Reusing daily SG test liquid back into Fermetation Vessel

[Journeyman]

34 minutes ago, pilotsh said:

Thanks for the info. Eek! I checked the US05 yeast I used on it and it says 15-24C! (The can date was March 2017, so I didn't use the yeast that came with the can, fearing it was old/dead).

I'm going to change to a low alarm of 18C, belt on at 19.2C and a target of 19.9C.

Good fun, this brewing thing

Something to do with old yeast - when you get to adding hops, stick the old yeast in the boil or even maybe the tea - the boiling water kills it. Actually you can just boil it for a couple of minutes even without the hops thing. 

Then chuck it in the FV - the live yeast will use it for nutrition and it boosts the activity and viability of your yeast.

[pilotsh]

The temp has dropped to 23.3C which is nice. It doesn't seem to be doing much, just Under 1cm of medium bubbles on the surface. Does this sound normal? I was expecting a good two inches of foam by now! I think it is doing something, as I can smell a little CO2 coming from the FV, it just seems to be a little 'relaxed', lol

If adding the old yeast packet to the brew that seems a bit "slow" what does the boiling do, that just making a warm slurry of it to add wouldn't do?

Edited April 11, 2020 by pilotsh
Added CO2 info

[Journeyman]

24 minutes ago, pilotsh said:

If adding the old yeast packet to the brew that seems a bit "slow" what does the boiling do, that just making a warm slurry of it to add wouldn't do?

The old yeast is not added to help the brew along and it is boiled to deliberately kill it. THEN it becomes food for the active yeast, with various nutrition factors being available to the yeast you want to be doing the fermenting. e.g. you can use baking yeast to feed your beer yeast.

[pilotsh]

Thanks Journeyman, so would you:

a) do nothing, or;

b) boil the old yeast that came with the can and add it to the FV, or;

c) add some (2-4g) baking yeast to the FV?

and the reason please so I can understand!

Included some progress photos for entertainment, lol

[Titan]

1 hour ago, pilotsh said:

Thanks Journeyman, so would you:

a) do nothing, or;

b) boil the old yeast that came with the can and add it to the FV, or;

c) add some (2-4g) baking yeast to the FV?

and the reason please so I can understand!

Included some progress photos for entertainment, lol

a)

[Shamus O'Sean]

Agree with Titan.  Your brew looks to be doing fine on its own. 

[pilotsh]

Awesome, thanks guys. It's hard to know what 'normal' is on my first brew!

[pilotsh]

Hi Everyone including Shamus, Titan,  Journeyman,

Since I stated hijacking my own original post with further different questions to the original thread question, I have made a new post with a daily diary where I will post further updates and questions as the brew goes along. 

Your help and information so far has been much appreciated!

If you would like to follow my daily diary it is here:

 

[Otto Von Blotto]

I wouldn't worry about finings, it's just gonna complicate things unnecessarily for your first brew. And yeah do nothing. US-05 isn't famous for huge foaming. 

[Journeyman]

14 hours ago, pilotsh said:

Thanks Journeyman, so would you:

a) do nothing, or;

b) boil the old yeast that came with the can and add it to the FV, or;

c) add some (2-4g) baking yeast to the FV?

and the reason please so I can understand!

a) The brew looks fine as is. If you'd used the old yeast I'd have suggested adding some boiled bread yeast for food to give it a chance but you used new yeast and it's kicking along.

I use old, baking or woolies kit yeast, boiled, in my brews just to provide food for the yeast I pitch. Boiling kills the yeast and (AFAIK) breaks it down making all the goodies (potassium and other minerals etc) available for the brewing yeast to consume. This give extras of things sometimes in short supply in a brew and makes the yeast healthier and more able to do its job.

I just add a dessert spoonful to the boil of the mash or hops - seems to do the job because, from reading on here, my brews fire up faster than almost all those I see mentioned - I have Kraussen 6 - 7 cm thick by the time I get up next day and I tend to pitch about 5 in the afternoon. Many people on here are just seeing Kraussen forming around those times.

[pilotsh]

On 4/10/2020 at 1:23 PM, Journeyman said:

Spend your time researching, looking for bargain equipment on Gumtree and asking questions and before you know it, you'll be at FG and ready for finings to clear the brew and get ready to bottle. 

I use gelatin - for not much more than the price of a finings pack at BigW you can get a tin of powdered gelatin at Coles for $3.70 and that's enough for clearing 10 or more brews.

In the process of the research after reading another thread here, decided to calibrate my hydrometer. Looks like it might read 02 low, so my SG was probably 1048 not 1050! And the DVD of the kit says it should be 1047! Ha! So 160g of BE1 I added made it a smidge thicker, which is expected.