what happened with my yeast?

[jefferym09]

brewed a pale ale 3 times with nottingham yeast. (OG 1.052, FG 1.010) the first time i forced myself to not touch anything after I started fermenting becuase honestly i wanted to see how many corners i could cut and still get good beer. Im almost certain the temp got above 72 degrees in primary. i racked it to secondary at 1.010 and added gelatin for clarity. bottled it, it tasted great. crisp, clear, dry, and refreshing.

The second one i dumped becuase i had to use SE05 and it didnt take the high temp too well (im assuming)...

The third time i used nottingham again and this time i monitored it. when the temp got to 71, I used an ice bath and wicking towel trick and got it down to 65. racked to secondary and it stopped at 1.014, didnt get any lower. racked to secondary, added gelatin, bottled it, and it basically has no carbonation and it tastes ok, a little too sweet though. its not bad but I was hoping to recreate that FG 1.010 awesomeness.

So i guess if there's a question from all this it would have to do with the yeast...

1. the yeast could not have been a good strain?
2. the rapid cooling of from 71 to 65 could have shocked the yeast?
3. i used gelatin in all the batches, but the 3rd batch received gelatin that was a bit too hot, so there was a thin layer of jello in the carboy (not solid, just thin and a bit gooey)

which thing sounds the most likely? i was thinking of doing it one more time and just not touching it again...

 

[giraffe]

2 possibly.

But more likely, it could be under pitch (or not rehydrating), or a mashing problem, or insufficient o2.

 

[govner1]

2 is a definite possibility but you haven't given any info on your recipe or brew, ie, extract or AG, mash temp, how are you controlling temps?


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[SDCraftBeer]

I would say 2. How early into fermentation did you rapidly cool? Were your mash temps the same on all three batches? How long did you let it sit in primary and secondary?

 

[danath34]

Without knowing more about pitching rates and aeration, I would guess it's stalled, possibly because of number 2, combined with not enough yeast and not enough aeration.

How long has it been in the bottle? If it hasn't been a month, I wouldn't worry about the lack of carbonation. If it's been a month or more, I would go pick up some CBC-1 yeast, open up the bottles, put in a little bit of yeast directly to each bottle, and recap. Not sure it matters a WHOLE lot how much yeast you use. Some people recommend roughly 5 grains of dry yeast. I did roughly a half of a tiny 1/16 tsp spoon for each bottle when I had a similar problem. Worked wonderfully.

 

[jefferym09]

i'll try to answer as many of these as i can.

mash temps were all between 152-154 for 1 hr. boil time one hour, AG, I cooled it down on day 2 when i saw it was at 71 and fermenting very rapidly, aerated with Oxygen stone, pitched 1 pkg nottingham dry rehydrated at 65 degrees wort temp, primary for 1 week, secondary for 1 week. 5 oz priming sugar.
The only way i can control temp at the moment is ice baths and a thermostat for exterior temp (sucks, I know) i monitor temp with a thermometer sticker on carboy

the carbonation has kicked up a bit since my first post. its just at about week 2 in bottles now. i know thats not long, but the first batch tasted fully carbonated at week 1. but the biggest thing is it has this slightly sweet taste which i attribute to it not fermenting down past 1.014. ive had that many times before. in fact a lot of my beers come out sweeter rather than dryer. as of late 1.014 has been my normal FG. of course I try to monitor the beer and cool it when it gets too hot, but maybe my process of doing that hurts the yeast rather than helps it...

 

[boydster]

If you are drinking it before its fully carbonated, the sweet taste is probably from the priming sugar that hasn't fermented yet. Give it a couple more weeks before you judge it.

 

[flars]

Racking to secondary before FG has been reached may be part of your problem.

 

[ColoHox]

If you are drinking it before its fully carbonated, the sweet taste is probably from the priming sugar that hasn't fermented yet. Give it a couple more weeks before you judge it.

^+1

If you were actually closer to the 154 end of the scale, your beer will have more dextrins. 71%/~80% attenuation seems close, considering the possible mash temp.

Also, it takes a while for the whole volume of beer to drop temperature, especially during active fermentation. A stick on thermometer is not the best measure, as you mentioned, but I suspect you didn't stall the yeast with a temp drop.

 

[danath34]

If you are drinking it before its fully carbonated, the sweet taste is probably from the priming sugar that hasn't fermented yet. Give it a couple more weeks before you judge it.

This.

1 Week is definitely not enough. The last batch may have been done in a week, but I would really imagine if you're only doing 1 week primary, 1 week secondary, and 1 week bottle conditioning, it's going to taste green whether it's carbonated or not.

With only 2 weeks of fermentation before bottling, I would give it 2 weeks MINIMUM in the bottles before even tasting it to see if it's almost done, let alone expecting it to be done already. Preferably, let the bottles condition 3-4 weeks given the 2 week fermentation you're doing. Reaching final gravity doesn't mean the beer is done.

I personally do 2 weeks primary, 2 weeks secondary, and a month in bottles. Or you could do 3 weeks primary, then bottle and wait 3-4 weeks. Takes a lot longer for you to have your beer, but it is definitely worth it IMO.

*edit* you also might be able to fix your problem of the beer not drying out as much as you'd like by giving it additional time in the fermenter. (referring to the 1.014 FG, not the sweetness from the priming sugar)