yeast cake

[mendlerr]

hey guys this is my 2nd brew! its an all grain ipa. i made a 1 gallon trial batch with s-05 dry yeast. everything is going well with that, it is still fermenting.

I did a 5 gallon batch of the same brew today, used White Labs WLP001 on recommendation from a local brewshop.

My question is the yeast cake. After brewing, pitching the yeast and aeration I got a pretty thick yeast cake in well under an hour. It has been 7 hours now and the yeast cake has only gotten thicker and a little white foam has developed on the top of the wort.

I understand that fermentation will not happen this fast, usually, but im just a little worried about the incredibly thick trub, cloudy wort and white foam. the last batch did not do this with the dry yeast. I'm worried I may have killed the yeast somehow? Not sure how, I was very safe and sanitary during the entire process.

And yes I did let the yeast warm at room temp for about 4 to 4 1/2 hours before pitching. I pitched at exactly 72 degrees F with a new calibrated thermometer. I shook up the yeast tube very well before pitching. Also, my girlfriend and I shook the carboy for a solid 2 minutes very vigorously so it should be aerated very well.

Thanks for any input!

 

[mendlerr]

I'm sorry if this has been beated like a dead horse. I have searched and couldn't find anything. Perhaps I am using the wrong terminology or just searching for the wrong thing.

 

[billpaustin]

Sounds good to me, fermentation can take place almost right away in ideal circumstances.

But when you say yeast cake, you mean stuff on the bottom?

 

[IslandLizard]

There is no way it is fermented out in 7 hours. If so, the Guinness book of records needs to be notified.

"Pretty thick yeast cake" is a subjective measure. I've seen yeast cakes that are over 1/2 inch thick once done. You're not going to get that from one vial of WLP001 in half a day. It is a good sign that you see yeast and what looks like they are multiplying, which is the first stage before they start to aggressively convert your wort to beer. Have patience. It will take 7 days plus before it's done. And you should really leave it alone for 2 weeks before even taking another gravity reading. There is a lot of work to be done by those yeasties.

Did you take a reading of your original gravity (OG)?

For your next brew, look up how to make a yeast starter. One vial of yeast is a bit skimpy for a medium gravity ale. Your beer, and you, will love the results.

On another note, you are better off fermenting at a lower temperature. 72°F is a bit high for that yeast to make a clean tasting IPA. In fermentation, fast is not always a good approach. Try putting it in a cooler spot, like your cellar, where it is around 65°F. Do a search for "swamp cooler" and read some of those threads. You'll get a good idea why many of us use those.

In the mean time, let both fermentors alone in a cool spot until they are finished (2 weeks) and make sure they are kept in the dark to prevent skunking. A thick dark towel draped over them keeps the light out.

 

[BigFloyd]

Your girlfriend shook a 5-gallon carboy? I'd want to have her next to me in a fight.:rockin:

You pitched a bit warm. 65*F would be a good pitch temp and starting ferment for that yeast. At what temp have you been fermenting it?

Also, if you just used a vial and no starter for a 5-gallon batch, you didn't have enough cells. If you're going to use liquid yeast in the future, it's a very good idea to learn how to make a starter. Until then, dry yeast is just fine and has plenty of cells in an 11g packet for 5-gallons of ale wort up to 1.060. Did you know that WLP001 is the same strain of yeast (Chico) as US-05?

 

[ShaineT]

Actually at 7 hours the sediment on the bottom is all trub (hot break/ cold break) from the mash and hops which made it into your fermenter & settled out. This material will settle out faster than yeast in suspension which makes yeast washing possible (harvesting yeast).

 

[mendlerr]

on the side of the yeast tube it says to pitch between 70 and 75 degrees. it then says. do not allow the yeast to drop below 70 degrees until fermentation has started.

I had no idea that WLP001 was the same as S-05. Thanks for the tip. I have lots to learn.

The OG was 1.050 exact.

I can cool the fermenting wort down to whatever I want. I was fortunate enough to be given an old wine cooler that just barely fits a 6.5 gallon carboy, so thats where i keep it during fermentation. My last batch I kept at 68 degrees the entire time. still waiting for that to turn out though. it is all kept in a dark cool closet. so light shouldnt be a huge issue except i keep opening the closet door to check on it, lol

I do need to wire up a higher temp thermostat, on the coolers lowest setting it wants to drop down to 60 degrees.

 

[mendlerr]

Well guys/gals I just checked on my brew. Good news, its fermenting. Thank god I decided to use a blow off tube instead of an airlock. Hop residue is all the way up the neck of the carboy to the stopper and my blow off tube cup has stuff in it and lots of bubbles. Some time during the night it must have foamed up and out. It has calmed down now.

I am now cooling to 65 degrees.

I also checked the thickness of the yeast cake/trub/whatever. it is almost 2 1/2 inches thick!

I used a splash guard funnel with an extremely fine filter. Can't imagine I got that much residue into the carboy.

 

[ShaineT]

Well guys/gals I just checked on my brew. Good news, its fermenting. Thank god I decided to use a blow off tube instead of an airlock. Hop residue is all the way up the neck of the carboy to the stopper and my blow off tube cup has stuff in it and lots of bubbles. Some time during the night it must have foamed up and out. It has calmed down now.

I am now cooling to 65 degrees.

I also checked the thickness of the yeast cake/trub/whatever. it is almost 2 1/2 inches thick!

I used a splash guard funnel with an extremely fine filter. Can't imagine I got that much residue into the carboy.

Sounds good! I actually only use an airlock when lagering. Main fermentations are blow off tubes of various sizes for me. If fermenting in a carboy I'll reduce the 1" blow off tube to a smaller tube size when fermentation enters secondary stage. Good luck!

 

[mendlerr]

The fermentation is going very well. Now im doubting my last batch. It smells like beer but did not ferment like this, granted it was only one gallon and this batch is 5 gallons.

Im getting large bubbles every half second or so. Never thought bubbles would amuse me at this age

 

[RM-MN]

on the side of the yeast tube it says to pitch between 70 and 75 degrees. it then says. do not allow the yeast to drop below 70 degrees until fermentation has started.

I had no idea that WLP001 was the same as S-05. Thanks for the tip. I have lots to learn.

The OG was 1.050 exact.

I can cool the fermenting wort down to whatever I want. I was fortunate enough to be given an old wine cooler that just barely fits a 6.5 gallon carboy, so thats where i keep it during fermentation. My last batch I kept at 68 degrees the entire time. still waiting for that to turn out though. it is all kept in a dark cool closet. so light shouldnt be a huge issue except i keep opening the closet door to check on it, lol

I do need to wire up a higher temp thermostat, on the coolers lowest setting it wants to drop down to 60 degrees.

This is interesting that it is specified that you shouldn't let the temperature go below 70 until the yeast has started. I've been chilling the wort to 58-62 to pitch US-05 and it makes darn good tasting beer that way. It does take a while to start but it doesn't get very vigorous that way and I have never needed a blow off tube. I let mine stay at 62 ambient (64 max on the outside of the fermenter as the yeast are the most active) for a week, then warm it to 72 for 2 or more weeks.

 

[mendlerr]

i threw the bottle away yesterday. otherwise i would take a picture of what the yeast vile said.

i have the ambient temp at about 64 degrees right now in the wine cooler. seems to be holding. the carboy is definitely 70ish degrees to the touch though. i think its going to take a few days at the colder ambient to actually cool the wort.

the ferment is on though, its going so good i can hear it as i walk by the closet. blop, blop, blop