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Stuck Braggot

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mmclean said:
Thanks for the post, Medsen. I added it to my favorites. :)
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Ditto! I'm happy to have the "idiot" part down pat, anyway. I feel like my successes have been essentially accidental, but I do admit to testing my small store of knowledge by comparing what advice I would give someone with what the mentors actually advise. I'm getting better.

Over the weekend I was showing my daughter's boyfriend how to brew a batch of kit beer, and as we were doing that I edumacated him on brewing in general, whole grain, meads, etc. I surprised myself with how much I've learned in the last couple of years., thanks in large part to many of you here.
 
how much airlock activity is "good enough" to add more must?

i added 1 cup of must a few hours after starting the "starter", then a few hours later i added another cup as it was bubbling every few seconds. then, this morning it was bubbling every 30 seconds, so i added 2 cups.......i wasn't sure if it needed more sugars to ferment, or if it was still adjusting. it has been about 12 hours since the last must addition, and i am heading to bed with it bubbling about once every 30-45 seconds.

if it is still at that bubbling rate in the morning, should i add 2 more cups? or let it sit another day before adding more?

i really need this to work:BangHead:
 
Pumper said:
how much airlock activity is "good enough" to add more must?
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Airlock activity is not a good indicator. It is just a one way valve used to keep bad air away from your must.

As for adding the must, I'd think that sooner would be better than later. I'm not sure what the recommended rate is, but you don't want this to drag out for days.
 
Pumper said:
Sorry to offend on the novice-intermediate-expert stuff......
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LOL... none taken!

It did make me chuckle, though -- it reminded me of the good old days online (back in the 80's, when newsgroups were the "internet"), and every September, when new kids came to college for the first time, there would have to be a rash of posts informing them of netiquette.

This would include the reminders that the net wasn't their personal tech support service, and they didn't have some sort of paid contract to get professional help -- so that their "please don't waste my time if you aren't an expert" posts came off as... well... rude (!).

Sorry... but that's how your post came across to me.

Good luck getting your ferm unstuck!

Merry
 
What's the SG now?

Pumper, I've got a stuck braggot too and was wondering how well your acclimated starter worked. Did you get the gravity to drop significantly?
 
the gravity did drop to about 1.010, which is pretty good considering all things. i just wish i hadn't added so much junk to it in hindsight. i tried everything i could think of, adjusting ph with acid blend (gave a bitter mouthfeel quickly), multiple acclimated starters with 3 different strains of yeast, adding beta-amalayse (extracted it from roasted barley), even used beano :)

nothing seemed to work, so i dropped it off at my local brew shop and they just let it sit for 2 months and it magically fermented, and seems to still be slowly fermenting. maybe the aeration of dumping it into their bucket kicked off the fermentation....i don't know

the product is actually drinkable, just a little sour. i may try to add some oak chips for a bit, and then sulfite and force carb before bottling with a single cascade hop in each bottle. it will be something i won't try again, but i will tell everyone it is amazing stuff, it worked perfectly, i meant for it to taste the way it does, and i'm awesome. :) sadly enough, i think most people will believe me.
 
It is quite common with restarts to see a very slow drop in gravity and almost no visible activity. The steps you took worked, but it just took more time, and the late aeration certainly may have helped.

Every time I add acid blend prior to a fermentation being done and fully clear, I end up wishing I hadn't. It took me a long time to learn that, but it finally sunk in.
 
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