Long fermentation time

[Knkbrand]

I am having an issue sort of, and was wondering if anyone thoughts as to what might be happening. My last 4 brews where spread out over a period of a week. The last one finished brewing 3 weeks ago. All 4 brews have had very slow fermentations and I can’t figure out why.

1. IPA with imperial juice
2. American Amber with keviek
3. Belgium quad with wlp550
4. Kolsch with lallemand kolsch yeast

The only thing I can think of that I did differently for all 4 beers is that I adjusted my water for each beer. I have not had a beer ferment for 3 weeks since I can remember. Temp is a steady 66 f. Any thoughts?

 

[brownni5]

Water should have little to do with fermentation. But what are you using to judge fermentation time? Are you taking lots of readings? Not that it really matters how long it takes...

 

[Knkbrand]

on two of the beers I have tilts, on the other two I am just seeing bubbles through the air lock. I don't want to open the IPA to take a reading and expose to oxygen, but the air lock is bubbling about once every 30-40 sec. The other without a tilt is the Belgium quad. It is in a corny fermenting under pressure. I submerged the spunding valve and I see tiny bubbles at consistent rate of 1 or 2 every sec. Even the Keviek on the Amber has taken 3 weeks. Tuesday I checked the tilt at it was at 1.005, this morning it was 1.004

 

[Farside]

I've brewed for decades and have never ever had anything brew out in the times people often talk about.

That being said, I live in a cool climate so my brewing temps can be as high as 18C and as low as 12C.
It's normal for my brews to take 6 weeks to complete, and I'm OK with that. The esters are typically very low, and the finished beer is clean which is what I like anyway.

The only time I've ever used a heater is when I'm trying to produce those fruity esters.

Remember that with lower brewing temps, you also get slower bacterial activity.

 

[Knkbrand]

I've brewed for decades and have never ever had anything brew out in the times people often talk about.

I am not too concerned, just puzzled. Before these for beers I would finish fermentation in a week, cold crash, force carb and be drinking in 2 weeks. The only thing I started new was water adjustments. Oh and I used some Alpha Amylase in the Amber, to bring down the final a little OG lower than usual.

 

[brownni5]

I'm with Farside - I don't understand how brewers say they're turning around beers in 3 days, but here are my thoughts:
1. An incomplete story is told by the bubbling airlock: it reveals very little information other than some gas is escaping for some reason.
2. I've read here recently that Tilt hydrometers are not that accurate, which makes me question what their true purpose is.
3. The quad is likely a big beer - those take time.

 

[Jag75]

Your in my norm . I leave beer in the FV for 3 weeks . I'll check the gravity but leave it be . I'm sure I could package after 7 days but I like to wait . The one who taught me to brew always told me to be patient and I'll be rewarded .

 

[WhiteRhyno]

What do they taste like?

 

[Knkbrand]

What do they taste like?

I have not tasted them yet. I taste at transfer, and I don’t transfer until fermentation is complete

 

[Miraculix]

Your stuff is just as quickly done as anybody else's brews, you're just misinterpreting the airlock. The airlock doesn't tell you anything about fermentation status. It can continue to bubble for weeks after the beer is done.

Take readings with a hydrometer.

 

[bracconiere]

The only thing I can think of that I did differently for all 4 beers is that I adjusted my water for each beer.

i had this same problem years ago when i tried to adjust the mash without a ph meter, damn water calc had me adding a ton of stuff and the wort must have been so acidic it couldn't ferment....

 

[Deadalus]

Is the thermometer giving you the 66 reading common to all batches? Perhaps it's not working.

 

[Knkbrand]

Your stuff is just as quickly done as anybody else's brews, you're just misinterpreting the airlock. The airlock doesn't tell you anything about fermentation status. It can continue to bubble for weeks after the beer is done.

Take readings with a hydrometer.

Please see OP I am monitoring 2 of the beers with tilts (hydrometers)

Is the thermometer giving you the 66 reading common to all batches? Perhaps it's not working.

Both Tilts say 66, and the thermometer in the room is at 66.

i had this same problem years ago when i tried to adjust the mash without a ph meter, damn water calc had me adding a ton of stuff and the wort must have been so acidic it couldn't ferment....

this I what I am thinking. Maybe my water additions in BeerSmith were off some way. I think I checked PH, but I did not right anything down :-( I have a brew log book, I am just too lazy. If I were to change one thing about my brew habits it would be to take better notes.

I have also raised the temp in the room to 69 so we will see. The beers are close, they just wont stop. The Quad is at 1.014, the Amber is at 1.004. I haven't checked to other two for above stated reasons.

 

[Miraculix]

Please see OP I am monitoring 2 of the beers with tilts (hydrometers)



Both Tilts say 66, and the thermometer in the room is at 66.



this I what I am thinking. Maybe my water additions in BeerSmith were off some way. I think I checked PH, but I did not right anything down :-( I have a brew log book, I am just too lazy. If I were to change one thing about my brew habits it would be to take better notes.

I have also raised the temp in the room to 69 so we will see. The beers are close, they just wont stop. The Quad is at 1.014, the Amber is at 1.004. I haven't checked to other two for above stated reasons.

Please see previous comments about tilts, they are a fun gimmick but overall unreliable.

