Achieving good attenuation
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RabMaxwell
Achieving good attenuation
Hello all i have been experimenting recently with increasing my pitching rate to achieve better attenuation.The last couple of beers i pitched 65g Hydrated yeast in 110 Litre.Applied plenty aeration and got good fermentation. But i am still finishing 2or 3 points above FG .I have been googling for info Yeast Nutrient, adding zinc, adding yeast to the kettle as nutrient ect. Any ideas for squeezing another couple of degrees attenuation to keep the beer belly in regression. Cheers Rabmaxwell(Brewing in Ayrshire)
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steve_flack
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mysterio
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RabMaxwell
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monk
Hey Mysty,
when you pitch your two packets of 56, do you rehydrate? I noticed that they don't mention anything about rehydrating on the package. maybe they assume you know? I used to pitch it dry until I heard about cells bursting due to blah, blah, blah (you don't need my parrot talk
). Just wondering how you do it.
monk
when you pitch your two packets of 56, do you rehydrate? I noticed that they don't mention anything about rehydrating on the package. maybe they assume you know? I used to pitch it dry until I heard about cells bursting due to blah, blah, blah (you don't need my parrot talk
). Just wondering how you do it.monk
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mysterio
Nah I don't rehydrate monk, I just sprinkle 'er straight on the wort. My fermentation takes off within 4 or 5 hours so I don't see the point. I've heard things about 'osmotic pressure' and exploding yeast cells but I won't pretend to know anything about it 
Try searching the usenet group 'rec.crafts.brewing' (you can access it via google.com > groups). Most of the brewers on there reckon it's not worth the bother of rehydrating, and it may do more harm than good sometimes. I get good results without rehydrating anyway, and I would rehydrate if I thought for a minute it would improve my brews.
Try searching the usenet group 'rec.crafts.brewing' (you can access it via google.com > groups). Most of the brewers on there reckon it's not worth the bother of rehydrating, and it may do more harm than good sometimes. I get good results without rehydrating anyway, and I would rehydrate if I thought for a minute it would improve my brews.
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monk
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NzDan1
My last few brews were in the vicinity of 1.050-1.060, they all finished under 1.006, I guess that may be because ive dumped my wort straight on top of yeast cake from a just emptied fermentor.
The other night I did this, it was only 23 litres in a 30 litre fermentor, less than four hours later it had gone out of control and yeast was coming out of the airlock onto the lid, the bubbling was fast and constant.
I guess I have too much yeast in the fermentor, it has slowed down alot now and it seems like it has pretty much fermented in less than 48 hours, the yeast cake is two inches thick.
I wont be using that much yeast again.
The other night I did this, it was only 23 litres in a 30 litre fermentor, less than four hours later it had gone out of control and yeast was coming out of the airlock onto the lid, the bubbling was fast and constant.
I guess I have too much yeast in the fermentor, it has slowed down alot now and it seems like it has pretty much fermented in less than 48 hours, the yeast cake is two inches thick.
I wont be using that much yeast again.
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guildofevil
You might get a bit more attenuation by mashing for longer, at a lower temperature.
Beta amylase is most active in the mash tun between 55C and 65C, producing maltose, while Alpha amylase is most active between 67C and 72C, producing a variety of sugars, including maltose.
Pure maltose is more fermentable, than the sugars produced by alpha amylase, but beta amylase takes a lot longer for conversion.
If you were to mash at 60C for 90 minutes and then finish of any remaining starches by raising the temperature to 70 for 15-30 minutes, you should end up with a highly fermentable wort and greater attenuation.
I am considering doing this myself soon, as I want to make a very dry beer, like Chimay, white, Poperings Hommel Beer, or Orval, without mucking about with brettanomyces.
Beta amylase is most active in the mash tun between 55C and 65C, producing maltose, while Alpha amylase is most active between 67C and 72C, producing a variety of sugars, including maltose.
Pure maltose is more fermentable, than the sugars produced by alpha amylase, but beta amylase takes a lot longer for conversion.
If you were to mash at 60C for 90 minutes and then finish of any remaining starches by raising the temperature to 70 for 15-30 minutes, you should end up with a highly fermentable wort and greater attenuation.
I am considering doing this myself soon, as I want to make a very dry beer, like Chimay, white, Poperings Hommel Beer, or Orval, without mucking about with brettanomyces.
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steve_flack
One of the things that helps the stronger Belgian ales stay drinkable at high gravities is the use of quite a bit of sugar (up to 15%) That and yeast selection and mash conditions (Belgians brewers seem keen on stepped mashes). Most of the Trappist beers are in the high 80's attenuation-wise and IIRC Duvel is even higher. Here's a link to an article on Duvel production http://www.duvelusa.com/uploads/news/th ... kesyou.pdf . It's on Duvel USA's website but I think it was originally published in Zymurgy