So I am not sure where exactly this fits, because it covers quite a few things.
I brewed a high gravity IPA in late August. I fermented for two weeks, and then racked to a secondary. After about 5 weeks in the secondary, I put the beer into a keg. My OG was 1.070 and my current is 1.017.
Here is my 1st issue, last night I tried a sample and I ( and my girl friend who isn't big on beer) both tasted the dread flavor of medicine. There is just enough sweetness that this beer actually tastes kind of like medicine. I had planned on dry hopping and/or potentially trying to pitch some champagne yeast. I was thinking that if the champagne yeast took care of some of the sweetness or if the dry hopping covered up some of the off-flavors that this beer might be drinkable.
Why would the fermentation stop with so much seemingly left to go?
Is it worth trying to save? It was a pretty expensive recipe to just throw it away now. I also am not sure at which point the contamination happened. I normally don't age beer this long, but I was really hoping to see a further drop in gravity.
Thoughts? Other than replacing tubing is there a common technique issue that could cause this? FWIW I have a Kolsch at the end of fermentation that has no noticeable off flavor, so I don't think it is my plastic fermenter.