What's in Your Fermenter 2023?

[Classic Brewing Co]

I just transferred the another Pale Ale into a fermenter for the brew fridge.

2nd brew for Xmas, one to go.

[NBillett09]

2 days in and the Verdant is having a party! Good to see, looks like it’s getting big but not going to get too big so happy days. Definitely want to use this beast yeast again! Im impressed with how well the Munich classic yeast has done also given the rocky start. I was a bit concerned about how the yeast would both go as Aus Post lost them in their hot warehouse for a whole extra week before delivering.

[Classic Brewing Co]

19 minutes ago, NBillett09 said:

2 days in and the Verdant is having a party! Good to see, looks like it’s getting big but not going to get too big so happy days. Definitely want to use this beast yeast again! Im impressed with how well the Munich classic yeast has done also given the rocky start. I was a bit concerned about how the yeast would both go as Aus Post lost them in their hot warehouse for a whole extra week before delivering.

It looks similar to my Pale Ale (now in the keg) that I used Verdant in, it was fermented in the Ampi style FV so not as clear as the Coopers vessel.

I am having a taste test tonight.

[Aussiekraut]

41 minutes ago, NBillett09 said:

2 days in and the Verdant is having a party! Good to see, looks like it’s getting big but not going to get too big so happy days. Definitely want to use this beast yeast again! Im impressed with how well the Munich classic yeast has done also given the rocky start. I was a bit concerned about how the yeast would both go as Aus Post lost them in their hot warehouse for a whole extra week before delivering.

Verdant is a bit of a beast.

Fast, furious and adds some nice flavours to the beer.

[NBillett09]

Thanks @Classic Brewing Co and @Aussiekraut, Do I assume that the warmer you ferment it the fruitier it becomes, to a point? Wasn't sure if that was a universal thing for yeasts or strain specific.  I was thinking to start and leave it at 20 for 3 days, then maybe rise to 22 for the remainder for the fermentation period?

[Classic Brewing Co]

15 minutes ago, NBillett09 said:

Thanks @Classic Brewing Co and @Aussiekraut, Do I assume that the warmer you ferment it the fruitier it becomes, to a point? Wasn't sure if that was a universal thing for yeasts or strain specific.  I was thinking to start and leave it at 20 for 3 days, then maybe rise to 22 for the remainder for the fermentation period?

I brewed mine at 21c for 10 days & dropped it to 10c for 24 hours, then 2c for 2 days then I kegged. 

[Kegory]

20 minutes ago, NBillett09 said:

Do I assume that the warmer you ferment it the fruitier it becomes, to a point? Wasn't sure if that was a universal thing for yeasts or strain specific.

From what I've read that seems to be generally true but I think there are exceptions. I did a lot of reading about S23 when I used it in a couple of brews. Apparently S23 is more estery at lower temperatures and less so at the upper end of its range. I used it in the upper range and it seemed pretty clean.

[Back Brewing]

2 hours ago, NBillett09 said:

Thanks @Classic Brewing Co and @Aussiekraut, Do I assume that the warmer you ferment it the fruitier it becomes, to a point? Wasn't sure if that was a universal thing for yeasts or strain specific.  I was thinking to start and leave it at 20 for 3 days, then maybe rise to 22 for the remainder for the fermentation period?

Spoke to a brewer at a brewery that uses heaps of verdant yeast and he said for the best flavours brew at 23c

[Uhtred Of Beddanburg]

All in Summer Ale first time trying this FWK. Nottingham yeast pitched 5pm yesterday showing good signs this morning

Have some calypso hops to try for first time 50 grams in the keg should go well. 

[Classic Brewing Co]

1 hour ago, Uhtred Of Beddanburg said:

All in Summer Ale first time trying this FWK. Nottingham yeast pitched 5pm yesterday showing good signs this morning

Have some calypso hops to try for first time 50 grams in the keg should go well. 

Looks good, I used Nottingham in the current brew in the fridge (Pale Ale) as I did another similar with Verdant, I wanted to compare the two. Both are excellent yeasts.

[Red devil 44]

I decided on a Legbreaker American IPA FWK, threw that down last night and decided to experiment with my Reharvested K-97 German Ale Yeast, certainly going off as I have changed 3 airlocks this morning.

Keen to see how this one turns out, topped it up to bring the OG down to 1040, think this will be done very soon.

Might dry hop with 50g Citra also. 

[kmar92]

Couple of keg fillers for Christmas.

Summer ale from All Inn Brewing FWK, dry hopped with 50g of Amarillo. US-05 as I had to use it up, not my favourite yeast. Japanese rice lager, also from AIB with no additions and fermenting with Novalager. Should be in kegs early in the coming week and the Summer ale will be on tap for Christmas. The Japanese rice lager will probably be pouring in the New Year.

