Smithy Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 Hey guys, me again (still a noobie btw). I put down a batch of APA On Sunday afternoon, just a can of Coopers APA and a can of light malt extract. I pitched yeast at 25C, I was aiming for closer to 22C as I understand the yeast packet comes with lager yeast in it too. I dropped it to 22C in the fridge and left it over night. Got up in the morning and dropped it to 17C, but saw nothing happening... Went to work, stressed about it all day, rushed home and still nothing happening! No krausen build up, nothing. I took a quick SG reading and it was still at 1042. I wasn't too sure what to do from here, so I did 3 things: Stirred up the trub Raised temp to 20C Re-hydrated a sachet of US-05 yeast and threw that in This morning I got up and there is a small amount of krausen build up on the side, so that's good. I've got the temp now to 20C as I'm too afraid to drop it yet. Now, what did I do wrong here? The Coopers packet was in date, so I figured that was ok. Did I pitch the temp too high? too low? Did I drop the temp too early? Should I have stirred it in? Should I have just gone out and bought 2 cases of APA and put that in my FV and claimed I made it? Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
***** Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 Now, what did I do wrong here? Hey Smithy I would suggest that you panicked. I remember posting the same question after the Krausen took two days to form. They say that the yeast doesn't always behave the same. The lower temperature may have contributed to a slower response, my first Pale Ale fermeted at 18 - 20'C - I can't remember if that was my slow starter or not but it was bottled in 8 days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamH1525226084 Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 I remember one of the Yoda's posted on another topic that in home-brewing "patience" is the key. While there may not be visual evidence that something is happening, there possibly is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithy Posted February 14, 2012 Author Share Posted February 14, 2012 I would suggest that you panicked. Me panic? noooo. Just the same as I don't stress or freak out. Nor am I impatient! What is this?! [ninja] But yes you're probably right. This is just my 3rd brew and I know it's all learning, but I just want one batch for everything to go smoothly! [lol] Would doing what I did to resolve it ruin it in any way? My next brew planned is a mini mash sweet stout that my LHBS is helping me plan out. If I screw that one up I think the mrs will kick me out of the house for the money I'm spending on it all! lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 For the record, the APA comes with an Ale yeast not a Lager. Nevertheless, your temps were fine for that particular yeast anyway. There was no need to stir or add more yeast. Just sit back, relax and wait for the fireworks to happen! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 Would doing what I did to resolve it ruin it in any way? Maybe, maybe not. It depends how sterile you were when you stirred it. It also depends how many other organisms you let into your brew whilst you had the lid off and depending how much extra yeast you pitched as to whether you will get any unwanted flavors. No fret though, it'll most likely be ok. Just leave it be and stop worrying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithy Posted February 14, 2012 Author Share Posted February 14, 2012 Maybe, maybe not. It depends how sterile you were when you stirred it. It also depends how many other organisms you let into your brew whilst you had the lid off and depending how much extra yeast you pitched as to whether you will get any unwanted flavors. No fret though, it'll most likely be ok. Just leave it be and stop worrying. The spoon was sanitised before stirring up, but I threw in an 11.5g of US-05 Safale. I guess we'll find out in a few weeks! who wants to be test subjects? [cool] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kearnage Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 Smithy, according to PB2 you are right about the APA yeast - it's a baffling but no doubt well thought through mix of ale and lager yeast. You can check all the yeasts here: Kit Yeast Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pistnbroke Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 Would doing what I did to resolve it ruin it in any way? Maybe, maybe not. It depends how sterile you were when you stirred it. It also depends how many other organisms you let into your brew whilst you had the lid off and depending how much extra yeast you pitched as to whether you will get any unwanted flavors. No fret though, it'll most likely be ok. Just leave it be and stop worrying. With that amount of yeast in there, I would think that there will be ALOT of sediment, which may throw a yeasty flavour (due to the amount in there). Don't stress though, you can fix this by using a fining agent such as gelatin to make some of this yeast drop out prior to bottling to help it settle to the bottom of the FV, that way you leave the excess yeast behind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 Gave me a good laugh this one... [lol] When adding yeast to a brew they go through a few stages, the first obne is aerobic fermentation where the yeats use up all the available oxygen to bud and create new yeast cells, the multiplication stage, this can take anywhere from 18 - 36 hours depending on a number of factors. During this phaze they use up all the available oxygen and then move to anaerobic fermentation of the rest of the sugars present. Some yeast explode with activity, I have a house US-05 currently that produces about 4 inches of Krausen, doesnt mean it's fermenting faster but it is cool to wonder if it's going to explode out the top, generally it stops just short of the glad wrap... funky.. Other US-05's ive used produce only a tiny Krausen, some linger past FG, some dont. There is no rhyme nor reason except for the fact that they are a living organism and completely unpredictable. Lower pitching temps will produce a longer Lag time (before propper