Share your experiences of using brewing yeast.
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richard_senior
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by richard_senior » Wed Apr 30, 2008 8:33 pm
I had a mad weekend and did 2 lots of dark bitter and a lager.
Because I had limited time, I missed loads of things and didn't bother using the immersion chiller... worse.. the wort didn't really boil properly...
No idea what it's going to turn out like but anyway that's not my point...
The first lot of bitter I left overnight and into my second brewday in the fermentor to cool with the airlock on... when I came to pitch the yeast into all three I noticed that the first had already started bubbling in my airing cupboard.. Panicing I had a sniff at the airlock and was surprised to notice that it smelt right... I pitched some yeast anyway just in case...
Now I've done a lot of brewing in my garage and it's probably thick with yeast, but is this common? Has anyone else managed to infect their beer with yeast accidentally?
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stevezx7r
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by stevezx7r » Wed Apr 30, 2008 9:57 pm
Sounds like an accidental Lambic (I think that's the one where they let it "catch" any airborne yeast).
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agentgonzo
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by agentgonzo » Thu May 01, 2008 9:20 am
stevezx7r wrote:Sounds like an accidental Lambic (I think that's the one where they let it "catch" any airborne yeast).
It is, but the wild yeast that they use in lambics is specific to that region of Belgium.
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Graham
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by Graham » Thu May 01, 2008 1:57 pm
If the bubbles were coming through the airlock, it is more likely to simply be the temperature rising. I would find it hard to believe that a few stray cells could get such a grip in so short a time.
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J_P
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by J_P » Thu May 01, 2008 11:12 pm
Which way was the air going through the airlock? If it was cooling down still the air inside was most likely cooling and shrinking in size thus pulling air backwards through the airlock.
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richard_senior
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by richard_senior » Fri May 02, 2008 10:09 am
Yeah I thought about that... but it had cooled all the way down already.
It was definately coming out because I could smell the gas.
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Matt
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by Matt » Sun May 04, 2008 6:59 pm
Don't mean to interfere but isn't an airing cupboard going to be too warm for ale fermentation?
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richard_senior
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by richard_senior » Mon May 05, 2008 9:41 pm
Yeah.. by about 7 degrees at least this time. But I find winter and spring it's not too far off... Primary fermentation lasted a good 3-4 days.
And besides.... I'm not attempting to win any awards.. just stock a bar full of freeloading friends.
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richard_senior
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by richard_senior » Mon May 05, 2008 9:42 pm
Oh yeah... I should mention that it's a combi boiler
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Matt
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by Matt » Tue May 06, 2008 7:11 pm
Just struck a chord with me as I used to ferment in mine, which has a big hot water tank in it … until I found out my thermometer was miles out of whack. Didn't mean to cast nasturtiums
