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A bad batch???????

W

wrestler63

I brewed an all grain scottish heavy 11 days ago..... OG of 1.098.......I used 2 pkgs Safale-04.... one hydrated and one added dry....... i have used this process for yeast in the past to get staggered starts of the yeast with great results.....Airated wort heavily by draining from brewpot high up to create alot of splashing as well as swirling wort in carbouy. .....Primary fermenter is a glass 6.5 g glass carbouy...Blow off tube in pitcher of iodi4....Now to the part that looks like a problem. I let this beer sit in primary for 10 days, it still was bubbling slightly through the blow off and a slight amount of krausen was still visible but whiteish in color.....Gravity was at 1.019 so I transferred to a 5g glass carbouy with an airlock for conditioning. This morning I see a few white dots on top of the beer !!!!!!!! I tasted the beer while transferring and it was real good but these white dots have me thinking it's gonna be a dumper !!!!
Any thoughts?
 
It sounds like you racked too soon.  A wee Heavy takes time and a cool ferment to be top notch.

Racking too early is a common problem,  each beer will finish in its own time

Fred
 
1.098 OG down to 1.019 FG is 80% AA%, which is high, both for S-04 and for a wee heavy meant to be malty vs dry or highly attenuated.  Sounds like a thorough primary ferm, but to Fred's point, a 1.098 OG would benefit from 3-4 weeks on primary yeast cake to fully resolve and clean up the byproducts. 

The white dots may just be more yeast dots coming from that cleanup.  I'd let it sit for 4 weeks at least b/c the remaining yeast doing the cleanup are in much smaller numbers now.  If it tastes good, package it up.

Worst case would be if the dots and the high attenuation are due to some critter that continues to eat away; time and taste will answer that.
 
Thank you all.....this was my first scottish heavy.....will leave it on the yeast longer next time. I have been brewing mainly IPA's, Browns, and Pales. For future reference, do you think my way of adding the yeast is advantageous? It seems to work well with high gravity IPA's.
 
I had the same sort of white dots on my last double chocolate stout in the secondary.  It was in the primary for 10 days, then moved and actually dropped an additional 2 points in the secondary.  I thought it was done but apperantly not.  The beer aged in the secondary with those white dots for 4 weeks and then went to a keg.  Its been in the keg now for a month and the taste is amazing.  I think the dots like mentioned above are signs of addtional activity that didnt finish in the primary.  For me, 14 days in the primary for big beers from now on.
 
wrestler63 said:
For future reference, do you think my way of adding the yeast is advantageous? It seems to work well with high gravity IPA's.
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If it feels good, do it.  I think what you're seeing is the advantage of properly proofed dry yeast.  From my understanding of dry yeast, the mfr's drying process is tough on yeast, and the proofing process restores the water back to the membranes and brings that yeast cell back to life first, so it can then absorb the available O2 and then starting eating sugars.  Properly proofed dry yeast have 20 billion cells per gram; sprinkle-n-go on the wort only delivers 6.9 billion cells.  That is per Danstar and Fermentis, according to people like JZ that know these mfrs.  That means a fresh pkg of proofed dry yeast has 200 billion cells, compared to a liquid pkg with 100 billion.  Twice as much with no starter hassle and higher viability. 

And even if that were not the case, the first package of proofed yeast is ready and it absorbs the available O2 and starts on the simpler sugars.  The dry-pitched yeast cells are going straight to high-sugar wort with quickly waning O2, and the simplest sugars are already being consumed by the better prepared yeast that had a head start.  By the time the 1/3 of the cells that survived the dry pitch really get going the alcohol level is rising too.  I doubt the second pack is doing a whole lot to help the beer.  My 2 cents.
 
Hmmmmmm........sounds logical, I will try next batch with just the hydrated pkg. I was just trying to make sure I provided enough yeast for the high gravity beers.
 
switzead said:
I had the same sort of white dots on my last double chocolate stout in the secondary.  It was in the primary for 10 days, then moved and actually dropped an additional 2 points in the secondary.  I thought it was done but apperantly not.  The beer aged in the secondary with those white dots for 4 weeks and then went to a keg.  Its been in the keg now for a month and the taste is amazing.  I think the dots like mentioned above are signs of addtional activity that didnt finish in the primary.  For me, 14 days in the primary for big beers from now on.
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I think I will do the same as for time in the secondary. Well, so far the mystery dots are not getting any more abundant....we will see how the next 3 weeks go.
 
Hmmmmmm........sounds logical, I will try next batch with just the hydrated pkg. I was just trying to make sure I provided enough yeast for the high gravity beers.
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If you planned on 2 packages, use 2. With big beers, the more viable available yeast to get the job done, the better. Especially if you are not making starters for your big beers.

I often make a "smaller" version of the "big" beer 2 weeks prior to the big one as a starter beer. This ensures the amount of viable yeast is sufficient to get the job done. The benefit far outweighs any negatives and there is more beer. There's nothing wrong with that, right?  ;D

Cheers
Preston
 
I brew a lot of really big beers, OG's 1.120, 1.130+.  Adding dry yeast without proofing to big beers is almost useless.  You get to high a concentration of wort inside the yeast cells and that will just kill them.  Some of them will survive, they are hearty little beasties, but most will not.  rehydrating the yeast  give them a chance to set their cell walls before the onslaught of a high gravity wort hits them.

And I see someone else makes 5 gallon starters, and I too drink mine.

I will frequently on these monsters use 3 packs of rehydrated yeast when I don't have my 5 gallon starter.

Fred
 
bonjour said:
I brew a lot of really big beers, OG's 1.120, 1.130+.  Adding dry yeast without proofing to big beers is almost useless.  You get to high a concentration of wort inside the yeast cells and that will just kill them.  Some of them will survive, they are hearty little beasties, but most will not.  rehydrating the yeast  give them a chance to set their cell walls before the onslaught of a high gravity wort hits them.

And I see someone else makes 5 gallon starters, and I too drink mine.

I will frequently on these monsters use 3 packs of rehydrated yeast when I don't have my 5 gallon starter.

Fred
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so far this batch looks to be fine.............when i racked to secondary the yeast looked real healthy.........white spots still there but not getting any larger......

I also just did an imperial pale ale.........1.096 and rehydrated 2 pkgs of nottingham........the blow off container was like it had a boat motor in it...lol.......great steady, hard fermentation.......been in primary 5 days and still bubbling away......god i love nottingham for ipa's
 
Adding dry yeast without proofing to big beers is almost useless. 
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Almost me what?  :D
And I see someone else makes 5 gallon starters, and I too drink mine.
Click to expand...
Just because it's a starter, doesn't mean it isn't beer... :)

Cheers
Preston
 
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