I brewed a 1.092 Scottish ale Sunday that ended up being a lot larger than I was expecting so I only had one vial of wlp028 to pitch. I aerated it vigorously by pouring it between two buckets multiple times but I hadn't seen any airlock activity after 24 hours (fermenting at 59-60). So I put it in a sink with warm water and finally saw activity, but it stopped after 6-8 hours once it cooled back down to 60. Should I buy another vial and make starter overnight and repitch in the am, or should I just leave it be?
Should I rep itch on 1.092 Scottish ale
- Thread starter FCBR
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Was this extract with top off or AG? If topped off extract then the OG is whatever the recipe stated and you got a bad mix of wort and water causing a higher reading
As for the yeast, yes you most likely under pitched and the reason activity stopped is because you keep changing the temps-yeast don't like that. Pick a temp and leave it there! Once the yeast acclimate they'll do their job with no issues
Sent from the Commune
As for the yeast, yes you most likely under pitched and the reason activity stopped is because you keep changing the temps-yeast don't like that. Pick a temp and leave it there! Once the yeast acclimate they'll do their job with no issues
Sent from the Commune
Sometime with buckets, you don't see as much airlock activity because the cover may not be perfectly tightened.
However, saying that, there is no way one vial of yeast is enough for a 1.092 gravity beer. 1 vial, if it was fresh (as if it was just bottled by White Labs today) would have 100 million billion cells. Using YeastCalc http://www.yeastcalculator.com/...a 5 gallon ale at 1.092 needs 312 billion cells. So without a starter, you needed to pitch 3.12 vials of yeast if the yeast was fresh.
Even if the yeast was fresh however, YeastCalc with a yeast date of today, assumes 96% viability or 96 billion cells, so without a starter you would need 3.25 vials of yeast. And then the older the yeast is, the more you would have needed. White Labs vials have a "best by" date on them, you need to look at the date and then go back 4 months to determine the yeast viability date.
So using YeastCalc, and since I am not sure if you did starter to start and whether you used a stir plate under "First step" method of aeration I selected none...it tells me that with 1 vial of yeast, dated today (meaning best by on vial is August 2nd)...you would need a 5 liter starter! If you did "intermittent shaking" you would have needed a 3.1 liter starter, if a stir plate was used, a 2.1 liter starter was needed.
Long story short...yes pitch more yeast!
However, saying that, there is no way one vial of yeast is enough for a 1.092 gravity beer. 1 vial, if it was fresh (as if it was just bottled by White Labs today) would have 100 million billion cells. Using YeastCalc http://www.yeastcalculator.com/...a 5 gallon ale at 1.092 needs 312 billion cells. So without a starter, you needed to pitch 3.12 vials of yeast if the yeast was fresh.
Even if the yeast was fresh however, YeastCalc with a yeast date of today, assumes 96% viability or 96 billion cells, so without a starter you would need 3.25 vials of yeast. And then the older the yeast is, the more you would have needed. White Labs vials have a "best by" date on them, you need to look at the date and then go back 4 months to determine the yeast viability date.
So using YeastCalc, and since I am not sure if you did starter to start and whether you used a stir plate under "First step" method of aeration I selected none...it tells me that with 1 vial of yeast, dated today (meaning best by on vial is August 2nd)...you would need a 5 liter starter! If you did "intermittent shaking" you would have needed a 3.1 liter starter, if a stir plate was used, a 2.1 liter starter was needed.
Long story short...yes pitch more yeast!
You can re pitch but at 4 days in it most likely won't improve anything.
The yeast for the most part have already gone through the growth phase and once back to temp will go to work. Any issues that may have developed due to under pitching are already present and may or may not get cleaned up by completion.
IMHO save your money and learn for the next batch.
Sent from the Commune
The yeast for the most part have already gone through the growth phase and once back to temp will go to work. Any issues that may have developed due to under pitching are already present and may or may not get cleaned up by completion.
IMHO save your money and learn for the next batch.
Sent from the Commune
You underpitched, so it will be slow to start.
White labs site says:
Optimum Ferment Temp.
65-70°F (Does not ferment well less than 62°F)
You are at 60, no wonder it stopped. Just get the temp up and you should be fine.
White labs site says:
Optimum Ferment Temp.
65-70°F (Does not ferment well less than 62°F)
You are at 60, no wonder it stopped. Just get the temp up and you should be fine.
