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Date: 24 May 2006 21:22:09
From: Gerard Eberlein
Subject: Yeast "energizers"
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After my Russian Imperial stout seemed to stop fermenting the FG was high
and it seems my OG was a bit low, I racked it anyways to a secondary, in
which it seemed to have no activity. I know it may have been premature to
rack it but I'm still learning. it was only 4 days in the primary but as I
said it was over active fermenting at 70 F for the first 24 hours then
slowed quickly. FG at racking was 1.031 down from 1.071. 5 days in the
secondary it has dropped to 1.028. not a whole lot but some. My
question...do I let it just sit for another week or so or should I consider
one of these "energizers" I keep reading about? or should I repitch more
yeast? if either of these things how do I redo or do these things? do I need
to proof the yeast or some special thing for adding the energizer? Thanx in
advance.
Gerard
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Date: 25 May 2006 15:02:22
From: John 'Shaggy' Kolesar
Subject: Re: Yeast "energizers"
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On Wed, 24 May 2006 21:22:09 -0400, <dormouse@charter.net > wrote:
> After my Russian Imperial stout seemed to stop fermenting the FG was high
> and it seems my OG was a bit low, I racked it anyways to a secondary, in
> which it seemed to have no activity. I know it may have been premature to
> rack it but I'm still learning. it was only 4 days in the primary but as I
> said it was over active fermenting at 70 F for the first 24 hours then
> slowed quickly. FG at racking was 1.031 down from 1.071. 5 days in the
> secondary it has dropped to 1.028. not a whole lot but some. My
> question...do I let it just sit for another week or so or should I consider
> one of these "energizers" I keep reading about? or should I repitch more
> yeast? if either of these things how do I redo or do these things? do I need
> to proof the yeast or some special thing for adding the energizer? Thanx in
> advance.
Just be patient.
John.
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Date: 25 May 2006 11:31:13
From: Gerard Eberlein
Subject: Re: Yeast "energizers"
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"John 'Shaggy' Kolesar" <spam@shagg.net > wrote in message
news:slrne7bhpf.h5m.spam@weizen.shagg.net...
> On Wed, 24 May 2006 21:22:09 -0400, <dormouse@charter.net> wrote:
> > After my Russian Imperial stout seemed to stop fermenting the FG was
high
> > and it seems my OG was a bit low, I racked it anyways to a secondary, in
> > which it seemed to have no activity. I know it may have been premature
to
> > rack it but I'm still learning. it was only 4 days in the primary but as
I
> > said it was over active fermenting at 70 F for the first 24 hours then
> > slowed quickly. FG at racking was 1.031 down from 1.071. 5 days in the
> > secondary it has dropped to 1.028. not a whole lot but some. My
> > question...do I let it just sit for another week or so or should I
consider
> > one of these "energizers" I keep reading about? or should I repitch more
> > yeast? if either of these things how do I redo or do these things? do I
need
> > to proof the yeast or some special thing for adding the energizer? Thanx
in
> > advance.
>
> Just be patient.
>
>
> John.
Patience...I definately need more of that. I just get frustrated when a
recipe says one thing and I follow it to a T and it doesn't work out. I'm a
great cook, which tends to be forgiving, but always had problems with
baking, which is more a formula you have to stick with, more like beer. I
did follow everything but I'm questioning Brewer's Best kits now that this
one seems to not follow the path the recipe said it would. The only thing I
did different from the recipe was to "proof" the yeast by adding the 11
grams to a cup of wort at 75 degress, as suggested by a brew shop employee
that brews, then add it to the rest of the wort once the main was 72
degrees. dunno if that was a mistake. I tend to be a perfectionist and it
drives me nuts when something doesn't go as planned. Part of me wants to
throw in the towel now, but I'm not giving up yet. I have an IPA going as of
tuesday and so far so good. this time I'm not going to check FG or rack it f
or at least a week regardless of the activity.
Gerard
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Date: 25 May 2006 21:51:05
From: Scott Sellers
Subject: Re: Yeast "energizers"
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Gerard Eberlein <dormouse@charter.net >:
>"John 'Shaggy' Kolesar" <spam@shagg.net> wrote in message
>news:slrne7bhpf.h5m.spam@weizen.shagg.net...
