Evening, I'm (trying!) to ferment a pilsner and am using wyeast 'czech pils' live yeast (smack pack).
My recipe said to ferment at 12°C so i have my fermenting fridge set to that and it is maintaining that temp. The specific yeast strain 'works' at that temp (according to wyeast website).....
However..... I see no action in the fermenter and i took a hydrometer reading again this evening. There has been no change in the gravity reading since i pitched the yeast (60 hours ago).
Does anyone have any suggestions what i should do?
Fermenting at 12°C ?
Fermenting at 12°C ?
BIAB, working through Greg Hughes (GH) recipes to begin with.
Planning: Patersbier (extract version), Russian Imperial Stout. Turbo cider, IPA, Limoncello.
Fermenting: nothing.
Conditioning: GH American ipa (6.3%), GH Summer ale (3.8%), GH Oktoberfest (6.8%), Japanese Lager AG (4.9%)
Drinking: nowt.
Drunk: GH Czech Pilsner (6.4%); GH Winter Warmer (4.9%); GH Christmas Ale (5.25%), Coopers Wheat beer kit (4.7%)
Planning: Patersbier (extract version), Russian Imperial Stout. Turbo cider, IPA, Limoncello.
Fermenting: nothing.
Conditioning: GH American ipa (6.3%), GH Summer ale (3.8%), GH Oktoberfest (6.8%), Japanese Lager AG (4.9%)
Drinking: nowt.
Drunk: GH Czech Pilsner (6.4%); GH Winter Warmer (4.9%); GH Christmas Ale (5.25%), Coopers Wheat beer kit (4.7%)
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jaroporter
- Drunk as a Skunk
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Re: Fermenting at 12°C ?
age of yeast? batch size? pitch rate? pitch temperature?
give us a clue..
give us a clue..
dazzled, doused in gin..
Re: Fermenting at 12°C ?
Did you just pitch the one smack pack without making a starter?
Due to the temperature you'll need to pitch a lot more than the one packet. IIRC it's something like a 5L starter or 3 packs of dried yeast in a 5 gallon batch.
Due to the temperature you'll need to pitch a lot more than the one packet. IIRC it's something like a 5L starter or 3 packs of dried yeast in a 5 gallon batch.
In or near Norwich? Interested in meeting up monthly to talk and drink beer? PM me for details.
Re: Fermenting at 12°C ?
What's happening with the beer Kev?
In or near Norwich? Interested in meeting up monthly to talk and drink beer? PM me for details.
Re: Fermenting at 12°C ?
Hi gents, thanks for comments/suggestions. Pitch temp was 12°c - one (smack) pack into 15litres of wort at 1060 (did not make a starter). Next time I'll put 2-3 in at start, but since i hadn't/haven't got more this time, i haven't.
I do have a packet of us 05 which i've read will cope with low temps (i'd raise fridge temp a little if i pitched that) however as a last ditch effort to keep my recipe as close to as planned i re-airated the wort and raised temp to 12.5°c. Some life has appeared. I've now raised to 13.2°c to see if i can get more life out of it, as a crust has appeared (but not as large as i'm used to at warmer temps). Once that's died off, I'll check gravity and pitch the 05 if needs be.
I do have a packet of us 05 which i've read will cope with low temps (i'd raise fridge temp a little if i pitched that) however as a last ditch effort to keep my recipe as close to as planned i re-airated the wort and raised temp to 12.5°c. Some life has appeared. I've now raised to 13.2°c to see if i can get more life out of it, as a crust has appeared (but not as large as i'm used to at warmer temps). Once that's died off, I'll check gravity and pitch the 05 if needs be.
BIAB, working through Greg Hughes (GH) recipes to begin with.
Planning: Patersbier (extract version), Russian Imperial Stout. Turbo cider, IPA, Limoncello.
Fermenting: nothing.
Conditioning: GH American ipa (6.3%), GH Summer ale (3.8%), GH Oktoberfest (6.8%), Japanese Lager AG (4.9%)
Drinking: nowt.
Drunk: GH Czech Pilsner (6.4%); GH Winter Warmer (4.9%); GH Christmas Ale (5.25%), Coopers Wheat beer kit (4.7%)
Planning: Patersbier (extract version), Russian Imperial Stout. Turbo cider, IPA, Limoncello.
Fermenting: nothing.
Conditioning: GH American ipa (6.3%), GH Summer ale (3.8%), GH Oktoberfest (6.8%), Japanese Lager AG (4.9%)
Drinking: nowt.
Drunk: GH Czech Pilsner (6.4%); GH Winter Warmer (4.9%); GH Christmas Ale (5.25%), Coopers Wheat beer kit (4.7%)
Re: Fermenting at 12°C ?
Update: Bottled the beer last night.
After 2 weeks fermentation appeared to have stalled at 1034. Pitched (half - i managed to drop the open packet!) rehydrated 05 to see what that could do with it. Upped temp to 13.9'c to help.
Two weeks later it had finished at 1012.
I now have a 6.43% pilsner that's conditioning and will hopefully be enjoying in about 6weeks time.
(out of interest, can i still call it a pilsner? - i believe its stronger than most exports!)
After 2 weeks fermentation appeared to have stalled at 1034. Pitched (half - i managed to drop the open packet!) rehydrated 05 to see what that could do with it. Upped temp to 13.9'c to help.
Two weeks later it had finished at 1012.
I now have a 6.43% pilsner that's conditioning and will hopefully be enjoying in about 6weeks time.
(out of interest, can i still call it a pilsner? - i believe its stronger than most exports!)
BIAB, working through Greg Hughes (GH) recipes to begin with.
Planning: Patersbier (extract version), Russian Imperial Stout. Turbo cider, IPA, Limoncello.
Fermenting: nothing.
Conditioning: GH American ipa (6.3%), GH Summer ale (3.8%), GH Oktoberfest (6.8%), Japanese Lager AG (4.9%)
Drinking: nowt.
Drunk: GH Czech Pilsner (6.4%); GH Winter Warmer (4.9%); GH Christmas Ale (5.25%), Coopers Wheat beer kit (4.7%)
Planning: Patersbier (extract version), Russian Imperial Stout. Turbo cider, IPA, Limoncello.
Fermenting: nothing.
Conditioning: GH American ipa (6.3%), GH Summer ale (3.8%), GH Oktoberfest (6.8%), Japanese Lager AG (4.9%)
Drinking: nowt.
Drunk: GH Czech Pilsner (6.4%); GH Winter Warmer (4.9%); GH Christmas Ale (5.25%), Coopers Wheat beer kit (4.7%)
Re: Fermenting at 12°C ?
I'm pretty sure I've heard of commercial brewers creating lagers with WLP001 or US05 as they both ferment down at cold temps and have a light flavour profile.
I would expect a lager to ferment slower though. How long was it supposed to take? I would have probably left it working for 4 weeks anyway.
Never enough time...