First All Grain worries

[TippHillBC]

Okay so i brewed my first all grain recipe last saturday. It was to be a DFH90 clone, but my LHBS doesnt carry WYEAST 1099, so he thought a good substitute would be WYEAST 1968 and i got it. Other than that i followed the recipe including the continuous hopping.

16.5 lbs pilsner malt
1.66 lbs amber malt
Mashed for 1 hour @ 150 deg. drained then batch sparged to get my boil volume.
continuous hop additions for 90 min.
I cooled the wort to 70 deg and pitched the WYEAST 1968.


Forward to today (six days later). There was not a lot of bubbling this past week. I understand that this doesnt mean fermentation wasnt taking place, but it worried me a little. The OG was 1.080. Today i took a SG and it was 1.046 yet the target is 1.021. Should i be worried? Am i not giving it enough time? I just dont know if sitting in the primary will lower my gravity anymore.

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[sniperd]

A few things. It might be fine and just taking it's time.

How old was the wyeast? Did the wyeast puff up after your smacked it? What temp are you fermenting at? If you are really worried you can always smack another pack and pitch it.

 

[tre9er]

Huge-ass beer, six days in, over halfway done with gravity-waxing...I'd say you're doing juuuuuuust fine.

 

[PLOVE]

Patience. 1.08 is a big beer. What temp is it currently fermenting at? I'd Give it another week or so and check again. If the SG is falling it's probably fine. Nothing about your mash schedule would indicate otherwise. Patience. . .

 

[TippHillBC]

A few things. It might be fine and just taking it's time.

How old was the wyeast? Did the wyeast puff up after your smacked it? What temp are you fermenting at? If you are really worried you can always smack another pack and pitch it.

Cant remember exactly but the wyeast isnt that old. I'm trying to keep the fermenting temp around 70. I thought about a new smack pack but wanted to see if patience would work better.

 

[TippHillBC]

Thanks everyone for responding. I will check back next week!!

 

[kh54s10]

Really big beer with no starter. It may have actually stalled. If the gravity is not down in a week you will have to re-pitch.

 

[TippHillBC]

Yeah, dont know how to do a starter. i thought the WYEAST smack packs were kind of like one.

 

[duboman]

1968 is a great yeast but its a little finicky! It likes to be pitched cold and allowed to rise over time as it can flocculate quickly!

Not sure what temp you fermented at but I start at 62 and allow to rise a degree a day for 5 days and then I bump it to 70 as it slows down. I also like to agitate the vessel to keep the yeast in suspensions to finish so i would recommend that for sure.

Definitely learn how to make starters as you totally under pitched this beer. In general starters should be made for all liquid yeast strains.

 

[kh54s10]

Yeah, dont know how to do a starter. i thought the WYEAST smack packs were kind of like one.

Actually the inner pack is only a nutrient that "wakes up" the yeast.

Look at http://yeastcalc.com/ and http://www.mrmalty.com/ for information. There is also a ton of information in this fourm. As well as videos on Youtube.

Learn to make starters, your beer will love you for it.

 

[LovesIPA]

+1 on making starters. Most people underpitch yeast when they start out. I know I did. After doing the research I would never pitch a single smack pack or vial of liquid yeast. I always make starters.

 

[TippHillBC]

1968 is a great yeast but its a little finicky! It likes to be pitched cold and allowed to rise over time as it can flocculate quickly!

Not sure what temp you fermented at but I start at 62 and allow to rise a degree a day for 5 days and then I bump it to 70 as it slows down. I also like to agitate the vessel to keep the yeast in suspensions to finish so i would recommend that for sure.

Definitely learn how to make starters as you totally under pitched this beer. In general starters should be made for all liquid yeast strains.

First off thanks for the info. I appreciate and will learn to make a starter. One thing i cant figure out is how the hell you can increase your temp 1 deg every day. For me its 70 if its upstairs & 66 deg if its in the basement. I ferment in a bucket and thats pretty much my temp range.

 

[TippHillBC]

Actually the inner pack is only a nutrient that "wakes up" the yeast.

Look at http://yeastcalc.com/ and http://www.mrmalty.com/ for information. There is also a ton of information in this fourm. As well as videos on Youtube.

Learn to make starters, your beer will love you for it.

thanks, i will make sure i learn to do this!

 

[kh54s10]

First off thanks for the info. I appreciate and will learn to make a starter. One thing i cant figure out is how the hell you can increase your temp 1 deg every day. For me its 70 if its upstairs & 66 deg if its in the basement. I ferment in a bucket and thats pretty much my temp range.

People that control to 1 degree rise per day are using a temperature controlled fermentation chamber. I would use the basement in your case. Usually cooler is better than warmer.

 

[duboman]

As mentioned I have a temperature controlled set up but you can start by trying to pitch cold depending on your chilling ability, then start in the basement and once fermentation slows bring it upstairs and then agitate it periodically. Remember that the volume of liquid you are fermenting will not just jump temps in an hour, 5 gallons of 66 degree liquid will take a day to get to the next temperature easily and it will be gradual which is ideal.

