# restarting fermentation **URL:** \ **Category:** Ingredients\ **Created:** [November 3, 2016, 7:42pm UTC](https://forum.homebrewersassociation.org/t/restarting-fermentation/24311 "2016-11-03T19:42:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bmweigel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@bmweigel](https://forum.homebrewersassociation.org/u/bmweigel)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2016, 7:42pm UTC](https://forum.homebrewersassociation.org/t/restarting-fermentation/24311/1 "2016-11-03T19:42:31Z")
I brewed a barley wine at the beginning of September with an OG of 1.134 and a 1.5h boil. Beersmith calculated my ABV to be 14.5%. I made a yeast starter with wyeast labs 1098 (british ale yeast) two days before. when I pitched the starter and also threw in a second pack of the 1098 and a pack of wine yeast, to hopefully finish the fermentation up to 15% ABV once the alcohol was to high for the ale yeast. I fermented in primary for 14 days starting at 18C for 4 days then moving up to 21C until the end (I think that is 64F and 70F). I then transferred to secondary for two months at 20C. I did not check my gravity before going to secondary. I have never checked gravity before going from primary to secondary due to increasing risk of contamination (I contaminated a batch of wine once, so I prefer minimal touching). I usually leave the brew in primary for 7 days and secondary for 2 weeks. I have never had a problem of not reaching my FG before kegging/bottling time (including lagars). I went to bottle the barley wine and tested my FG, only to find that the gravity was still at 1.06 (after 2 months)! I believed that not checking my gravity before switching from primary to secondary had finally caught me. My ABV calculations at this point, using brewers friend webpage, is currently at 10%. I pitched another 2 packs of wine yeast on Sunday, to hopefully restart fermentation. I checked on the beer after 4 days and I don’t see any bubbling or obvious signs of fermentation. How can I start fermentation again? Suggestions (or is this beer ruined)? ---
**Author:** ![denny](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/brewersassociation/user_avatar/forum.homebrewersassociation.org/denny/32/13092_2.png) [@denny](https://forum.homebrewersassociation.org/u/denny)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2016, 8:50pm UTC](https://forum.homebrewersassociation.org/t/restarting-fermentation/24311/2 "2016-11-03T20:50:26Z")
How do you know there’s anything left to restart?  You may be done no matter how much yeast you pitch.  First step is a forced fermentation test to find out if there’s anything left to ferment.  If there is, then you can worry about how to restart it. ---
**Author:** ![skatz](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/brewersassociation/user_avatar/forum.homebrewersassociation.org/skatz/32/6982_2.png) [@skatz](https://forum.homebrewersassociation.org/u/skatz)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2016, 8:57pm UTC](https://forum.homebrewersassociation.org/t/restarting-fermentation/24311/3 "2016-11-03T20:57:53Z")
How are you measuring the final gravity? Hydrometer? ---
**Author:** ![majorvices](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/brewersassociation/user_avatar/forum.homebrewersassociation.org/majorvices/32/12825_2.png) [@majorvices](https://forum.homebrewersassociation.org/u/majorvices)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2016, 12:27am UTC](https://forum.homebrewersassociation.org/t/restarting-fermentation/24311/4 "2016-11-04T00:27:43Z")
Be careful when blending wine yeast with beer yeast. Some yeasts are known to actually kill each other. Also, wine yeast may have a higher alcohol tolerance but they have been naturally selected to convert fructose not maltose so you may not get a higher attenuation from them in actuality. You may want to look at getting a big pitch of active slurry from a local brewery but, as denny said, you also actually may just be done. The other option that “might” work is to pitch a big starter of Belle Saison yeast. I swear that yeast is incredible and can literally tolerate just about anything you can put on it. In reality though, super high gravity beers like this take some finessing. I personally don’t think there are many beers over 10% ABV that are worth drinking, but once you get 15% and up you will be better off doing incremental feeding of sugars. ---
**Author:** ![brewinhard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@brewinhard](https://forum.homebrewersassociation.org/u/brewinhard)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2016, 8:59pm UTC](https://forum.homebrewersassociation.org/t/restarting-fermentation/24311/5 "2016-11-04T20:59:37Z")
> [@majorvices](#): > > Be careful when blending wine yeast with beer yeast. Some yeasts are known to actually kill each other. Also, wine yeast may have a higher alcohol tolerance but they have been naturally selected to convert fructose not maltose so you may not get a higher attenuation from them in actuality. > > You may want to look at getting a big pitch of active slurry from a local brewery but, as denny said, you also actually may just be done. > > The other option that “might” work is to pitch a big starter of Belle Saison yeast. I swear that yeast is incredible and can literally tolerate just about anything you can put on it. > > In reality though, super high gravity beers like this take some finessing. I personally don’t think there are many beers over 10% ABV that are worth drinking, but once you get 15% and up you will be better off doing incremental feeding of sugars. This^^^^^. Be wary of the killer wine strains. ---
**Author:** ![MJK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cab0a1/32.png) [@MJK](https://forum.homebrewersassociation.org/u/MJK)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2016, 1:18am UTC](https://forum.homebrewersassociation.org/t/restarting-fermentation/24311/6 "2016-11-08T01:18:08Z")
Denny has the right plan of action. Forced Fermentation Pull a sample of your wort, being extra careful with your sanitation measure the gravity and place it in a sterile container. Inoculate your sample with a very high cell count of yeast. (Use the Belle Saison as advised by majorvices. Its a killer yeast) Place the container on a stir plate or rouse the yeast often by shaking. Keep the container warm until fermentation has ceased. After 36-48 hours, measure the terminal gravity of the wort. That should be as far as it will go. Could be anything. Might have only non-fermentables left