Stuck Fermentation?

[Otter]

I brewed Jamil's Chocolate Hazelnut Porter last Sunday (2/15), and my OG was 1.059. About Midnight, I pitched a 2L starter of WLP001-California Ale, that I started on Saturday morning. Monday morning, about 8am, I noticed activity in the airlock and the beginnings of some krausen. My carboy has been in my freezer, set at 65F.

Tuesday night, I checked the gravity and it was 1.040. There wasn't any activity in the airlock, that I could tell. Around noon today, it was still at 1.040.

I have always just shaken my carboys to aerate. I usually get pretty vigorous fermentations, and typically hit my FGs.

How long should I wait before I take drastic action? Any ideas about what action I should take?

[ziggy]

Don't mess with it for another 3 days at least. Sometimes that yeast has trouble starting compared to some dry strains.

[Otter]

Hell, I figured it out. Apparently, my thermocouple for my herms system was about 10 degrees off. It turns out that I mashed at about 165. Looks I like denatured most of the enzymes.

This wasn't a problem on my other brews, because I usually do a 20 minute beta rest at about 140, before going up to 152 or so.

Problem is fixed now, with one brew down the drain.

Had to happen sooner or later.

[ziggy]

You don't have to toss it down the drain. You can get some amylase enzyme or some beano and chuck in there. Those enzymes will go to work and you'll get your gravity down. Just remember that a little goes a long way.