Fermentation stuck, or finished?

gouche

Hi

I started a Brewferm Belgian Wit kit on the 9th August.

Added 1Kg of Wheat Spraymalt instead of sugar.

SG was 1056.

Expected FG with sugar is 1005 according to the instructions but expecting it to be higher due to using spraymalt.

After 7 days, SG was 1018.

Due to work commitments I'm only getting back to it today, day 17, and SG is still 1018 so looks like no further fermentation took place since last reading.

Is the higher than expected SG due to the use of wheat spraymalt?

Or is it possible the fermentation is stuck?

At this point, do I just bottle or should I try to restart fermentation, and if so, how?

Brew tastes good, not very sweet so suggests alot of the sugar is gone.

BeerNut

It does seem high but there could be any number of reasons for that. Did you rehydrate the yeast before pitching?

You could gently rouse the yeast from the bottom with a sanitised paddle and give it another week, but my instinct is that it's done.

gouche

Didn't rehydrate the yeast, just pitched straight in at around 23°C if I remember correctly.

It's still giving just under 5% at that so I think I'll just bottle it and see how it goes.

BeerNut

If kit yeast has been lying around a while it can be less than optimally efficient. Rehydrating is one way to get it moving before you pitch.