Barleywine finishing gravity

CorneliusAlphonse · Post by **CorneliusAlphonse** » Thu Nov 27, 2014 2:50 pm

Brewed a barleywine 16 days ago. OG was 1.120, a little higher than my intended 1.112. Pitched US-05, 25g rehydrated properly. It fermented vigorously for a week, and has been slowing a lot since then. After 9 days, it was at 1.055. Today, after 16 days, it is at 1.045. ie it has dropped 10 points over the last 7 days. It has been fermenting quite cool (the beer temp is 16.2C right now - it was about 17 during active fermentation.)

I'm trying to get it to drop down to the final gravity it is supposed to get, 1.035 or less. Trying to come up with a strategy:
1. rock the carboy to rouse the yeast (already did this, might do it every day for a few days)
2. increase the temp of the carboy (kind of hard, don't have anywhere warmer in my house - maybe i could use a heat wrap?)
3. pitch more yeast (might not work super well since it is already at 10% abv)
4. just let it sit for a while longer, check gravity regularly to ensure its still dropping (it has only been 15 days after all...)
5. combination of above

Anyone have thoughts on how to get this to finish well?

cheers!

amartin · Post by **amartin** » Thu Nov 27, 2014 3:08 pm

If it's still fermenting, I'd let it go, and try to warm it up. Is there a furnace or something you can put it near?

If you really get stuck, an option might be to krausen it. Make a smaller batch of it (just extract is fine), maybe about 10% of the size of the main batch. Aerate it well, and pitch with the same yeast. When it hits high krausen, dump the whole thing in the main batch. With any luck, the newly active yeast will finish what the old yeast didn't, and maybe even clean up any diacetyl or other fermentation byproducts while it's in there.

GAM · Post by **GAM** » Thu Nov 27, 2014 3:12 pm

Time and warmth areyour friends. Some rousing couldn't hurt.

Sandy

gm- · Post by **gm-** » Thu Nov 27, 2014 3:15 pm

Mine (O.G. 1.120, american barleywine) took very long to reach f.g (3 months or so). So I would just leave it be for now, maybe warm it up a bit?

CorneliusAlphonse · Post by **CorneliusAlphonse** » Thu Nov 27, 2014 3:24 pm

hmm, the krausen option is a great idea. ill keep that on the back burner if it does get fully stuck - brew up a little something in my starter vessel, and put that in a new carboy along with the barleywine (not enough room in the current vessel to add anything).

heat is what i should really be looking for i guess. nowhere in my house that is warmer and stable (we only turn the heat on for parts of the day) and i already have it wrapped in a blanket.

thanks for the info jon, makes me feel less paranoid about mine. ill check it in another week and see where my gravity sits

GAM · Post by **GAM** » Thu Nov 27, 2014 3:26 pm

You are mostley fermented. I dont think warm but unstable temp will hurt the beer.

Sandy

CorneliusAlphonse · Post by **CorneliusAlphonse** » Thu Nov 27, 2014 10:06 pm

Rousing it is helping. Now bubbling once every 15 seconds instead of once every minute or 2. I'll keep the thread updated in case anyone runs into the issue later.

Celiacbrew · Post by **Celiacbrew** » Fri Nov 28, 2014 11:46 am

CorneliusAlphonse wrote:Rousing it is helping. Now bubbling once every 15 seconds instead of once every minute or 2. I'll keep the thread updated in case anyone runs into the issue later.

Put it beside your radiator or heat vents. If your house is sitting around 17c there is probably a temperature differential across the room. Depending on what kind of floor you have it might be colder than the air so keeping the carboy off the ground should help it stay warmer.

GAM · Post by **GAM** » Fri Nov 28, 2014 12:18 pm

I have a brew belt heater if you want to give that a shot.

Sandy

CartoonCod · Post by **CartoonCod** » Fri Nov 28, 2014 6:14 pm

I bet some Brett would finish it off for you.

CorneliusAlphonse · Post by **CorneliusAlphonse** » Fri Nov 28, 2014 7:36 pm

Brett is actually very tempting, not sure how well it survives in 10+% alcohol, but it would probably age awesome. Maybe I'll split it into two half carboys...

Anyone have half carboys to sell?:)

Celiacbrew · Post by **Celiacbrew** » Fri Nov 28, 2014 9:51 pm

CorneliusAlphonse wrote:Brett is actually very tempting, not sure how well it survives in 10+% alcohol, but it would probably age awesome. Maybe I'll split it into two half carboys...

Anyone have half carboys to sell?:)

Dave has one gallon jugs for $5

Post by **mr x** » Fri Nov 28, 2014 9:58 pm

Alpha amalyze

CorneliusAlphonse · Post by **CorneliusAlphonse** » Fri Nov 28, 2014 10:12 pm

mr x wrote:Alpha amalyze

Is there any way to control how low that takes it?

Post by **mr x** » Fri Nov 28, 2014 10:14 pm

Yes and no, start a teaspoon at a time per 5 gallon. I think Greg had some general numbers worked out here somewhere. It really worked well on couple big beers for me.