Stuck Barley Wine?

[Guido]

Well, maybe it is and maybe it isn't. The O.G. was 1.122, and I pitched a large slurry of Safale 05 from a Pale Ale, aerated with pure O2 when I pitched and at the start of fermentation, about 8 hours later. It's not been quite two weeks and the gravity is down to 1.050. I'm still getting about 6-7 bubbles a minute in my airlock. Do I not panic and show patience (which isn't my strong suit)?

I thought if it craps out, I might want to add some White Labs 99 High Gravity from a mini-starter of about 500ml rather than just pitching the tube as is.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Cheers...Mark

[bazookazilla]

Sorry to provide no help at all, but that's what I got. I have a Belgian golden strong that was supposed to finish at 1.007 and stopped at 1.027. I have repitched Wyeast champagne yeast and that did no good whatsoever. If you try your idea and it works, please let me know how and what you did.

[pfooti]

If it's still bubbling, then there's still something going on. You can also give a shot at rousing the yeast too- I do that with my high-gravity stuff. Just shake the bucket a bit (I make the bucket do the twist basically) two or three times a day to resuspend some of the yeast.

And Bazooka, if your beer stopped at 1.027, there's two possible reasons: one, there's not much fermentable left (e.g., the wort had a lot of dextrins and stuff) and two, the champagne yeast you pitched wasn't all that viable. If you're planning on throwing in a second pitch late in the ferment, make sure it's highly active (like an actively fermenting starter). Otherwise it'll just drift around, see all that alcohol, and go back to sleep.

[brewinhard]

Guido-

Your best bet is to give it another week or so keeping it warm (70 deg) and see if you drop any more points. If you don't then you probably are stuck. After that I think the high gravity yeast is a great idea with a small rolling starter pitched at high krausen. I would also add some yeast nutrient to the starter and don't be afraid to splash a little bit when adding the starter to the stuck barleywine. That is a huge beer and I hope it finishes for you.

[Guido]

The fermentation on the Barley Wine is still chuggin' away, slow but sure. A couple of bubbles a minute. I want to wait a while yet until I take a gravity reading. The High Gravity WLP99 yeast is coming today from NB, just in case.

[Bugeater]

I've had gravity drop slowly over a period of months for big barleywines. Just be patient. Rack after 4-5 weeks and let sit for a couple months. I do this in a keg with just enough pressure to keep it sealed. Just store the keg at cool room temperature and forget about it until after Labor Day (preferably after Halloween).

Wayne

[Guido]

I've had gravity drop slowly over a period of months for big barleywines. Just be patient. Rack after 4-5 weeks and let sit for a couple months. I do this in a keg with just enough pressure to keep it sealed. Just store the keg at cool room temperature and forget about it until after Labor Day (preferably after Halloween).

Wayne

Thanks for the encouragement. I think the fact that it's slowly chugging along means I won't have a stuck fermentation. Usually when that happens, it suddenly dies. I just have to be patient. The keg thing is a good idea. I was planning on having this around Christmas time.

Mark

[Guido]

I added the White Labs 099 High Gavity yeast about two weeks ago. I racked to a secondary fermenter today. The gravity is down from 1.122 to 1.025. It might drop another point. It's yummy, btw! It's going to take a lot of restraint to forget about this one for about a year.