Stuck fermentation?

[asnider]

I've got a hard lemonade brewing in my LBK. It's been in there for just over 4 weeks now and doesn't seem like it's moving too much on it's SG.

OG was 1.088. Some of that was from 500g of lactose, so I don't expect it to get right down to 1.001 or anything crazy, despite having used Lalvin EC-1118 (which I'm told eats everything and should get almost to 1.000). But it was at 1.060 for weeks. I just took another sample and it's at 1.050.

It's been in the high 70s for most of that time (with a day or two near the low 80s because of an unexpected heatwave that made temperature control difficult -- but that's still within the optimal range for this yeast), so the yeasties should be doing their thing quite efficiently.

Is this a stuck fermentation? Could adding another pack of EC-1118 help get the FG down?

If I bottle it now will I end up with bottle bombs?

I've posted the recipe below, but I think I screwed up my calculations on the sugar amounts, because the difference between what QBrew predicted for the OG and what I actually ended up with is huge and I don't think the lactose alone would account for that (or would it?).

Adam's Hard Lemonade
--------------------
Brewer: Snider Brewing Company
Style: Generic Ale
Batch: 2.13 gal Extract

Characteristics
---------------
Recipe Gravity: 1.062 OG
Recipe Bitterness: 0 IBU
Recipe Color: 1° SRM
Estimated FG: 1.015
Alcohol by Volume: 6.0%
Alcohol by Weight: 4.7%

Ingredients
-----------
Corn Sugar 2.00 lb, Sugar, Other
No Name Berry Bunch 0.29 lb, Sugar, Other
No Name Berry Punch 0.29 lb, Sugar, Other
No Name Lemonade 0.25 lb, Sugar, Other
No Name Lemonade 0.25 lb, Sugar, Other
No Name Lemonade 0.25 lb, Sugar, Other
No Name Lemonade 0.25 lb, Sugar, Other


Lactose 1.00 unit, Additive, 1 unit = 500g = 1.1lbs
Lalvin EC-1118 Sparkling Wine Yeast 1.00 unit, Yeast, 1 unit = 5g
Lemon Juice 1.00 unit, Flavor, 1 unit = 1 cup

Notes
-----
Recipe Notes:
1. Begin yeast starter.
2. Dissolve corn sugar and lactose in 6 cups of boiling water.
3. Add sugar water solution to LBK.
4. Add juice concentrate to LBK.
5. Add 1 cup lemon juice to LBK.
6. Top up with cold water and stir vigoursly to ensure concentrate is mixed in.
7. Pitch yeast.

Batch Notes:

[BlackDuck]

I think that yeast can handle higher temps too. Check to see for sure and if it can, you might want to try bringing up the temp into the low 80's to see if that kicks it up a notch. I've used that yeast for wine before, but I don't remember what the temps were.

If gravity doesn't move you can add either potassium metabisulfite or Sorbistat K before you bottle....I beleive these will kill any remaining yeast so you don't get bombs. But you won't get any carbonation either if your looking to carbonate it.

[asnider]

I think that yeast can handle higher temps too. Check to see for sure and if it can, you might want to try bringing up the temp into the low 80's to see if that kicks it up a notch. I've used that yeast for wine before, but I don't remember what the temps were.

If gravity doesn't move you can add either potassium metabisulfite or Sorbistat K before you bottle....I beleive these will kill any remaining yeast so you don't get bombs. But you won't get any carbonation either if your looking to carbonate it.

Thanks for the tip. I quite like it as-is, so if I'm not able to carbonate it that's not the end of the world.

EDIT: The upper range is listed as 86F (roughly 30C), so I could probably bring it up a bit higher and see if that gets it moving again.

[Kealia]

I'm going to agree with the duck. If you do proceed to bottle it, I would make sure that the yeast have no chance of survival - which is going to be impossible if you plan to carb the bottles.

With that high of a SG I would fear bottle bombs on those unless I knew the yeast were dead.

[asnider]

Quick update, I let this one ferment for another 10 days, roughly, partly to try and get the SG down further and partly because I just haven't had time to bottle it. It's barely moved. I've added another packet of yeast in a last ditch effort to the SG down lower. If it still hasn't moved in another week, I'll have to find some yeast-killer and bottle it up.

[mashani]

Did you use any yeast nutrients? If not, some nutrients or energizer might be useful.

[asnider]

Did you use any yeast nutrients? If not, some nutrients or energizer might be useful.

I didn't. But I do have good news to report! I just took another hydro sample and it's down to 1.015. That's the FG that qbrew had originally predicted and, given that there is a fair amount of lactose in there which qbrew wouldn't be able to account for, I think it's ready to bottle.