 

[TippHillBC]

As mentioned I have a temperature controlled set up but you can start by trying to pitch cold depending on your chilling ability, then start in the basement and once fermentation slows bring it upstairs and then agitate it periodically. Remember that the volume of liquid you are fermenting will not just jump temps in an hour, 5 gallons of 66 degree liquid will take a day to get to the next temperature easily and it will be gradual which is ideal.

Sounds like a plan. Thanks for the advice. Besides the yeast issue I think my first all grain went well. I am going to get some more yeast @ the LHBS today and see how it goes. I will check back in a week for an update.

 

[GASoline71]

Even Wyeast recommends to pitch 2 packs (in lieu of a starter) in any beer over 1.060 OG.

Wait it out for a nother week... the gravity will probably be lower...

Gary

 

[TippHillBC]

Even Wyeast recommends to pitch 2 packs (in lieu of a starter) in any beer over 1.060 OG.

Wait it out for a nother week... the gravity will probably be lower...

Gary

I went to my LHBS yesterday and told them what happened and the owner didnt realize that i was brewing such a high gravity beer or he wouldve recommended a starter. Oh well, live & learn.

 

[novahokie09]

You probably should have pitched three smack packs, since you didn't make a starter, because a 1.080 beer needs around 275 billion yeast cells. A fresh smack pack contains 100 billion, but the pack loses close to 20% viability every month from manufacture date.

By only pitching one smack pack, the lag phase was longer than normal due to the large growth requirement. High levels of diacetyl, esters and fusel alcohols are a by product of under pitching, so you should look for these characteristics when evaluating the beer.

 

[TippHillBC]

You probably should have pitched three smack packs, since you didn't make a starter, because a 1.080 beer needs around 275 billion yeast cells. A fresh smack pack contains 100 billion, but the pack loses close to 20% viability every month from manufacture date.

By only pitching one smack pack, the lag phase was longer than normal due to the large growth requirement. High levels of diacetyl, esters and fusel alcohols are a by product of under pitching, so you should look for these characteristics when evaluating the beer.

Ahhhh!!!! advice from a hokie!!! Just kidding, I am a Syracuse fan and am glad we can somewhat renew what we had in the 90s... some amazing games back then! Anyhow, thanks, I am taking all this advice everyone is giving and putting it in my notes for my next big brew. No doubt i will learn how to do a starter. This has been a pretty amazing learning experience and I appreciate your advice.

 

[TippHillBC]

Update: So I repitched and I think I am ok. After repitching I transferred to a secondary for dry hopping and let it sit for 2 weeks. Last night I bottled and I finished with a 1.024 FG. The expected was around 1.018 so I am not exactly where I wanted to be, but considering I under pitched the yeast I will take it. my OG was 1.080, so my ABV= 7.3%. Expected around 8-8%. I am ok with this esp. being my first batch. Thanks to all who chimed in on my first all grain.

ps- I brewed my second all grain, a Belgian Blond, two weeks ago. I made a yeast starter and it is fermenting beautifully!

 

[kh54s10]

Given everything preceding I would expect that you are good to go.

I would also expect the Blond to be ready to drink long before the first one is ready. Big beers are often very harsh early on and require a longer bottle conditioning period for the flavors to blend how they should. I did a winter ale 1 1/2 years ago in December hoping that it would be ready in February or March. It was harsh until late July of that year and better after 1 year. At 1.5 year old they are very good. I have not yet detected any degradation.

The blond was 2 weeks ago? What is holding you up - Brew On!!

 

[TippHillBC]

Given everything preceding I would expect that you are good to go.

I would also expect the Blond to be ready to drink long before the first one is ready. Big beers are often very harsh early on and require a longer bottle conditioning period for the flavors to blend how they should. I did a winter ale 1 1/2 years ago in December hoping that it would be ready in February or March. It was harsh until late July of that year and better after 1 year. At 1.5 year old they are very good. I have not yet detected any degradation.

The blond was 2 weeks ago? What is holding you up - Brew On!!

Yes, I feel I am good with my IPA, and relieved. no doubt I will be patient with that one...but, you think the blond is ready? I figured another week in the primary, then kegging (my first kegged brew!). Please elaborate as I have learned so much from everyone responding to my posts.

 

[TippHillBC]

UPDATE: Ok, its been a week since I bottled this mess....and all I have to say is WOW!!! The aroma is perfect and the taste is outstanding. For my first all grain beer, as well as being a big ass beer, I have to say that it was an overwhelming success. I've always tried my extract kits at one week to see where the beer is at, and none have stacked up to this. I am going to let these sit for two more weeks and then enjoy them. Thanks to all who helped me in my first adventure. Next, I get to try & keg my first brew this weekend (a Belgian Blond).