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Date: 08 Dec 2006 05:02:43
From: Mark R
Subject: Ten weeks in primary
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Due too unforeseen circumstances I brewed a batch then couldn't get to it
( very long story) so it's been ten weeks in the ferment bucket. The first
10 days it fermented at between 64 and 66 degrees after that I shut off the
fan and it's been sitting in a bucket of water with just the wet t-shirt.
No, the air lock isn't dry.
So what are your thoughts? Straight to the priming bucket? Haven't even
popped the top yet so don't know what the FG is. It's a Koelsch style mini
mash recipe that normally runs OG 1.050 FG 1.014, OG on this batch was
1.049. Any ideas on what sitting on the yeast that long will do to the
taste, if anything?
Thanks,
Mark R
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Date: 08 Dec 2006 15:47:27
From: Scott Sellers
Subject: Re: Ten weeks in primary
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Mark R <mray001@nospam.rr.com >:
>Due too unforeseen circumstances I brewed a batch then couldn't
>get to it ( very long story) so it's been ten weeks in the
>ferment bucket. The first 10 days it fermented at between 64 and
>66 degrees after that I shut off the fan and it's been sitting
>in a bucket of water with just the wet t-shirt. No, the air
>lock isn't dry.
>So what are your thoughts? Straight to the priming bucket?
>Haven't even popped the top yet so don't know what the FG is.
>It's a Koelsch style mini mash recipe that normally runs OG
>1.050 FG 1.014, OG on this batch was 1.049. Any ideas on what
>sitting on the yeast that long will do to the taste, if
>anything?
Ten weeks is uncharted territory for me. My typical is a couple
of weeks, then rack. Anything longer, I just consider
'secondary'.
There is one way to find out if anything like autolysis has
occured. This is your mission, should you choose to accept it.
Maybe there could be a show of hands. Who has experienced
autolysis in homebrewing, and what was the circumstance?
For me, no and null.
cheers,
Scott S
--
Scott Sellers
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Date: 08 Dec 2006 16:33:02
From: Mark R
Subject: Re: Ten weeks in primary
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"Scott Sellers" <scottsellers@mindspring.com > wrote in message
news:jOfeh.8079
>
> Ten weeks is uncharted territory for me. My typical is a couple
> of weeks, then rack. Anything longer, I just consider
> 'secondary'.
>
> There is one way to find out if anything like autolysis has
> occured. This is your mission, should you choose to accept it.
>
> Maybe there could be a show of hands. Who has experienced
> autolysis in homebrewing, and what was the circumstance?
So what does autolysis do to your brew? How does it show itself?
Mark R
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Date: 08 Dec 2006 16:57:36
From: John 'Shaggy' Kolesar
Subject: Re: Ten weeks in primary
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On Fri, 08 Dec 2006 16:33:02 GMT, <mray001@nospam.rr.com > wrote:
> So what does autolysis do to your brew? How does it show itself?
Rubbery smell/taste.
Section on autolysis from "How To Brew":
Luckily, the propensity of yeast to autolyze is decreased by a decrease in
activity and a decrease in total yeast mass. What this means to a brewer is
that racking to a secondary fermenter to get the beer off the dead yeast
and lowering the temperature for the long cold storage allows the beer to
condition without much risk of autolysis. At a minimum, a beer that has
experienced autolysis will have a burnt rubber taste and smell and will
probably be undrinkable. At worst it will be unapproachable.
As a final note on this subject, I should mention that by brewing with
healthy yeast in a well-prepared wort, many experienced brewers, myselfi
included, have been able to leave a beer in the primary fermenter for
several months without any evidence of autolysis. Autolysis is not
inevitable, but it is lurking.
http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter10-3.html
John.
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Date: 08 Dec 2006 16:44:17
From: John 'Shaggy' Kolesar
Subject: Re: Ten weeks in primary
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On Fri, 08 Dec 2006 15:47:27 GMT, <scottsellers@mindspring.com > wrote:
> Maybe there could be a show of hands. Who has experienced
> autolysis in homebrewing, and what was the circumstance?
I think it pretty much takes a couple months to show up. Much longer than
most books tell you it takes (they tend to be a little paranoid about
autolysis, IMO). 10 weeks is getting into the "possible" range though.
