wow fermentation started almost instantly!

[ZamaMan]

Just brewed an arrogant bastard clone. Brew day went terrible loads of mistakes, melted bag, propane went out so had to move to stove which didn't boil off estimated amount, extra worst brew session we've ever done. But I'm sure it will taste good still. Anyways withing minites of pitching my active 2 liter starter airlock started bubling. Its been 18 hours and my 3/4 in blow off tube is moving krausen at 2in per second. And its only at 63 degrees. This thing is going nuts lol

 

[Grumpybumpy]

hide your wife, hide your kids....

What kind of yeast did you use?

 

[ZamaMan]

hide your wife, hide your kids....

What kind of yeast did you use?

Wyeast 1098 with a 2 liter 1.045 starter. Beer has a 1.071 OG mashed at 148 for 90 than a 170 degree mash out with a 170 degree 1 gal sparge got 85% efficiency.

 

[squirrelly]

Very nice! This is what I shoot for every brew day, minus the misfortunes you experienced, but I do a 5000 ml starter no matter what beer I'm brewing. The starter sits on the stir plate for 3 days before we brew, and after the proper O2 volume has been added to the wort, I become pretty concerned if I'm not at high krousen within 6 hours of pitching.

On tap: B-1 Bomber IPA, CA Steam, Belgian Wit, Blonde Ale, American Stout, German Heffewitzen, Irish Red Ale. In primary: British Pub Ale

 

[Calder]

I become pretty concerned if I'm not at high krousen within 6 hours of pitching.

I get concerned, that I over-pitched, if I start in less that 6 hours. The initial period is where the yeast is reproducing and creating some of the esters that are characteristic of the yeast. If the yeast take off too quick, they didn't reproduce too well and old yeast are doing the work, and there is a loss of the yeast characteristic (esters) in the beer.

 

[squirrelly]

I have never had off flavors or inappropriate esters from a quick ferment. I always ferment my ales at 59* and pitch a 5000 ml starter with lots of sterile O2 with an infuser. The beer always attenuates down to 1.009-1.005 and finishes quite dry.

My concern with a delayed fermentation is contamination or infection. Even if a rogue yeast does somehow make it into the wort, it will never have a chance to take off because it will be robbed of food by the yeast I've pitched.

Never once have I gotten a score sheet back that indicated esters or that I had "over pitched." The folks at the BN say it's actually pretty hard to over pitch and derive that yeasty or bready flavor created by over pitching. It's actually easier to under pitch, and not introduce enough healthy cells to ferment a beer up in the 1.090-1.10 range which is what by house beer is. Even in session beers that are OG 1.040 I do the same yeast starter, and instead of letting it sit in primary for 6 weeks, I let session beers go for 3.

On tap: B-1 Bomber IPA, CA Steam, Belgian Wit, Blonde Ale, American Stout, German Heffewitzen, Irish Red Ale. In primary: British Pub Ale

 

[Calder]

My concern with a delayed fermentation is contamination or infection. Even if a rogue yeast does somehow make it into the wort, it will never have a chance to take off because it will be robbed of food by the yeast I've pitched.

I love rogue yeast (PacMan).

I agree, I like to get fermentation off quick too, but from everything I have read, you may get improved yeast performance if you pitch lower quantity and have a longer lag period. Read 'Yeast' by White and Zainasheff.

I used to think the quicker the yeast started, the better, but I am not so sure now, and try to get it in the 8 to 14 hour range.

 

[ZamaMan]

I have the book but havnt gotten around to read it yet. I don't think tthe starter was too large based on jamils reccomendations. I even spilled a little while pouring.

 

[ayoungrad]

The beer always attenuates down to 1.009-1.005 and finishes quite dry.

Quoting FG like this does not really say much about the yeast. Apparent attenuation is a more accurate measure of yeast performance. And even AA is by not a way to determine if the yeast made the best beer possible... it only tells you if the yeast consumed the fermentables to a degree in keeping with that strains typical performance.

As was stated, with over-pitching, you may lose flavors that would have developed with proper pitching rates. Those flavors may or may not be desired depending on your goals. If you are only looking for a clean flavor and little yeast flavor contribution, it is really of no concern. And all of this is not to say that beer won't taste good with over-pitching. Or that it wouldn't do well in competitions. It's just that is could POSSIBLY taste better.