WhiskeySam
Well-Known Member
Background -- this is my 47th batch of beer and maybe my 12th lager -- so whatever your base level suggestion is for this problem has probably already been addressed.
Last Saturday I made a 1.066 OG Oktoberfest. 90 minute boil. Oxygenated the wort with pure 02 through a stone for somewhere between 2-3 minutes. Everything about the process of making the batch was perfect. No hiccups.
Prior to brew day, I made a 1600ML starter with WL820. Then, like I do with lagers, I made a larger starter from my first starter. 4000ML (that's over a gallon). I pitch a lot of yeast when making starters. This time I decided to split the yeast into two mason jars for storage. I'd done so well with lagers in the past that I thought I could get by with using half the yeast.
chilled my wort to 50 degrees -- I follow the John Palmer lager method of chilling to pitch temperature. I hate the idea of chilling to 70, pitching and then chilling to 50 and I won't do that.
Pitched half of the collected yeast on Saturday. Nothing Sunday. Nothing Monday. So I pitched the second half of the yeast on Monday night. Nothing Tuesday, Wednesday or this morning.
This brings me back to when I made my first lagers and underpitched them. But there is SO MUCH YEAST in this wort. I know the science is all there, the wort has sugar, o2 and yeast and I know it will eventually kick off, but gesh, this is frustrating.
Then I realized, my last OFest I made a year ago used WYEAST's Oktoberfest blend. I've used the WL820 before and I typically use WL yeast, but last year I used Wyeast.
Has anyone had a problem with WL820 this season?
Last Saturday I made a 1.066 OG Oktoberfest. 90 minute boil. Oxygenated the wort with pure 02 through a stone for somewhere between 2-3 minutes. Everything about the process of making the batch was perfect. No hiccups.
Prior to brew day, I made a 1600ML starter with WL820. Then, like I do with lagers, I made a larger starter from my first starter. 4000ML (that's over a gallon). I pitch a lot of yeast when making starters. This time I decided to split the yeast into two mason jars for storage. I'd done so well with lagers in the past that I thought I could get by with using half the yeast.
chilled my wort to 50 degrees -- I follow the John Palmer lager method of chilling to pitch temperature. I hate the idea of chilling to 70, pitching and then chilling to 50 and I won't do that.
Pitched half of the collected yeast on Saturday. Nothing Sunday. Nothing Monday. So I pitched the second half of the yeast on Monday night. Nothing Tuesday, Wednesday or this morning.
This brings me back to when I made my first lagers and underpitched them. But there is SO MUCH YEAST in this wort. I know the science is all there, the wort has sugar, o2 and yeast and I know it will eventually kick off, but gesh, this is frustrating.
Then I realized, my last OFest I made a year ago used WYEAST's Oktoberfest blend. I've used the WL820 before and I typically use WL yeast, but last year I used Wyeast.
Has anyone had a problem with WL820 this season?