[Shamus O'Sean]

1 hour ago, kmar92 said:

Couple of keg fillers for Christmas.

Summer ale from All Inn Brewing FWK, dry hopped with 50g of Amarillo. US-05 as I had to use it up, not my favourite yeast. Japanese rice lager, also from AIB with no additions and fermenting with Novalager. Should be in kegs early in the coming week and the Summer ale will be on tap for Christmas. The Japanese rice lager will probably be pouring in the New Year.

Hey Kmar,  Do you find you get wicking up the string and down the outside?  I precariously place my dry hop bag string on the flat area of the Coopers FV where the handles are.  At least once, the string has fallen into the FV.  If you do not get wicking, I might just start dangling the string down the outside.

[kmar92]

10 hours ago, Shamus O'Sean said:

Hey Kmar,  Do you find you get wicking up the string and down the outside?  I precariously place my dry hop bag string on the flat area of the Coopers FV where the handles are.  At least once, the string has fallen into the FV.  If you do not get wicking, I might just start dangling the string down the outside.

Yes @Shamus O'Sean I do get a small amount of wicking, you may be able to make out in the photo above that the string is moist for around 1/2 its length. I don't seem to have any problems with that as it never seems to drip or anything.

[Kegory]

What is in my fermenter?

This is a pretty simple Galaxy Pale Ale extract kit. The OG was about 1.040. I pitched 1 packet of M44 into the wort at 18C on 5/12. On 6/12 I raised the temperature to 20C. Between 48-60 hours later a small 8mm krausen rose and fell.

When I took a sample on 12/12 it looked like the krausen was reforming. It is still there today, 19/12. Is this yeast rafts? Or does it look like an infection?

The gravity (of the sample) is still falling as of the last reading, yesterday, but it is now in the range of the predicted FG.

I rang the supplier and when I explained what was going on he said "what's a krausen?" That did not inspire much confidence.

[Classic Brewing Co]

1 hour ago, Kegory said:

What is in my fermenter?

This is a pretty simple Galaxy Pale Ale extract kit. The OG was about 1.040. I pitched 1 packet of M44 into the wort at 18C on 5/12. On 6/12 I raised the temperature to 20C. Between 48-60 hours later a small 8mm krausen rose and fell.

When I took a sample on 12/12 it looked like the krausen was reforming. It is still there today, 19/12. Is this yeast rafts? Or does it look like an infection?

The gravity (of the sample) is still falling as of the last reading, yesterday, but it is now in the range of the predicted FG.

I rang the supplier and when I explained what was going on he said "what's a krausen?" That did not inspire much confidence.

If you pitched yeast on the 5/12 that makes it 14 days, you could bottle now, but unless you smell/taste any really off smells it should be good to go ahead, just be careful not to disturb the wort & don't go too low trying to squeeze another bottle out of it, better to leave it & just bottle the good stuff.

[Pale Man]

7 hours ago, Kegory said:

What is in my fermenter?

This is a pretty simple Galaxy Pale Ale extract kit. The OG was about 1.040. I pitched 1 packet of M44 into the wort at 18C on 5/12. On 6/12 I raised the temperature to 20C. Between 48-60 hours later a small 8mm krausen rose and fell.

When I took a sample on 12/12 it looked like the krausen was reforming. It is still there today, 19/12. Is this yeast rafts? Or does it look like an infection?

The gravity (of the sample) is still falling as of the last reading, yesterday, but it is now in the range of the predicted FG.

I rang the supplier and when I explained what was going on he said "what's a krausen?" That did not inspire much confidence.

Ive had beers with krausens all the way through fermentation. Its not an odd thing to happen. It can be ingredients, yeast...........most often nothing to worry about. Ive kegged beers with krausen.

Take a gravity sample and taste it. You'll know if its infected or not. You know your beers better than anyone.

[Pale Man]

7 hours ago, Kegory said:

What is in my fermenter?

This is a pretty simple Galaxy Pale Ale extract kit. The OG was about 1.040. I pitched 1 packet of M44 into the wort at 18C on 5/12. On 6/12 I raised the temperature to 20C. Between 48-60 hours later a small 8mm krausen rose and fell.

When I took a sample on 12/12 it looked like the krausen was reforming. It is still there today, 19/12. Is this yeast rafts? Or does it look like an infection?

The gravity (of the sample) is still falling as of the last reading, yesterday, but it is now in the range of the predicted FG.

I rang the supplier and when I explained what was going on he said "what's a krausen?" That did not inspire much confidence.

Just adding, I'd be bottling right now. 14 days its done. I'm confident its not infected. Yeast does sometimes go into autolysis.......if left too long it fires up getting stuck into the left overs in the trub. Which is not good. 14 days fermentation for me is not good.

