My 1st barleywine 1.086 - 1.017 in 8 days....normal?

bctdi · 11-07-2011, 02:29 PM

I am making my 1st barleywine pitched onto a yeast cake from a 5 % amber ale (1056) . OG was 1.086 and after 8 days no more bubbling. Checked gravity and it was 1.017. I mashed at 148 for 90 minutes and used pure o2 to oxygenate at pitching time and again the next day. Is this normal? I've been reading threads on here saying to give it at least a month to ferment out, so when I saw 1.017 I was shocked. I fermented at 65 for 4 days and bumped the temp up to 67 after that. The sample tastes great with no off flavors and only a slight alcohol warming. Should I be concerned about this thing fermenting that fast? I have made belgians before and they normally take at least 3 weeks to fully ferment, but that was belgian yeast , so not exactly a good comparison.

**seabass07** · 11-07-2011, 02:31 PM

That's normal. You used a whole yeast cake!

bctdi · 11-07-2011, 02:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by seabass07

That's normal. You used a whole yeast cake!

That was the first time I pitched onto a yeast cake....that's awesome. I think I will have to do that for all of my big beers.

**mobilecabinworks** · 11-07-2011, 03:00 PM

Now you just have to let all the goodness melt for a couple months. Patients suck!

**GuldTuborg** · 11-07-2011, 03:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mobilecabinworks

Patients suck!

I hope you're not a doctor. Don't let your patients hear you say that!

**seabass07** · 11-07-2011, 03:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bctdi

That was the first time I pitched onto a yeast cake....that's awesome. I think I will have to do that for all of my big beers.

You'll get that with a 3 or 4 liter starter as well.

**unionrdr** · 11-07-2011, 04:44 PM

At least I'm not the only one that has brews take 3 weeks or a bit more to fully ferment. Got reamed recently on that one like Im doing something wrong. My temp has been steady at 20C (68F). I wrongly posted as 70F,oopsie. Got a Burton ale nearly done at 4 weeks+ that used 4-7g ale yeast packets re-hydrated in 2C boiled water with 1TBSP dextrose. Major krausen on the re-hydration. Early next morning,blow off took off like a Saturn 5 booster. Initial fermentation with blow off lasted 4 days. Maybe I should do a gravity test then,instead of waiting the usual 2 weeks? May be ready to bottle Wednesday.
I aerated it like crazy to some 4-5 inches of foam before pitching as well. Idk how some big beers ferment so fast,& even my pale ales take 2.5-3 weeks?
Good job,man.

BryanJ · 11-07-2011, 05:36 PM

^ You use bad yeast.

Oxygenating with pure o2 and using a yeast cake will get your beer started quickly and have a very vigorous fermentation. Now age your beer and have it on christmas 2012.

**unionrdr** · 11-07-2011, 06:05 PM

Actually,the yeast was dated something like Sept 2011,last I looked with the Julian dating. & the cans of LME were good till this time next year. And the cooper's yeast flocculates better than the wl Burton ale yeast. It worked comparably to the US-05 in a small starter for the 7g packet,vs the 11.5g US-05 pitched dry. FG were the same too.
I've noticed that the temp ranges of others you guys use compare to that of cooper's ale yeast,but cooper's being high flocculating compared to others that seem to be popular. I think it's more to do with actual amounts of un-fermentables in the wort,looking back...

DannPM · 11-07-2011, 06:21 PM

The overwhelming majority of fermentation should be completed by the 3rd to 4th day for almost all yeasts but it will still takes weeks to properly finish and cleanup. An exaggerated example would be 3787. You can get about 95% done in three days but to finish that last 5%, you'll need an additional 17-18 days, even at elevated temps.

It helps to leave it on the yeast cake during this time. This is why you hear about so many people who rack to a second carboy getting stuck fermentations.