hour mark, with significant krausen showing and pitched the lot into the porter.


Happy to report there is fermentation going on again, although I would not call it vigorous. Going to let this go a few more days, then decide after another gravity measurement. Thanks for the ideas everyone.

Please report back. I am eager to hear how things turn out. I hope it goes well.

[mchrispen]

Well, I am giving up on bringing the FG down on this. The final addition fermented out, but did not seem to lower the gravity but by 2 points. Frustrating. Will chuck in a few ounces of roast coffee and then cold crash and condition.


So two possibilities:


1. Bad yeast pitch. I hydrate dry yeast and I know the pitch was active when added. It was added at 64 and temp was ramped up.
2. Something went wrong with the recipe and the mash. I measure everything carefully, and this is a bit of an adhoc one from a previous brew. So I am guessing that there are just too few fermentables left, given the large pitch of S-04 and later pitch of Notty. Everything added seems to have fermented out. I am fairly OCD on the cleaning and sanitation regiment, and certain was clean, rinsed well and sanitized post boil. Denny's comment about no remaining fermentables has me wondering about the grist.


Am I missing something?


Would love for some advice on the recipe. Too many specialty malts? Or just bad luck. Was aiming for a Robust Porter with a nuanced roast flavor. I do understand that yeast are done when they are done, but would like to have a solid house Robust Porter recipe for the future. Really a bit at a loss, beyond taking out some of the darker roasts. Maybe this question should be posted in another section...


Thoughts?

[denny]

Fair amount of unfermentables there....

2 # Brown Malt
1 # Pale Chocolate
1 # Carared
6 oz Debittered Black Malt
4 oz Roast Barley

Brown malt and carared are not as unfermentable as the others, but they're also not as fermentable as pale malt.