Thursday 21 February 2013

Stuck....Again!!

Well the Milk Stout fermented rather well.....sorry, actually that is a lie. It fermented fine, until it stuck. So stuck, that the gravity has not dropped one iota since a week after pitching. I have now hit the fortnight, and I am really annoyed.

I followed someone else's recipe this time, not some fanciful dreaming of my own, so why should THEY get it wrong too? It just seems that me and roasted grains just don't get on. Is it the BIAB technique? Does that have some impact on breaking those dark, long chain sugars down? Not really sure, may have to ask!!

Well, completely at a loss, I googled some stuff on stuck ferments, and my last gasp solution is to introduce alpha amylase into the FV. Now, there should be some of this around already, but the idea is that this enzyme will get to work on those stubborn dextrins, and make the brew fermentable again. So, here goes, dark lovers. A teaspoon in, a bit of agitation.....who knows where this will lead! It may just be a bit dry, taste like rocket fuel, or stay as cloyingly sweet as it is.

2 gallons of Mackeson's clone, anyone?

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