Stuck at 1.030

[Klunk]

Glad I found this thread. The stuck wash pretty much sums up my situation. I got two bins of Kale wash on the go. Both with the same recipe. 23 litres water, 5kg Sugar, 1/2 litre Kale juice, 50gm allinsons.

Bin #1 been on the go since last week October. During that time It's struggled all the way. On two separate occations I have added a teaspoon of Bicarb and it's moved a little but not much. It's currently sitting at 1020.

Bin#2 been running since first week Nov. Again very slow. I did this week pitch a teaspoon of bicarb and it's at 1014.

Both bins have aquarium heaters keeping the fluid at about 24oC and they are lagged. The unit these are in is a steady 15-18oC

It's a real head scratcher as this is about the 4th time I've used Kale and never had a problem and I really like the ease and cleanliness of it. Last night I stirred in another teaspoon of yeast in bin #1 to see if it would kick start it. Wil have to see I suppose. I'm in a hard water area and never had an issue with PH before but might have to double check today whilst i'm out and about.

Any thoughts?

Cheers in advance.

[H12rpo]

Yep I’ve got 4 which in pretty much the same state......I believe it was the sudden drop in temp in the garage. I then added the heaters but they seemed to have become verrrrrry sloooowwwww. They’re still bubbling though so I guess just wait it out. I’ve pitched yeast bombs altered the ph and pitched some more nutrient all to little avail.
I’m thinking of ordering a few of the brew belt from China

[gaza the instructor]

Temp is very important, bread yeast likes it warm, over
20c is best. Run mine at 28c and they ferment out just
nice in about 10 days. Thats with 5Kg of the white stuff.

[Klunk]

Well like I said Gaza, the bins are heated to 24oC so would have thought they would be done or at least doing something. 5Kg same as you too. I might turn up the heat tomorrow and see what that does.

[Easydrinker]

Like gaza, I heat my 25 litre brews to almost 30°C from day one,seldom had a problem with Allinson's and 5Kg of sugar (add nutrient of your choice ).
Things may change as today I decided to stock up on a really cheap yeast from Amazon,
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00A79CENA/ ... 11_TE_item
I will let the patient ones know how it performs.

Suck it and see as they say
Or nothing ventured...
Feint heart never f*cked fair maid..
and all the other sayings

Robert.

[H12rpo]

So will those brew belts keep the temp up to near 30 in a 25 litre fermenter?

[Mash]

+1 with gaza. Consistent temp is important. They're are lots of ways of doing it.

There are 3 parts to the puzzle.
Heat, control & insulation.

Heat.
It is always better to manage the environment than the wash.

Brew belts work well. But so do heated tiles, plates, aquarium heaters, electric blankets, strip heaters, ceramic heats, oil radiators.

Controlling.
Either mechanically or electronic. Brew belts move up and down the drum to assist with temp control. The inkbird is a relatively cheap 'off the shelf' controller.

Insulation
Lastly they all need insulation. Blankets, quilts, camp mats.


The trick is finding something that works for you.

The easiest and most reliable solution seems to be find a dead fridge, insert a strip heater, control with an inkbird. Sorted.

[gaza the instructor]

100% Mash and im with you on the yeast ED, thats cheap !!!!

[Mash]

Ed. Very strange I buy Fermipan @ £1.89 per 500g - very strange - its a fortune online.........

[Easydrinker]

Care to share your supplier Mash?

Robert.

[Klunk]

I would have thought 24oC was plenty but I can up it, no problem there.

I did state in my original post that these fermenters are insululated. In fact they are double wrapped with immersion heater blankets. Temperature is controlled by the electronic aquarium heaters and is manually checked every day with a digital thermometer. The room they are in is also controlled heating wise and to be fair I don't record any fluctuations in the liquid temps.

So the only thing I can take from the replies so far is raising the temp. I can do that. What I find odd is that these two bins are running exactly the same as my previous Kale washes and it's the first time it's happened, well happened to this degree. In the back of my mind i'm kinda suspecting a duff tub of yeast. Possible?

[Easydrinker]

Duff yeast is possible.
But bear in mind that in summer months and with vigorous activity, heaters are seldom needed, the yeasties keep themselves warm by doing what they do.
I view my heaters as an insurance policy until this time of year.
When they become essential.
And I brew indoors anyway.

Robert.

[H12rpo]

Duff yeast??? Pitch some fresh and se3 if that works

[Mash]

Care to share your supplier Mash?

Robert.

Hyperama

[Mash]

Klunk,
A stuck wash is normally fixed by raising the temp a couple of degrees and aerating the mash. You can use a plasterers paddle on a drill or beat the beejeebers out of it with a balloon whisk.

There is another restart process of that fails.