SO4

[Binkie Huckaback]

I brewed a Batham's Best clone to Graham Wheeler's BYOBRA recipe using S04 about 10 days ago and put it in my Grainfather conical fermenter and for the first time hooked it up to my new glycol chiller and set the temperature to 22°c. Not exactly having my eye in the ball and using the 'ale' preset on the temperature controller, I neglected to take a gravity reading at days 7 and 8 before the chiller went into 'conditioning' mode and dropped the temperature to 12°c.

I usually use S04 and leave it in the fermenter at room temperature for abiut 14 days. Does anyone have any thoughts on the following:

1. Leave it at 12°c, take gravity readings over the next couple days
2. Leave it alone at 12°c for the next 19 days as per the preset on the controller
3. Slowly over the next few days bring the temperature back up to 22°c for as long as it takes
4. Something else

I'll be bottle conditioning the beer. Any suggestions will be gratefully received!

[f00b4r]

I think you need to take a gravity reading to know where you are, it may well be finished in terms of terminal gravity but you won’t know if you don’t measure it.

[bitter_dave]

Agree that you need to take a reading. In my experience S04 is usually pretty rapid at fermenting, often finishing within 3 days for a regular strength bitter.

[Binkie Huckaback]

Thanks guys

[orlando]

I think you need to take a gravity reading to know where you are, it may well be finished in terms of terminal gravity but you won’t know if you don’t measure it.

Make sure you allow the sample to warm up to 20c first, assuming your hydrometer is calibrated to that. Or you will get a skewed reading.

[Binkie Huckaback]

I've had such a busy week, I've only just had a chance to reply. So, over the last week or so, I've taken gravity readings (adjusted using the calculator on the Brewer's Friend website) and unsurprisingly given the temperature of the fermenter, it's remained static at 1014. Does anyone see any benefit in leaving it in the fermenter for another week, or shall I just bottle it?

The OG was as it should have been at 1044, the FG should be 1010 and what I'm most concerned about is the beer re-fermenting once bottled and the temperature increases and the bottles bursting.

[orlando]

I would warm it back up to see if the yeast will take it down a little more first.

[Binkie Huckaback]

Thanks Orlando. I'll take it back up by four or five degrees C a day for a couple of days, then give it a couple more days to see if the gravity changes

[orlando]

Let us know.

[leedsbrew]

Fingers crossed it drops a bit more for you.

Incidentally myself and a few home brewers local to me have recently noticed 11g packaged SO4 being incredibly sluggish and even dropping out at 1.020 - 1.015.

Yet a rebrew using some so4 from a commercial pack (weighed out for the same pitching rate) fermented out to FG within 4 days and G2G in 10. The chap who brewed this is convinced either there have been some batch problems that ended up in the 11g packets or there is a difference between the yeast in HB packs and the commercial packages.

[Galena]

Fingers crossed it drops a bit more for you.

Incidentally myself and a few home brewers local to me have recently noticed 11g packaged SO4 being incredibly sluggish and even dropping out at 1.020 - 1.015.

Interesting to hear that, I used SO4 for the first time at the end of June, an 11g packet and it did just that, stopped at 1.020. I tried everfything I could think of, roused the yeast, increased to 22C, added some nutrient, roused again, added some sugar solution, added a low cell count WLP002 I had in the fridge (I would have tried something like US-05 but had non in stock). Eventually I coaxed it down to bottle at 1.013.
There was some diacetyl flavour I din't much like but that seems to have mellowed with age and is not a bad drink now. I made a second batch with WLP002 and it is a much nicer drink. I doubt I will use SO4 again.

[Binkie Huckaback]

I took it back up to 22c and it's still at 1014, so am going to package it over the next few days. I've managed to scrounge a 9 litre bag-in-a-box to see if it's any more of a success connected to a hand pull for me than polypins. so wish me luck with it not bursting. The rest I'll bottle. Thanks for all your help guys.