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Main
Date: 31 Oct 2006 12:11:10
From: Medicjm
Subject: First Batch Help
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I am now working on my first batch of homebrew. I'm making a Belgian
White Ale. I bought the Wit Way Is Up kit from Homebrew USA. At the
store's suggestion, I substituted the included yeast with White Labs
Belgian Saison I (WLP565).
The fermentation was slow to start. I had the fermenter at 68 degrees
and it took around 12 hours for the airlock to start bubbling. After 3
days, the bubbling stopped completely. So I decided to rack into my
secondary.
It went into my secondary on Sunday and there is still no activity in
the airlock. My OG was 1.047 and the FG (so far) is 1.018.
I'm worried that something is wrong here. Has my fermentation stopped?
Thanks in advance.
John
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Date: 31 Oct 2006 18:08:52
From: alebrewer
Subject: Re: First Batch Help
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Medicjm wrote:
> I am now working on my first batch of homebrew. I'm making a Belgian
> White Ale. I bought the Wit Way Is Up kit from Homebrew USA. At the
> store's suggestion, I substituted the included yeast with White Labs
> Belgian Saison I (WLP565).
>
> The fermentation was slow to start. I had the fermenter at 68 degrees
> and it took around 12 hours for the airlock to start bubbling. After 3
> days, the bubbling stopped completely. So I decided to rack into my
> secondary.
>
> It went into my secondary on Sunday and there is still no activity in
> the airlock. My OG was 1.047 and the FG (so far) is 1.018.
>
> I'm worried that something is wrong here. Has my fermentation stopped?
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
> John
I've never used 565, but from what I have read from others, 68 F
ferment is way too low with this yeast. In fact, I've read you really
want over 90 F for the primary.
The Saison ales (also known as Farmhouse ales) were developed for
brewing without refrigeration in the farmhouses of Belgium and France
during the summer months. Not really one I would recommend for a first
batch.
But, since you have it, I'd let it sit for another two weeks at 70-75 F
in a warm and dark closet. From what I understand, it finishes very
slowly.
ab
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Date: 31 Oct 2006 23:54:17
From: Wayne
Subject: Re: First Batch Help
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alebrewer wrote:
> Medicjm wrote:
>> I am now working on my first batch of homebrew. I'm making a Belgian
>> White Ale. I bought the Wit Way Is Up kit from Homebrew USA. At the
>> store's suggestion, I substituted the included yeast with White Labs
>> Belgian Saison I (WLP565).
>>
>> The fermentation was slow to start. I had the fermenter at 68 degrees
>> and it took around 12 hours for the airlock to start bubbling. After 3
>> days, the bubbling stopped completely. So I decided to rack into my
>> secondary.
>>
>> It went into my secondary on Sunday and there is still no activity in
>> the airlock. My OG was 1.047 and the FG (so far) is 1.018.
>>
>> I'm worried that something is wrong here. Has my fermentation stopped?
>>
>> Thanks in advance.
>>
>> John
>
> I've never used 565, but from what I have read from others, 68 F
> ferment is way too low with this yeast. In fact, I've read you really
> want over 90 F for the primary.
>
> The Saison ales (also known as Farmhouse ales) were developed for
> brewing without refrigeration in the farmhouses of Belgium and France
> during the summer months. Not really one I would recommend for a first
> batch.
>
> But, since you have it, I'd let it sit for another two weeks at 70-75 F
> in a warm and dark closet. From what I understand, it finishes very
> slowly.
>
> ab
>
I have use the 565 yeast a lot. For saisons, you ferment this stuff at
90°+, but for other styles you can use it in the 70's for good results.
I enjoy playing with this stuff, but it does have it's quirks. This
yeast is very sensitive to temperature changes. If you warm it up or
cool it down too rapidly, it will simply stop working for awhile. After
a few days, it will start back up on its own. Even if the temperature
is stable, it has a habit of going dormant after about 10 days or 2
weeks and do nothing for a week and then start back up again
spontaneously. Strange stuff. A lot of folks think they have a stuck
fermentation with this yeast. It's not stuck, just taking a vacation.
You need to be extremely patient with this yeast. Don't worry about
trying to rack it from primary for at least a month. Six weeks won't
hurt a thing and would probably be better. It will still take another 3
or 4 weeks to completely finish out.
Oh, in case you haven't figured it out already, this isn't a real good
yeast for a beginning brewer to use. It's pretty temperamental and
requires a great deal of patience. On the other hand, it produces
wonderful beer when used right.
Good luck and get started on your next beer while you are waiting on
this one. All your other procedures look great.
Wayne
Bugeater Brewing Company
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Date: 01 Nov 2006 20:21:00
From: John 'Shaggy' Kolesar
Subject: Re: First Batch Help
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On Tue, 31 2006 23:54:17 -0600, <bugeaterbrewing@charter.net > wrote:
> Oh, in case you haven't figured it out already, this isn't a real good
> yeast for a beginning brewer to use. It's pretty temperamental and
> requires a great deal of patience. On the other hand, it produces
> wonderful beer when used right.