[...]
>> Just be patient.
>>
>>
>> John.
>Patience...I definately need more of that. I just get frustrated
>when a recipe says one thing and I follow it to a T and it
>doesn't work out. I'm a great cook, which tends to be forgiving,
>but always had problems with baking, which is more a formula you
>have to stick with, more like beer. I did follow everything but
>I'm questioning Brewer's Best kits now that this one seems to
>not follow the path the recipe said it would. The only thing I
>did different from the recipe was to "proof" the yeast by adding
>the 11 grams to a cup of wort at 75 degress, as suggested by a
>brew shop employee that brews, then add it to the rest of the
>wort once the main was 72 degrees. dunno if that was a mistake.
>I tend to be a perfectionist and it drives me nuts when
>something doesn't go as planned. Part of me wants to throw in
>the towel now, but I'm not giving up yet. I have an IPA going as
>of tuesday and so far so good. this time I'm not going to check
>FG or rack it f or at least a week regardless of the activity.
>Gerard
My first couple of brews came out on the sweet side. I tried all
kinds of things to rouse the fermentations, etc, but never got
very far. I never figured out what went wrong (if anything
really was wrong).
I think brewing is like cooking. More than following
recipes, it's about learning to work with processes, learning
about the time elements involved, and accepting the variability,
while knowing you can control it.
Consider cooking a steak, or a piece of fish, or whatever. At
first, you're all freaked out about timing, how hot to get the
pan, how to season it, when to turn it, when is it done, etc --
and you still probably get a mediocre result. After awhile, you
just start to know, all the stressing goes away, while the
results improve dramatically.
For example, there is alot of variability in the fermentability
of different brands of malt extract. It could be that 1.071 to
1.025'ish is it for this brew. I think Shaggy offers some good
advice. Be patient. Don't expect a brew to turn out exactly to
recipe stats. You need some experience before you can even
expect to hit your own numbers, much less the numbers in some
recipe.
Don't expect to nail it on the first few attempts.
Scott S
--
Scott Sellers
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Date: 25 May 2006 19:03:43
From: John 'Shaggy' Kolesar
Subject: Re: Yeast "energizers"
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On Thu, 25 May 2006 11:31:13 -0400, <dormouse@charter.net > wrote:
> Patience...I definately need more of that. I just get frustrated when a
> recipe says one thing and I follow it to a T and it doesn't work out. I'm a
> great cook, which tends to be forgiving, but always had problems with
> baking, which is more a formula you have to stick with, more like beer. I
> did follow everything but I'm questioning Brewer's Best kits now that this
> one seems to not follow the path the recipe said it would.
If a recipe says anything about a timeline, ignore it. There are too many
factors involved for a recipe to be able to predict how long your fermentation
will take. Don't try to force your beer into a predetermined schedule, let
the beer tell you when it's done (via gravity readings). Also, don't pay
too much attention to a specific FG prediction in a recipe. Most of the time
they are just guesses as well. Make sure you get into the ballpark and that
your gravity stops changing over a several day span.
> The only thing I
> did different from the recipe was to "proof" the yeast by adding the 11
> grams to a cup of wort at 75 degress, as suggested by a brew shop employee
> that brews, then add it to the rest of the wort once the main was 72
> degrees. dunno if that was a mistake.
Proofing the yeast shouldn't hurt anything, but personally I think it's
unnecessary. I would just skip it in the future. As long as you're using
a reputable brand of dry yeast and it hasn't been sitting in your closet
for a year, it should be fine.
> I tend to be a perfectionist and it
> drives me nuts when something doesn't go as planned. Part of me wants to
> throw in the towel now, but I'm not giving up yet. I have an IPA going as of
> tuesday and so far so good. this time I'm not going to check FG or rack it f
> or at least a week regardless of the activity.
Just don't expect the beer to follow a set schedule. For most beers I
usually end up going with a 1 week primary and 2 week secondary, but don't
get too worried if the beer takes longer. Especially as the OG goes up, the
beer will generally take longer to finish.
John.
