Newest Threads

mullimat · 03-20-2008, 12:53 AM

I have a Chocolate raspberry stout that has been sitting in the primary since saturday and it was starting to get going pretty good for a little while but the airlock never went crazy like it normally does. I know, airlock activity is never a good indication of fermentation. But, i just popped the top on it and there is no krausen and there is only a VERY small ring of dried krausen just above the beer line. This was my first PM and i have been keeping the fermentation temps at 68 but bumped it up to 70 early this morning. The reason i bumped up the temp is because i have a belgian abbey ale sitting in the primary (been in there almost 2 weeks now) that still hasn't finished out fermenting and i have heard some yeasts get going better at a little higher temps so i figured bumping up the temps on both might get them both going? The belgian seems to be picking up a little bit but the stout isn't at all. Do i maybe need to go warmer or colder to get the fermentation to finish out or what? I was planning on getting the temps up to 72 maybe. Or do i need to do something completely different to get the fermentation to pick up.

Oh yeah, i also used a starter for the first time with this stout and when i started it (the starter) i never saw any airlock activity in the starter nor did i see any activity at all in the wort. Could this maybe also be related to my problem?

Ooompa Loompa · 03-20-2008, 02:33 AM

What was the SG and what is the gravity reading now? It may be mostly done. Sometimes you just don't get a very big krausen.

Beerthoven · 03-20-2008, 02:36 AM

Raising the temp like you did and gently swirling the yeast back up into suspension seems to work for a lot of people. It never worked for me, though.

Next time aerate more than you normally do and see if you notice any difference.

mullimat · 03-20-2008, 02:49 AM

Wow. I guess i should have taken a gravity reading before posting this hehe. I just popped the top again and i could see a little activity on the top. Still no krausen but there were some bubbles. My SG was 1.069 and my gravity now is 1.020 and it's supposed to finish out at around 1.012 so i guess i'm right on track. A few more days or maybe a week more and i'll be ready for secondary. I even tasted the stout and it tastes great!!! I guess i just freaked out because i never got much airlock activity (first time that's ever happened) and there was barely any krausen. The belgian though has more airlock activity and still has krausen on top and it's been sitting in primary for almost two weeks now! I don't understand it! It has definitely dropped in gravity since my last reading though. SG on the belgian was 1.065 and it's now also at 1.020. Took a reading last week and it was 1.029. I'm just waiting for the belgian to finish so i can put that in secondary and then use that carboy to secondary my stout.