Ferocious fermentation

[Aussiekraut]

Put down a new beer on Saturday arvo. Used a Morgan's Iron Bark Dark Ale with a can of amber malt as recommended by the HBS. When I opened the kit, I noticed the yeast was missing, so I got a packet of Morgan's ale yeast (just called Premium Ale Yeast...no idea what type that is) I had around. I rehydrated the yeast for about 30 minutes, during which it had basically doubled in volume and pitched it. Sunday morning, I had a look and the airlock was going bonkers and I could see the inside of the FV lid is covered in thick dark krausen. A krausen collar would have come in handy on this one. It's slowed down now and the krausen has dropped but I'll have fun cleaning the FV lid with all that dried on froth.

I know dark ales tend to ferment more vigorously but I never expected something like this. I've used this kit before but used a brew enhancer instead of the LME and non-rehydrated kit yeast and it wasn't anywhere near as savage as this time around. Is that because of the LME or the different yeast, which was also a bigger pack than what's in the kits? 

 

[Beerlust]

Pitching a larger volume of re-hydrated yeast has certainly changed the initial ferment stages. Given the increased volume you've pitched it's likely the yeast has not had to go through much of a growth cycle prior to fermenting, & has quickly got to work on converting the abundance of sugars in the wort into alcohol.

When good volumes of yeast are pitched, this sort of behaviour is quite common when making dark beers such as stouts.

Best of luck with the brew,

Lusty.

[Beers Gone Wild]

Ferocious Fermentation - Love it  Its crazy when they go off like that Aussiekraut, at least it didn't overflow and waste any of the Goodness. 

From my Brews I have found rehydrating the yeast ups the count of survivors and really works better than just throwing it in.

[Aussiekraut]

1 hour ago, Beerlust said:

When good volumes of yeast are pitched, this sort of behaviour is quite common when making dark beers such as stouts.

So I guess I better invest in an FV with a krausen collar if I intent to do this more often

 

[Marty_G]

3 minutes ago, Aussiekraut said:

So I guess I better invest in an FV with a krausen collar if I intent to do this more often

if you are using a 25L fermenter get  a 30L or 60L  one   ...  I sold my 25L fermeters because they were too small to do dark beers in ...  

[Aussiekraut]

2 minutes ago, MartyG1525230263 said:

if you are using a 25L fermenter get  a 30L or 60L  one   ...  I sold my 25L fermeters because they were too small to do dark beers in ...  

I think it is a 30l FV. There is a good >5cm between the 23l mark and where it narrows for the lid.

 

[Marty_G]

1 minute ago, Aussiekraut said:

I think it is a 30l FV. There is a good 5cm between the 23l mark and where it narrows for the lid.

 

that sounds like a 25 to me ... but you 100% need a bigger fermenter ... I have a coopers with collar, a 30 and a 60 and use them all for beer and sterilisation ...  I find the 60 indispensable ... I do double batches in it at times but most of the time I have it full with a water steriliser mix and have  bottles and other equipment steeping in it ...  

[Aussiekraut]

7 minutes ago, MartyG1525230263 said:

that sounds like a 25 to me ... but you 100% need a bigger fermenter ... I have a coopers with collar, a 30 and a 60 and use them all for beer and sterilisation ...  I find the 60 indispensable ... I do double batches in it at times but most of the time I have it full with a water steriliser mix and have  bottles and other equipment steeping in it ...  

I guess I better check. I have a krausen collar for a small FV for use with the 8.5l batches but only the good old screw top FV for the full batches. 

[Greenyinthewestofsydney]

11 hours ago, Aussiekraut said:

Put down a new beer on Saturday arvo. Used a Morgan's Iron Bark Dark Ale with a can of amber malt as recommended by the HBS. When I opened the kit, I noticed the yeast was missing, so I got a packet of Morgan's ale yeast (just called Premium Ale Yeast...no idea what type that is) I had around. I rehydrated the yeast for about 30 minutes, during which it had basically doubled in volume and pitched it. Sunday morning, I had a look and the airlock was going bonkers and I could see the inside of the FV lid is covered in thick dark krausen. A krausen collar would have come in handy on this one. It's slowed down now and the krausen has dropped but I'll have fun cleaning the FV lid with all that dried on froth.

I know dark ales tend to ferment more vigorously but I never expected something like this. I've used this kit before but used a brew enhancer instead of the LME and non-rehydrated kit yeast and it wasn't anywhere near as savage as this time around. Is that because of the LME or the different yeast, which was also a bigger pack than what's in the kits? 

 

By the way. The yeast is repackaged S04. A very good yeast for darker type beers.

[ChristinaS1]

If you bulk prime, rather than buying a larger FV, you could try mixing the kit to a lower volume initially, say 18L, and then top up (with water you have let stand overnight to equalize the O2 level and let any chlorine off gas) to 23L later upon transfer to the bottling bucket. I do this all the time, to make it easier to lift a full glass carboy into my chest freezer / fermentation chamber. 

Cheers,

Christina.

[Mark D Pirate]

If you're concerned about lack of headspace in a fermenter there's a product called " Ferm-cap " that reduces foaming in boil kettles and during ferment .

My stout makes a big mess otherwise 

But yes,  pitching more and healthier yeast certainly cuts waiting time down 

[Aussiekraut]

Thanks Guys

It is indeed a 25l fermenter. While the last marker is the 27l mark, it is right below the lid. The other one I have is a 30l and there is a huge difference between the two. I never really thought of it. I'll use the bigger of the two for darker beers for the time being before I get something bigger. 

 @GREENY1525229549  That's good to know for future reference. Cheers