IMO, the homebrew store should probably be shot for recommending this yeast
to a first timer. Talk about not doing them any favors.
John.
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Date: 01 Nov 2006 20:16:02
From: John 'Shaggy' Kolesar
Subject: Re: First Batch Help
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On 31 2006 18:08:52 -0800, <alebrewer@wt.net > wrote:
> I've never used 565, but from what I have read from others, 68 F
> ferment is way too low with this yeast. In fact, I've read you really
> want over 90 F for the primary.
I've heard of getting into the 80s for a Belgian, but I think over 90F
sounds insane.
John.
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Date: 01 Nov 2006 01:27:51
From: Brian Foster
Subject: Re: First Batch Help
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"Medicjm" <john21601@gmail.com > wrote in message
news:1162325470.277096.277380@e64g2000cwd.googlegroups.com...
>I am now working on my first batch of homebrew. I'm making a Belgian
> White Ale. I bought the Wit Way Is Up kit from Homebrew USA. At the
> store's suggestion, I substituted the included yeast with White Labs
> Belgian Saison I (WLP565).
>
> The fermentation was slow to start. I had the fermenter at 68 degrees
> and it took around 12 hours for the airlock to start bubbling. After 3
> days, the bubbling stopped completely. So I decided to rack into my
> secondary.
>
> It went into my secondary on Sunday and there is still no activity in
> the airlock. My OG was 1.047 and the FG (so far) is 1.018.
>
> I'm worried that something is wrong here. Has my fermentation stopped?
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
> John
>
No expert here, but a few good batches under my belt :)
Fermentation temp looks right on.
Racking after 3 days may be a little premature but not a fatal flaw. Give it
a week next time.
12 hours to see bubbles is not bad. I've done that even with a starter
yeast. I don't think I've had a batch yet that has taken over 24hrs to see
bubbles in the airlock yet.
Watch the 2ndary now and wait for the brew to clear up (approx 2 weeks but
can vary a lot).
Your gravity readings look pretty spot on too.
As they say, relax and have a homebrew. Or if this is your first batch, have
a store bought beer because you're going to need the bottles soon :)
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Date: 31 Oct 2006 21:12:35
From: John 'Shaggy' Kolesar
Subject: Re: First Batch Help
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On 31 2006 12:11:10 -0800, <john21601@gmail.com > wrote:
> I am now working on my first batch of homebrew. I'm making a Belgian
> White Ale. I bought the Wit Way Is Up kit from Homebrew USA. At the
> store's suggestion, I substituted the included yeast with White Labs
> Belgian Saison I (WLP565).
>
> The fermentation was slow to start. I had the fermenter at 68 degrees
> and it took around 12 hours for the airlock to start bubbling. After 3
> days, the bubbling stopped completely. So I decided to rack into my
> secondary.
>
> It went into my secondary on Sunday and there is still no activity in
> the airlock. My OG was 1.047 and the FG (so far) is 1.018.
>
> I'm worried that something is wrong here. Has my fermentation stopped?
More questions than answers, but this should help narrow down what the
root problem is:
1) You should really be making starters with liquid yeast. That's likely
the cause of your slow start. Personally, I would not recommend that
beginners start out with liquid yeast. Dry yeast should work fine for them
and is much easier to use. As a beginner, you don't want to be adding a lot
of extra complexity that you don't need. Yes, a dry yeast strain is not
going to be "correct" for a Belgian Wit, but at this point I think you're
probably more interested in making a decent beer than you are in making a
100% accurate Wit.
2) Are you sure that 1.047 was the real OG? It is notoriously difficult to
measure the OG on a partial boil extract batch (I'm assuming you boiled part
of the total volume and then topped up with water). What OG did the recipe
say you should expect? Did you make the same volume that the recipe called
for?
3) I'm assuming that this is an extract recipe. Do you happen to know what
brand of extract was in the kit? Different brands of extract have different
levels of fermentability. IOW, some of them will give you more alcohol and
a lower FG than others. The SG you currently state (1.018) is a bit on the
high side, but could be reasonably done for certain brands of extract. 1.047
to 1.018 is basically 62% attenuation. IE, the gravity has dropped by 62%
from where it started. This is basically what I mean by the level of
fermentability. Depending on the brand of extract you used, it could be
normal for the attenuation to be anywhere between 55% and 85%.
4) Did you take one reading and saw 1.018 or did you take a reading, wait
several days, and take another reading to find that both of them read 1.018?
If you didn't take two readings spread out over a few days, go ahead and do
that. That'll tell you for sure if the SG is still dropping slowly, or if it
has really stopped at 1.018. If you find after a couple days that it's down
to 1.016 (or something like that), then keep waiting.
It's possible that 1.018 is done, but it's also possible that the beer is
still dropping slowly in the secondary. Any additional info related to the
questions above can help us narrow down which one. The presence or lack of
bubbles in the airlock doesn't necessarily mean anything. I always tell
people to ignore the airlock and pay attention to the SG readings instead.
John.
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