ferment kicks off) and will produce less off flavour precursors (Less for the yeast to clean up at the end of ferment)... Higher pitching temps = Less lag time but more precursors. Its my understanding that you should pick your poison and only go in one direction with the temps. For me, I pitch at 18'c and leave until SG has reached 1020 or half way through the ferment and then I slowly ramp up the temps to 20'c by small increments each day or so (0.5'c max) to help the yeast stay active and clean up after themselvs propperly. Im with Bill... Relax, dont stress and enjoy the ride, I remember rushing off from work to check on brews so you arent alone in this and I fully understand your concern... was before my current set up and now I have a set and forget system Im a very happy camper and sometimes dont look at them for days and days on end. Yob [lol] [lol] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithy Posted February 14, 2012 Author Share Posted February 14, 2012 Would cold conditioning have a similar effect to the gelatin? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 yes only better as you are not adding ground up fish bladders to your beer. I never use finings in the FV and Ive made some remarkably clear beers. 5-7 days at 2'c is heaps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithy Posted February 14, 2012 Author Share Posted February 14, 2012 Awesome, sounds good. Well in 2 weeks time I guess I'll be doing that! And next one I will have to learn some more patience. Might get the mrs to tie me up on the bed... And then after that she can think of a way to stop me from being impatient [devil] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 Might get the mrs to tie me up on the bed... cheers to that [rightful] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamH1525226084 Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 it is valentine's day after all [love] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 Smithy' date=' according to PB2 you are right about the APA yeast - it's a baffling but no doubt well thought through mix of ale and lager yeast.[/quote'] I understand the yeast packet comes with lager yeast in it too. There is a difference of what is a blend of yeast compared to a Lager yeast. Unless I read this wrong then I would say Smithy is not right about the yeast. He states it is a Lager yeast when in fact the APA comes with a blend. [rightful] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithy Posted February 14, 2012 Author Share Posted February 14, 2012 I understand the yeast packet comes with lager yeast in it too. There is a difference of what is a blend of yeast compared to a Lager yeast. Unless I read this wrong then I would say Smithy is not right about the yeast. He states it is a Lager yeast when in fact the APA comes with a blend. [rightful] Hi Bill, I think I worded it wrong. In my head I knew that it came with both, but for some reason didn't state that when I posted. I figured if I knew what I meant then everyone should! [lol] [lol] [lol] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 lol... no probs. As long as you know is what counts [joyful] Kearnage new what you were on about at least [cool] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hillbilly Posted February 14, 2012 Share Posted February 14, 2012 I had one brew that did not seem to work, I got really worried about it, and thought that the yeast was a dud. So I got some more yeast and threw it in, not long and it all started up. My only problem with it was that taste, was very fruity and to we was undrinkable so I gave it to my cheap arse mate and he loved it. All good, left the best stuff for my self. I am now a lot more patient and learn to be more patient as time goes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithy Posted March 11, 2012 Author Share Posted March 11, 2012 Hello brewers, Just a quick update on this one. It's been one week in the bottle now. It fermented nicely after all that mess in the beginning. It spent 3 weeks in the fermenter, which included 1 week cold conditioning at 2C registered on the temperature controller. The fridge I'm using doesn't have a fan in it, so the back of it was much cooler than the front (temp probe sits on the side in the flat spot of the DIY FV). The brew froze [crying] . But I sat it out overnight to bring up to room temp before bottling. Anyway, long story long. I tasted it tonight after a week in the bottle (I just had to try it) and wow, it tasted so nice! Quite a good carbonation for 1 week. I got 500g of Czech Saaz hops plugs dirt cheap from my LHBS so I chucked one in to see how it would go. It worked quite nice. A little grassy, but only slightly. This is only my 3rd batch bottled and so far been my best. Looking forward to plenty more coming up! Ok, back to beer. [rightful] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyG4 Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 [biggrin] i'm not laughing at you Smithy, i'm laughing with you. i haven't had any disasters like freezing beer, but i'm more than ofay with things going wrong that you never imagined could go wrong... just the other night i lost a good litre of beer when the little bottler broke and i ripped the thing out of the tap in disgust before turning the tap off. the loss wasn't as bad as the clean up... especially when the pooch started water skiing through the beer... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smithy Posted March 11, 2012 Author Share Posted March 11, 2012 Lol! Oh I forgot to mention the exact same thing happened when bottling this one! I lost 2 bottles worth :( that's what I get for not using the coopers one :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamB8 Posted March 11, 2012 Share Posted March 11, 2012 The end of my bottler came off during filling the other week and made a mess, then the brew after that I left my tap open on the FV when I was filling it, took me a fair few secconds before I realised the expanding wort puddle on the kitchen floor. Warm sticky wort is a joy to clean up with the missus best towels [pinched] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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