John.
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Date: 08 Dec 2006 17:23:29
From: myrehfuss@ucdavis.edu
Subject: Re: Ten weeks in primary
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John 'Shaggy' Kolesar wrote:
> On Fri, 08 Dec 2006 16:33:02 GMT, <mray001@nospam.rr.com> wrote:
> > So what does autolysis do to your brew? How does it show itself?
>
> Rubbery smell/taste.
>
> Section on autolysis from "How To Brew":
> Luckily, the propensity of yeast to autolyze is decreased by a decrease in
> activity and a decrease in total yeast mass. What this means to a brewer is
> that racking to a secondary fermenter to get the beer off the dead yeast
> and lowering the temperature for the long cold storage allows the beer to
> condition without much risk of autolysis. At a minimum, a beer that has
> experienced autolysis will have a burnt rubber taste and smell and will
> probably be undrinkable. At worst it will be unapproachable.
>
> As a final note on this subject, I should mention that by brewing with
> healthy yeast in a well-prepared wort, many experienced brewers, myselfi
> included, have been able to leave a beer in the primary fermenter for
> several months without any evidence of autolysis. Autolysis is not
> inevitable, but it is lurking.
> http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter10-3.html
>
>
> John.
To add a data point-- The saison I have just tapped also spent 10
weeks in the primary. It is delicious and has no trace of autolysis.
However, it is ~8.2% ABV and took about 3-4 weeks to completely ferment
(used WL Belgian Ale bland fermented cool) So all in all it was
sitting on spent yeast for 6 weeks. With a kolsch autolysis might
appear sooner, but just taste it and see. I'm willing to bet the brew
is completely fine, though.
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Date: 08 Dec 2006 16:42:14
From: John 'Shaggy' Kolesar
Subject: Re: Ten weeks in primary
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On Fri, 08 Dec 2006 05:02:43 GMT, <mray001@nospam.rr.com > wrote:
> Due too unforeseen circumstances I brewed a batch then couldn't get to it
> ( very long story) so it's been ten weeks in the ferment bucket. The first
> 10 days it fermented at between 64 and 66 degrees after that I shut off the
> fan and it's been sitting in a bucket of water with just the wet t-shirt.
> No, the air lock isn't dry.
>
> So what are your thoughts? Straight to the priming bucket? Haven't even
> popped the top yet so don't know what the FG is. It's a Koelsch style mini
> mash recipe that normally runs OG 1.050 FG 1.014, OG on this batch was
> 1.049. Any ideas on what sitting on the yeast that long will do to the
> taste, if anything?
Normally I'd say that most fears of leaving the beer in the primary too
long are overblown. However, 10 weeks is a fairly long time. You may
be alright though.
IMO, you might as well bottle it and let it carbonate/age some. See what
it tastes like. You may be surprised.
John.
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Date: 09 Dec 2006 17:11:55
From: David M. Taylor
Subject: Re: Ten weeks in primary
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"Mark R" <mray001@nospam.rr.com > wrote in message
news:Tl6eh.1462$qp1.453@tornado.texas.rr.com...
> Due too unforeseen circumstances I brewed a batch then couldn't get to it
> ( very long story) so it's been ten weeks in the ferment bucket. The first
> 10 days it fermented at between 64 and 66 degrees after that I shut off
> the fan and it's been sitting in a bucket of water with just the wet
> t-shirt. No, the air lock isn't dry.
>
> So what are your thoughts? Straight to the priming bucket? Haven't even
> popped the top yet so don't know what the FG is. It's a Koelsch style mini
> mash recipe that normally runs OG 1.050 FG 1.014, OG on this batch was
> 1.049. Any ideas on what sitting on the yeast that long will do to the
> taste, if anything?
It's probably fine. Yes, I would skip the secondary and just go straight to
bottling. I think you're at the tail end of what might be safe for yeast
autolysis. If the yeast has started to consume itself, the brew would be
sulfury. I've experienced this before in a commercial brew, and it reminds
me of the smell from a struck match head.
--
Dave
"Fill your cup with whatever bitter brew you're drinking." -- Brad Paisley
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