Wee Heavy fermentation & St Patty's dilemma

[bigmikebrews]

I brewed a wee heavy 10 days ago using 10 lbs LME and White Labs WLP028 Edinburg Scottish Ale yeast. I aerated for approx 10 minutes and it's been stored in 70 degrees and is still bubbling nearly every 7 seconds. I am skipping the secondary and want to bottle this weekend in order to have some ready-ish for St Patty's day. 10 days down and still bubbling away...should I forget the St Patty's day plan and wait till the bubbles die down?

 

[Golddiggie]

If that's a 5 gallon batch, and really IS a wee heavy, then the ~2 week time frame you're talking about is WAY too short. My first wee heavy went 6 weeks in fermenter, then went onto oak for a month before going to bottles.

By all means, WAIT until the batch is actually done fermenting and has a chance to become really good. Depending on the OG and FG, you could need some more time to get rid of any 'hot' flavors in the batch.

Personally, all my brews get at least 3-4 weeks in primary before either going to an aging vessel, or keg. Even when they go to keg, they don't always have a spot in the brew fridge, so they can get even more time to age (at room temp) before getting fully carbonated and put on tap. I also use the two week 'set and forget' carbonation method. So, I'm not rapid force carbonating.

IMO/IME, you get much better results by going by the brew's time frame NOT one of yours. While your lower OG batches could have been done fermenting in under two weeks, don't expect a bigger batch to be done that fast.

 

[NcBrewer35]

If that's a 5 gallon batch, and really IS a wee heavy, then the ~2 week time frame you're talking about is WAY too short.

This is my sentiments exactly. I have brewed several Wee Heavy's the past 14 years and they always have really long fermentation times.

I typically have to let it go for at least 3-4 weeks for the beer to ferment out when using White Lab's Edinburgh WLP028. Where as most of my other beers are done fermenting in roughly two weeks.

I ALWAYS rack to secondary with my beers as well. This really helps with clarity and makes it easier to discern if the beer is done fermenting.

My typical fermentation routine is 2 weeks in primary and 2 weeks in secondary. I have learned to not rush my beers to keg, in the end you will be much happier with the end result if you let the beer ferment out.

 

[Golddiggie]

This is my sentiments exactly. I have brewed several Wee Heavy's the past 14 years and they always have really long fermentation times.

I typically have to let it go for at least 3-4 weeks for the beer to ferment out when using White Lab's Edinburgh WLP028. Where as most of my other beers are done fermenting in roughly two weeks.

I ALWAYS rack to secondary with my beers as well. This really helps with clarity and makes it easier to discern if the beer is done fermenting.

My typical fermentation routine is 2 weeks in primary and 2 weeks in secondary. I have learned to not rush my beers to keg, in the end you will be much happier with the end result if you let the beer ferment out.

I ONLY rack when I'm aging on a flavor element that works BEST off the yeast. Otherwise, no secondary for any of my beers. I get super clear brews with no secondary. Of course, I am selecting yeast that's rated at least high in the flocculation category (does that sound off to anyone else? )... I just poured a pint of my MO SMaSH off of tap that's super clear and was going into the keg after just three weeks in primary.

I have my formulation of the 12-12-12 wee heavy aging on oak right now. It went 8 weeks in primary before I moved it over to a smaller vessel (a 25L keg) where 6 gallons went into it via a CO2 push on top of the 3oz of medium toast [Hungarian] oak cubes. In a few more months (it's been there for almost a month now) I'll check on it and decide what to do. Of course, I'm going for 12% with the recipe.

IMO, a wee heavy deserves to be cared for and treated right. Do so and it will return the love by making you very happy with just a small amount of it...

 

[bigmikebrews]

Thank you both. It is a 5 gal batch, OG is 1.090 so I see why I should curb my restlessness and ferment for at least a few more weeks. I've never skipped the secondary before but I reasoned that in anticipation of March 17th. Cheers!

 

[Golddiggie]

Pull a hydrometer sample after it's been in primary for a solid month. Get the SG, see if it's a FG (pull another sample 3+ days later to compare) and taste the sample. If you detect any off flavors, I'd give it another week, or two, and sample again. If it tastes hot, then you can either leave it in primary, or decide to age it on something. I find that medium toast oak cubes (or chips if you must) help to round off the harsh edges of bigger brews. Granted, you're looking at significant time on oak cubes (far less on chips). I like the cubes though, since I feel they give a more multidimensional oak character to the batch.

 

[NcBrewer35]

I find that medium toast oak cubes (or chips if you must) help to round off the harsh edges of bigger brews. Granted, you're looking at significant time on oak cubes (far less on chips). I like the cubes though, since I feel they give a more multidimensional oak character to the batch.

Have you tried the infusion spirals? I have used them a few times and I am really impressed with them. I think they work even better than the cubes

 

[Golddiggie]

Have you tried the infusion spirals? I have used them a few times and I am really impressed with them. I think they work even better than the cubes

Not yet, but I have some on hand... I might use them in my TripSix recipe (coming up in a few batches)...