Brewing a Russian Imperial (E+G version of Austin Homebrew Supply's Jester King "Black Metal" clone) stout that seems to have stalled after transferring to secondary. I've corrected the most usual suspects by moving it to warmer room and swishing the carboy a little to bring the yeast back into suspension, neither of which has had more than a ~0.001 change. (Perhaps the yeast remaining after the secondary rack was cooled a little too much... autumn weather decided to make a late appearance.)
Question: Is the problem solved by infinite patience or another yeast vial?
Statistics:
- Yeast: 2x WLP007 in 1L starter. BBE: 30 Jan 2014. Very vigorous fermentation for ~3.5 days.
- OG @ pitch, 18 Oct.: 1.079 (calibrated refractometer with ATC)
- SG @ secondary rack, 25 Oct.: 1.022 (corrected refractometer)
- SG, 30 minutes ago: 1.021 (corrected refractometer)
- Target FG: 1.013
Update: Patience be damned, I pitched a single vial of WLP007 (BBE: 20 Feb 14, no starter) to give the batch a last kick in the butt. Based on excellent responses, future best practice will include starters larger in quantity and gravity, as well as adding the forced fermentation test to troubleshooting procedures. Thank you for the responses.
Update 2: After pitching the third vial of WLP007 and waiting another week, there is no change in gravity. Considering the amount of attenuation (and the resources it's taking from future beers), I'm going to assume it's finished and let it age in the shed for the recipe-recommended six weeks in case of bottle bombs.