 

[Knkbrand]

Please see previous comments about tilts, they are a fun gimmick but overall unreliable.

In my experience they have been extremely reliable. I guess they could have become unreliable in these last two beers, but for the last 2 years they have been spot on. When I eventually transfer these beers, I will use my conventional hydrometer and let you know how they compared.

 

[Miraculix]

In my experience they have been extremely reliable. I guess they could have become unreliable in these last two beers, but for the last 2 years they have been spot on. When I eventually transfer these beers, I will use my conventional hydrometer and let you know how they compared.

It's more like, that they can be inaccurate in smaller ranges. Think of bubbles attached to it, falling off, building up again, then some tub that might get attached to it, falls off again, and similar things.

This can make it look like there's actually still something happening, although there is nothing going on anymore fermentation-wise.

Also yeast in suspension and falling out of suspension changes the overall gravity of the liquid... So the settling process itself can also play a part in this.

 

[Baglorious]

I'm having a similar experience right now... and actually was coming to this forum to post my own question(s). I've got a 10 gallon batch that is still bubbling 15 days in. Usually my airlock activity stops entirely after 7-10 days. However, I still have a consistent, though not vigorous "blurp" every 15-20 seconds as I see a bubble exiting the blowoff tube. This has been a consistent rate for 4+ days now... nice and slow, but constant. A bit frustrating!

This is probably my 20th batch or so... and I've never had one act like this. I moved it upstairs (approx 68 degs) from the basement (approx 63 degs) with the hopes of speeding things up a bit, but that was 4 days ago. Wife is thrilled to have a fermenter in the living room. I told her it would probably be there for a day or two, and we're on day 5.

I know one thing that I did wrong (and probably killed half my yeast in the process): I used an Omega Kviek yeast, and forgot to allow it to warm to room temperature before pitching. Right from the fridge to the fementer (dummy). I've used these without starters before, and the usually ferment insanely fast and vigorously. Last one wrapped up in less than 5 days. So, I expect my 'mistake' is my main problem... and I should just be thankful that I didn't kill all my yeast... and the remaining hardy souls are slowly getting the job done.


You didn't use any different pitch methods on these? Didn't do anything different with starters, or any other yeast process?

I would think that water adjustments COULD make a difference, by getting something out of balance... particularly if that's the only variable that changed. We add yeast nutrients... and those have some of the same ingredients we use to adjust water, I think. (I only know enough to be dangerous on that topic.) But if there are no other variables, and all 4 of your batches are different, I wouldn't know what else to think. (Conversely, it seems odd that different strains of yeast would respond the same way by ALL slowing down uniformly, unless it might be an acidity/ph issue that would affect all yeasts, as suggested above.)


p.s. I use tilts as well... and they are reliable, in my opinion. My experience has been very good. I don't necessarily trust them to be perfect on the 'actual' gravity reading (one of my two seems a point or two off)... but they definitely are accurate to show the stages of fermentation - when it is dropping, and when it stops. I love mine.

 

[Miraculix]

I'm having a similar experience right now... and actually was coming to this forum to post my own question(s). I've got a 10 gallon batch that is still bubbling 15 days in. Usually my airlock activity stops entirely after 7-10 days. However, I still have a consistent, though not vigorous "blurp" every 15-20 seconds as I see a bubble exiting the blowoff tube. This has been a consistent rate for 4+ days now... nice and slow, but constant. A bit frustrating!

This is probably my 20th batch or so... and I've never had one act like this. I moved it upstairs (approx 68 degs) from the basement (approx 63 degs) with the hopes of speeding things up a bit, but that was 4 days ago. Wife is thrilled to have a fermenter in the living room. I told her it would probably be there for a day or two, and we're on day 5.

I know one thing that I did wrong (and probably killed half my yeast in the process): I used an Omega Kviek yeast, and forgot to allow it to warm to room temperature before pitching. Right from the fridge to the fementer (dummy). I've used these without starters before, and the usually ferment insanely fast and vigorously. Last one wrapped up in less than 5 days. So, I expect my 'mistake' is my main problem... and I should just be thankful that I didn't kill all my yeast... and the remaining hardy souls are slowly getting the job done.


You didn't use any different pitch methods on these? Didn't do anything different with starters, or any other yeast process?

I would think that water adjustments COULD make a difference, by getting something out of balance... particularly if that's the only variable that changed. We add yeast nutrients... and those have some of the same ingredients we use to adjust water, I think. (I only know enough to be dangerous on that topic.) But if there are no other variables, and all 4 of your batches are different, I wouldn't know what else to think. (Conversely, it seems odd that different strains of yeast would respond the same way by ALL slowing down uniformly.)


p.s. I use tilts as well... and they are reliable, in my opinion. My experience has been very good. I don't necessarily trust them to be perfect on the 'actual' gravity reading (one of my two seems a point or two off)... but they definitely are accurate to show the stages of fermentation - when it is dropping, and when it stops. I love mine.

Your "mistake" is not a problem, especially not with a kveik yeast as they are supposed to be underpitched at an insanely low rate anyway.

Your bubbling is because of gas escaping the liquid, most probably not because of active fermentation.

Airlock activity does not tell you anything about fermentation activity.