[Classic Brewing Co]

10 minutes ago, Pale Man said:

Just adding, I'd be bottling right now. 14 days its done. I'm confident its not infected. Yeast does sometimes go into autolysis.......if left too long it fires up getting stuck into the left overs in the trub. Which is not good. 14 days fermentation for me is not good.

I have been leaving them for 14 days for years without any ill effects. These days doing all grain that usually includes the CC time.

Although lately I have been re-thinking it & looking around 10 days, which is better as you get to drink it faster.

Edited December 19, 2023 by Classic Brewing Co

[Greenyinthewestofsydney]

3 hours ago, Classic Brewing Co said:

I have been leaving them for 14 days for years without any ill effects. These days doing all grain that usually includes the CC time.

Although lately I have been re-thinking it & looking around 10 days, which is better as you get to drink it faster.

My opinion but there is no real set time for when the brew is at its best. There is a clean up phase but it can be as short as a couple of days to a week depending on which yeast, temperature etc. I have tasted beers 2 days after FG and left them for another few days only for the sample to not taste as good. For the last few years now i pull off a 20 or 30ml sample every day after FG and when its tasting right ramp down the temp for CC then package

[Shamus O'Sean]

11 hours ago, Kegory said:

What is in my fermenter?

This is a pretty simple Galaxy Pale Ale extract kit. The OG was about 1.040. I pitched 1 packet of M44 into the wort at 18C on 5/12. On 6/12 I raised the temperature to 20C. Between 48-60 hours later a small 8mm krausen rose and fell.

When I took a sample on 12/12 it looked like the krausen was reforming. It is still there today, 19/12. Is this yeast rafts? Or does it look like an infection?

The gravity (of the sample) is still falling as of the last reading, yesterday, but it is now in the range of the predicted FG.

I rang the supplier and when I explained what was going on he said "what's a krausen?" That did not inspire much confidence.

Not likely to be an infection.

Some yeasts hang around for ages.  US-05 is one usual suspect.  Tapping the side of the FV with your mixing spoon can dislodge it.  But it might take a few tries before it completely falls.

If the SG is still changing over 24 hours, I would leave it until it stabilises before bottling/kegging.

[Kegory]

Thanks @Classic Brewing Co, @Pale Man, @Greenyinthewestofsydney, and @Shamus O'Sean. That's all very interesting and taken on board.

Today's reading dropped another point. As it happened, I tapped the ledge above the tap today and I did notice that some particles did drop down from the top.

[Shamus O'Sean]

33 minutes ago, Kegory said:

Thanks @Classic Brewing Co, @Pale Man, @Greenyinthewestofsydney, and @Shamus O'Sean. That's all very interesting and taken on board.

Today's reading dropped another point. As it happened, I tapped the ledge above the tap today and I did notice that some particles did drop down from the top.

Sounds good, Kegory.

It looks like you have temperature control.  Once the SG stabilises, if you cold crash the beer, it is very likely that process will make the Krausen sink.  A little tap can help it on its way, if it is still a bit stubborn.

It also looks like you have the sample in the tube for testing ongoing SG.  Sometimes the beer in the tube ferments a bit differently to that in the tube.  You might find that what's in the FV has stabilised, but the contents in the tube is still dropping.  Once I am convinced what is in the tube has finished fermenting, I always take a FG reading from the FV.

[jennyss]

What a difference a day makes! On the right is my husband's WW Lager; mixed on Wed. 20th Dec with extract, 1kg pkt BE3, 500g sugar, 2 tbsps LDM and 4 Cascade hop pellets and supplied yeast. He is living dangerously!

On the left is my Coopers Bootmaker Pale Ale, mixed yesterday 21st Dec with extract, 1kg pkt BE2 , 1kg LDM, 25g steeped Cascade pellets (minus 4 pellets). The extra fermentables have created a monster - OG was 1055! I added 2 more litres of water which brought the OG down to 1052.

My husband's lager started out a dark chocolatey brown, but paled very quickly.  The brews are sitting at 22deg.

[Classic Brewing Co]

9 minutes ago, jennyss said:

What a difference a day makes! On the right is my husband's WW Lager; mixed on Wed. 20th Dec with extract, 1kg pkt BE3, 500g sugar, 2 tbsps LDM and 4 Cascade hop pellets and supplied yeast. He is living dangerously!

On the left is my Coopers Bootmaker Pale Ale, mixed yesterday 21st Dec with extract, 1kg pkt BE2 , 1kg LDM, 25g steeped Cascade pellets (minus 4 pellets). The extra fermentables have created a monster - OG was 1055! I added 2 more litres of water which brought the OG down to 1052.

My husband's lager started out a dark chocolatey brown, but paled very quickly.  The brews are sitting at 22deg.

Looking good Jenny, it must be easier with 2 fermenters especially brewing to different beers.

Maybe one day a fridge big enough to house 2 FV's will turn up & your brewing will change forever.

Cheers.