I just racked my all-grain NB Chocolate Milk Stout into secondary after 10 days in primary (at 72 deg). OG was 1059 and gravity at racking time was 1030. I used the Wyeast liquid yeast with a 24-hour yeast starter (1cup DME to 1qt water). Should I expect more fermentation in secondary? Should I add more yeast? I know the pound of lactose added to the boil will not ferment, but is this an acceptable FG? Thanks for any help y’all can offer.
I had the same questions concerning a partial mash oatmeal stout I did a while back. My OG was 1.043 (although this might have been a low reading due to lack of thorough mixing of top-off water). SG at racking time was 1.028, which I thought was high. Gravity only dropped to 1.027 in secondary(negligible). Primed and bottled and it turned out fine. Fairly low ABV but tasty just the same. My recipe used a pound of lactose and I used S-04 dry yeast. I wish I were experienced enough to give you more specific advice, but at least my experience with this batch tells me you could be ok. Hopefully others will chime in.
Cheers,
Ron
Four days into secondary and it’s still hovering around 1030 to 1032. I stopped by the NB store in St. Paul today and chatted with one of the employees; I’ve decided to try pitching some more yeast while in secondary. I may have been fermenting at too warm of a temperature which could have caused the yeast to slow down. Next time I will check the SG before I rack and if it’s too high, will swirl the yeast back into mixture and let it sit in primary a bit longer. For now I’ll see if some fresh yeast does the trick.
Don’t forget the lactose doesn’t ferment, so your final gravity will be significantly higher than you’re used to. Not sure how much went in, but I’m guessing that’s the only problem.