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Date: 25 May 2006 07:02:29
From: Dick Adams
Subject: Re: Yeast "energizers"
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Gerard Eberlein <dormouse@charter.net > wrote:
> After my Russian Imperial stout seemed to stop fermenting the FG was high
> and it seems my OG was a bit low, I racked it anyways to a secondary, in
> which it seemed to have no activity. I know it may have been premature to
> rack it but I'm still learning. it was only 4 days in the primary but as I
> said it was over active fermenting at 70 F for the first 24 hours then
> slowed quickly. FG at racking was 1.031 down from 1.071. 5 days in the
> secondary it has dropped to 1.028. not a whole lot but some. My
> question...do I let it just sit for another week or so or should I consider
> one of these "energizers" I keep reading about? or should I repitch more
> yeast? if either of these things how do I redo or do these things? do I need
> to proof the yeast or some special thing for adding the energizer?
Russian Imperial Stout is a BIG BEER and should be left in the
primary for at least two weeks no matter what is happening.
When I have made a Big Beer, I add extra yeast for this very
reason.
So it's now in the secondary. I use energizers with Meads and
have never had a stuck fermentation with a beer. Since you
left most of the yeast in the primary, I would be inclined to
add yeast to the secondary. But I'll defer on this to anyone
with a better idea.
Dick
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Date: 25 May 2006 15:23:25
From: John 'Shaggy' Kolesar
Subject: Re: Yeast "energizers"
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On Thu, 25 May 2006 07:02:29 -0000, <rdadams@smart.net > wrote:
> So it's now in the secondary. I use energizers with Meads and
> have never had a stuck fermentation with a beer. Since you
> left most of the yeast in the primary, I would be inclined to
> add yeast to the secondary. But I'll defer on this to anyone
> with a better idea.
Racking to secondary earlier should mean that there is more yeast, not
less. Since he's still got signs of activity and the SG is dropping,
personally I'd just leave it alone. Adding more yeast shouldn't hurt
anything, but I'm not sure it's necessary.
John.
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Date: 25 May 2006 10:01:53
From: Gerard Eberlein
Subject: Re: Yeast "energizers"
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"Dick Adams" <rdadams@smart.net > wrote in message
news:127alk5i71v7dfa@corp.supernews.com...
> Gerard Eberlein <dormouse@charter.net> wrote:
>
> > After my Russian Imperial stout seemed to stop fermenting the FG was
high
> > and it seems my OG was a bit low, I racked it anyways to a secondary, in
> > which it seemed to have no activity. I know it may have been premature
to
> > rack it but I'm still learning. it was only 4 days in the primary but as
I
> > said it was over active fermenting at 70 F for the first 24 hours then
> > slowed quickly. FG at racking was 1.031 down from 1.071. 5 days in the
> > secondary it has dropped to 1.028. not a whole lot but some. My
> > question...do I let it just sit for another week or so or should I
consider
> > one of these "energizers" I keep reading about? or should I repitch more
> > yeast? if either of these things how do I redo or do these things? do I
need
> > to proof the yeast or some special thing for adding the energizer?
>
> Russian Imperial Stout is a BIG BEER and should be left in the
> primary for at least two weeks no matter what is happening.
> When I have made a Big Beer, I add extra yeast for this very
> reason.
>
> So it's now in the secondary. I use energizers with Meads and
> have never had a stuck fermentation with a beer. Since you
> left most of the yeast in the primary, I would be inclined to
> add yeast to the secondary. But I'll defer on this to anyone
> with a better idea.
>
> Dick
So how would I go about repitching? Should I draw out a cup or so of the
wort (not sure what it's called at this stuck stage) and dissolve/proof it
before I add it to the carboy? Thanx in advance
Gerard
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Date: 25 May 2006 15:47:29
From: John 'Shaggy' Kolesar
Subject: Re: Yeast "energizers"
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On Thu, 25 May 2006 10:01:53 -0400, <dormouse@charter.net > wrote:
> So how would I go about repitching? Should I draw out a cup or so of the
> wort (not sure what it's called at this stuck stage) and dissolve/proof it
> before I add it to the carboy? Thanx in advance
Well, first off it's not stuck. If you do decide to repitch more yeast,
just pour in a packet of dry yeast. You don't have to do anything fancy.
John.
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