Wherry Worry

SiHoltye · Post by **SiHoltye** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 2:07 am

Wherry looked good after 7 seven days fermenting. Yeast activity stopped and SG 1020, and stayed there for 24hrs. The box says I need 1014 so I made a starter of some Youngs Ale Yeast and very thin activity is taking place. SG now 1019 after total of 9 days in fermenter.
How long can I leave this in the fermenter? Probably just being a newbie and worrying too much but experience is a wonderful thing.

Frothy · Post by **Frothy** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 3:39 am

Your quite safe to leave it in there for many weeks, anything up to 4 is good imo.
Your choice depends entirely on where you are planning to go from here? -
a) straight into bottles
b) into a pressure barrel
(a secondary fermentor is not really worth using with a kit)

Beer is best matured in bulk and with some yeast still in it, 4+ weeks is good (lol - if it ever lasts that long.) So if your bottling best not to rush it out of the fermentor (give it a couple of weeks in there.) If using a pressure barrel with no CO2 system best to get it in asap so it can build up a bit of pressure, you can drink it & mature it in the barrel

If it tastes good that's all that matters

Frothy

SiHoltye · Post by **SiHoltye** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 10:12 am

Thanks, I'll leave it be then. I am planning to bottle it. The fermenting bin I'm using has no tap, whereas I have another fermenter with a tap and needle valve style bottle dispenser. After 4 weeks or when happy I plan to syphon into the second bin before bottling from there. Should I think about finings (do they ever hurt) and what about priming sugars considering having left the ferment so long?
Thanks for any help.

Hoppkins · Post by **Hoppkins** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 10:15 am

Finings i find are semi worth it. The ones i usually got were BEER BRITE or some youngs finings gel. I got a bottle of isinglass from the local brew shop, should be better.

My wherry was a pain to ferment, turned out ok though. It went real fast then stopped almost totally. I pitched another yeast (safale) and it finished fine.

The woodfordes yeast is infamously unrealiable.

pongobilly · Post by **pongobilly** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 5:58 pm

so really what i think everyone is trying to say is just use good yeast from the start, which will sort these problems, why on earth dont woodefords/muntons pick up on this

Frothy · Post by **Frothy** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 6:50 pm

SiHoltye wrote:what about priming sugars considering having left the ferment so long?
Thanks for any help.

Sounds good. For priming sugar use 1 tsp sugar per pint. Preferably glucose which you can get at the HBS or chemist or beer kit enhancer, spray malt etc. I think brewpacks do packs of little glucose tablets for the job.
Wether you need finings depends on how your yeast behaves - have a look at your beer at the time & decide when you rack it to the other fermentor.

Frothy

oxford brewer · Post by **oxford brewer** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 6:53 pm

DaaB wrote:I e-mailed them a while back and I believe others have too, the proprieter of my local HB shop said she would bring it up.

If anyone has the instructions for a Woodefordes or Muntons Gold/Premium Gold kit, can they confirm what temperature they recommend rehydrating the yeast at?

Just pulled out the instructions from my Woodfordes Kit(Admiral whatever0 and it states to rehydrate the yeast in boiled water at a temp of 40-45c which i think is a little high.I would normally rehydrate at 30-35c

roger the dog · Post by **roger the dog** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 6:53 pm

From my Woodeforde's Wherry Kit:-

"....pour a little cooled, boiled water (no more than 1/3 cup) at 40 - 45Ã‚Â°C (104 - 115Ã‚Â°F) into a sterilised cup and add the dried yeast to this...."

roger the dog · Post by **roger the dog** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 6:54 pm

I'm such a slow typist

oxford brewer · Post by **oxford brewer** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 6:57 pm

I beat somebody to a reply

This is from John Palmers how to brew
Re-hydrating Dry Yeast
1. Put 1 cup of warm (95-105F, 35-40C) boiled water into a sanitized jar and stir in the yeast. Cover with Saran Wrap and wait 15 minutes.
2. "Proof" the yeast by adding one teaspoon of extract or sugar that has been boiled in a small amount of water. Allow the sugar solution to cool before adding it to the jar.
3. Cover and place in a warm area out of direct sunlight.
4. After 30 minutes or so the yeast should be visibly churning and/or foaming, and is ready to pitch.

Russ · Post by **Russ** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 7:47 pm

Also Got a Wherry on the go also at the moment- it stuck at 1018 what a suprise!!!!. It's my 3rd Woodefords kit in a row which has!!! dispite using Safale 04 on the last two.

To get mine going again I stirred and added a sachet of Dry beer enzyme (on Daab's great advice!), been going well now for a further 5 days. Havn't checked the gravity yet but it's going to be pretty low. I did this for the previous Great Eastern kit which tasted great once finished.

Hope this helps

Russ

Russ · Post by **Russ** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 9:15 pm

BTW.

Just checked the gravity of my previously mentioned 'stuck' Wherry that I added DBE to and its now finished at 1006 which makes it around I 5.1% abv -should be good!

StrangeBrew · Post by **StrangeBrew** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 10:12 pm

40-45 is way to high, this could be the problem

Not sure if this is the problem, I rehydrated the yeast for my Wherry at approx 30c and still had similar issues. It ended at 1017, a little on the weak side but still a very enjoyable pint.

StrangeBrew · Post by **StrangeBrew** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 10:15 pm

1006... good news indeed! Could be the way to go!

oxford brewer · Post by **oxford brewer** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 10:42 pm

Perhaps there are more unfermentables in these kits than there should be??
I dont get past the 1.010 mark even when i do extract brews(always using John Bull LME)!

Jim's Beer Kit

Practical Homebrewing

HomeBrew Forum

Sponsored by BREW-SCHOOL

Wherry Worry

Wherry Worry