Fermentation time period

Get advice on making beer from raw ingredients (malt, hops, water and yeast)
Post Reply
Belto
Piss Artist
Posts: 291
Joined: Wed Jan 31, 2007 12:30 am
Location: Bristol

Fermentation time period

Post by Belto » Mon Jul 23, 2007 4:38 pm

I brewed a Styrian Stunner on the 14th July quite a normal brew in the fact that the immersion heater bust and had to transfer to on older boiler and back again to main boiler to utilize the hop filter, pitched the yeast.

All ok , removed the trub from surface on 16th and transferred to 2FV on the 20th SG 1.02 @ 19C
Today checked SG still @1.020 @ 19C.

I used Safale 04 yeast
No additional heat has been added to fermentation


Is this length of time normal. :?:

prolix

Post by prolix » Mon Jul 23, 2007 5:07 pm

could be stuck (see stuck fermentation sticky), what was your OG?

Frothy

Post by Frothy » Mon Jul 23, 2007 6:05 pm

Have you tasted it? There's no reason it won't be great to drink.

Frothy

User avatar
Garth
Falling off the Barstool
Posts: 3565
Joined: Tue Aug 22, 2006 1:00 pm
Location: Durham

Post by Garth » Mon Jul 23, 2007 6:19 pm

I stopped transferring my brews to a secondary this early on as I was also getting stuck ones like this.

Most of mine hovered around the 1015-1020 mark when they should have been lower.

It may be because you've removed most of the yeast and there was maybe very little in suspension. Was it quite clear when you transferred?

Belto
Piss Artist
Posts: 291
Joined: Wed Jan 31, 2007 12:30 am
Location: Bristol

Post by Belto » Mon Jul 23, 2007 9:25 pm

There are still a few bubbles on the surface, but on closer inspection there are no bubbles arising to the surface.

It is a light coloured ale that I cannot see through.

The Taste is not particularly sweet

How do I get to the 'Sticky' on restarting a stuck fermentation, never had one before ,what are the likely causes
The OG was 1.052

Wez

Post by Wez » Mon Jul 23, 2007 9:31 pm


delboy

Post by delboy » Tue Jul 24, 2007 9:48 am

Garth wrote:I stopped transferring my brews to a secondary this early on as I was also getting stuck ones like this.

Most of mine hovered around the 1015-1020 mark when they should have been lower.

It may be because you've removed most of the yeast and there was maybe very little in suspension. Was it quite clear when you transferred?
Agree with garth, moving it to secondary to soon could have caused the problem, might not be so much of an issue with other yeasts but S04 sinks like a stone and may have left you with very little in suspension when transffering to secondary.
Might also be worth checking your thermometer is still calibrated, if its gone out of whack you might have mashed at to high a temp leaving you with a lot of unfermtables (not likely i guess but still worth considering).

Belto
Piss Artist
Posts: 291
Joined: Wed Jan 31, 2007 12:30 am
Location: Bristol

Post by Belto » Tue Jul 24, 2007 10:24 pm

Aeration was performed to the exetent of a large head from pouring into FV
Roused today and increased temperature to 21C, a little more head was present later so I hope tomorrow more activity.

If not I will pitch another SO4
Can't remember if I have one though would a Gervin prepared as per instructions be OK :?:

Belto
Piss Artist
Posts: 291
Joined: Wed Jan 31, 2007 12:30 am
Location: Bristol

Post by Belto » Wed Jul 25, 2007 9:22 am

Yep
this morning still at 1.020 @ 21.5C
will prepare another starter later

Belto
Piss Artist
Posts: 291
Joined: Wed Jan 31, 2007 12:30 am
Location: Bristol

Post by Belto » Wed Jul 25, 2007 6:55 pm

Started the Gervins replacement yeast O'k, fermenting in the initial sugar water temp conditions as recommended.

Placed into 2540ml original wort left at correct temp for 6hrs now and no sign of any fermentation.

Don't think I will add it to the original if I can't get any action by tomorrow

What will be the results if I just cask / bottle the wort @ 1.020

Belto
Piss Artist
Posts: 291
Joined: Wed Jan 31, 2007 12:30 am
Location: Bristol

Post by Belto » Sun Jul 29, 2007 9:53 pm

I tried rousing it on few occasions and it did drop tp 1.016.
Have now transferred to another vessel wrapped up put in the corner and covered with a black bag.
My brew length was longer that anticipated.
Could it be possible that the yeast ran out of energy and had could not get any lower SG.
What is ideal SG anyway :?:

SteveD

Post by SteveD » Mon Jul 30, 2007 12:23 am

If you're going to drop into a secondary, it's something that needs to be done at the right time, and towards the end of the fermentation isn't it. When to do it depends on what you're trying to achieve.

(1) If you're wanting to remove the trub, hop debris, and intitial yeast crop, then you need to drop at half gravity which corresponds roughly to when the yeast just switches to anaerobic ferment - the head starts going from rocky to more foamy in appearance. Do it then, and there should still be enough viable yeast in suspension to finish the job, and after dropping you should see a clean yeast head re-establish itself almost immediately and the ferment continue on its way.

(2) If you're dropping to clarify the beer and take it off the yeast sediment prior to barreling/bottling, eg waiting for a cask to become available, or to mature it, then you should wait until it's at racking gravity - one or two points above final gravity, and already substantially cleared down. You have to be careful not to aerate the beer in the transfer, and that includes the good practice of purging air out of the receiving FV with CO2 before the beer goes in. The one or two points worth of sugar left should slowly ferment down and maintain the CO2 blanket.

If on the other hand you drop between those two times, you run the risk of stopping the ferment due to low viable yeast count in the racked beer.

So, it might have been that, underpitching, lack of O2 during the yeast growth period through poor aeration (S04 is O2 hungry), or lack of sufficient nutrient in the wort, or any combination of those factors. To test lack of nutrient, you could try adding 1/2 tsp of Yeast-Vit (beer, not wine nutrient) to the beer if there is still some activity.

Or, just barrel it and wait. It should gradually come down, and if it tastes good, who cares if its a few points over anyway! :D

delboy

Post by delboy » Mon Jul 30, 2007 9:31 am

DaaB wrote:
Belto wrote:I tried rousing it on few occasions and it did drop tp 1.016.
Have now transferred to another vessel wrapped up put in the corner and covered with a black bag.
My brew length was longer that anticipated.
Could it be possible that the yeast ran out of energy and had could not get any lower SG.
What is ideal SG anyway :?:
btw I forgot to mention, even though you repitched, the yeast may struggle due to the high ph, alcoholic enviroment which normally it would become accustomed to over the period of fermentation.

This is why people make such a fuss about getting the conditions for fermentation right first time, providing adequate nutrients and oxygen for growth. If you can build a nice big healthy yeast cultutre that is accustomed to its surroundings from from the outset (known as the adaptive phase) then stuck fermentations are less likely. Trying to get a fermentation going again is not quite so easy because the beer has become acidic and contains alcohol which is a much less friendly enviroment for a yeast fresh out of the packet .
Maybe it would be a good idea to grow the sachet of yeast up in some wort before pitching, by day two they would surely have adapted to the conditions of alcohol and low pH and might actually be able to do something when pitched into the stuck ferment??

delboy

Post by delboy » Mon Jul 30, 2007 10:46 am

DaaB wrote:I have often thought of suggesting that but in most cases it's people who are relatively new to brewing that have problems with stuck fermentation (as in the stuck fermentation thread) so I have been reluctant in the past and instead suggest s04 which seems to be able to take all manner of abuse.
Yeah, its very unusual to see a stuck ferment on the All grain section.

Post Reply