50 Hour Fermentation

BNVince · 10-24-2007, 01:25 AM

So I brewed a big stout Sunday. The OG came out to be 1.082 which was higher then it was suppose to be according to beersmith. I suspect that the DME I am using has more fermentable sugars in it than beersmith thought.

Anyway, I made a starter of WhiteLabs Irish Ale (WLP004) yeast with 2 pints of water and 1 cup of DME. I pitched it Sunday around 2p.m. At 9p.m. I had a lot of airlock activity and the next morning at 7a.m. the airlock was filled with krausen and beer. I cleaned it out and ended up having to clean it out again around 2p.m. Monday because it was filled once again with beer and krausen.

Finally today the airlock stopped freaking and almost completely stopped altogether tonight. I just took a hyrdometer reading and I got 1.021! This is insane to me. The whole batch has pretty much reached full attentuation in 50 hours.

Regardless, I'm going to let it sit in the primary until Sunday when I am able to rack it to my secondary for some good long clearing.

Is this type of rapid fermentation common?

**SenorWanderer** · 10-24-2007, 01:38 AM

Sure! i just made a Sunshine Wheat clone on friday and left it while i was out of town all weekend. got back late last night and it had fermented so vigorously that there was a thick yeast sludge on the neck of the carboy. it blew through the airlock and when that filled too thick with yeast it blew through the carboy cap. gravity was 1.011, and with no airlock activity i'm sure that it had been done for quite a while. if you pitch a big enough starter with enough aeration then you should expect that sort of fermentation. maybe not 50 hours all the time but it's a good thing. nice job.

uglygoat · 10-24-2007, 01:53 AM

what was the temperature range?

i'd get it cool and let it sit a spell in the primary. two weeks minimum, stouts like to sit around and do nothing.

BNVince · 10-24-2007, 02:06 AM

The temperature in my basement stays around 66 to 68.

ColoradoXJ13 · 10-24-2007, 03:29 AM

WLP004 is a very very fast fermenter, the stout and irish red I made with it finished in about 48 hours.

**Kayos** · 10-24-2007, 03:42 AM

Sounds OK, but just because it fermented out dosn't mean it doesn't need to condition. That size stout prolly needs 6 weeks to taste best. Stick to the 1-2-3 method and then age in bottles another 3. Just my $0.02

BNVince · 10-24-2007, 12:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kayos

Sounds OK, but just because it fermented out dosn't mean it doesn't need to condition. That size stout prolly needs 6 weeks to taste best. Stick to the 1-2-3 method and then age in bottles another 3. Just my $0.02

Thanks. I brewed it now hoping it would peek around Christmas hence the name "Sleepy Santa Stout". 1 week primary, 2 weeks secondary, then 6 weeks bottle conditioning.