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jmkratt · 09-24-2012, 01:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pabloj13

I just did a side by side with mine and the original FBS. In mine the coffee was actually muted.

I did 2oz of course ground Sumatra at flameout and 2oz of cold-steeped coffee at bottling (2oz of grounds cold steeped overnight in ~1.5 cups water).

Mine finished a couple points higher than I wanted but the extra sweetness goes really well with this beer. What a great recipe! 1.080>1.024

Awesome. I will leave it be then!

I wish I could do a side by side, no Founders in Colorado and I am weak and drink all the FBS I trade for too fast!

Thank you for the response!

pabloj13 · 09-24-2012, 02:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jmkratt

Awesome. I will leave it be then!

I wish I could do a side by side, no Founders in Colorado and I am weak and drink all the FBS I trade for too fast!

Thank you for the response!

**run42beer** · 09-25-2012, 12:59 AM

I took a SG sample today after 16 days in primary (fermentation chamber set to 68F) and it looks like fermentation has stalled at 1.040 (OG was 1.086@76F). Any suggestions on how to restart fermentation other than shaking things up. Do I need to get/pitch another packet of S-04? Hydro sample tasted good, pronounced coffee aroma and chocolate, was hoping to get more down to 1.023. I had hit my mash temperatures pretty closely, although I am still learning as this was my first AG batch.

**sweetcell** · 09-25-2012, 05:21 AM

the classic thing to do is raise the temp, say to 72 or 74*F, and rouse the yeast once that temp has been achieved. did you pitch sufficient yeast? did you rehydrate the s-04? how did you aerate? 1.086 is a big beer, so one has to take extra steps to ensure complete fermentation.

**run42beer** · 09-25-2012, 11:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sweetcell

the classic thing to do is raise the temp, say to 72 or 74*F, and rouse the yeast once that temp has been achieved. did you pitch sufficient yeast? did you rehydrate the s-04? how did you aerate? 1.086 is a big beer, so one has to take extra steps to ensure complete fermentation.

I changed fermentation chamber temperature to go up to 72F and shook carboy up a bit. When I had transferred the wort into the carboy I shook it up quite a bit to aerate hoping that it would have been enough. I had not rehydrated the yeast when first adding.

If raising the temperature/shaking the carboy doesn't get the existing yeast going again would you recommend adding another package of S-04? What about having enough oxygen in the carboy for it to get started again?

Thanks for your feedback!

Heiko

pabloj13 · 09-25-2012, 02:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by run42beer

I changed fermentation chamber temperature to go up to 72F and shook carboy up a bit. When I had transferred the wort into the carboy I shook it up quite a bit to aerate hoping that it would have been enough. I had not rehydrated the yeast when first adding.

If raising the temperature/shaking the carboy doesn't get the existing yeast going again would you recommend adding another package of S-04? What about having enough oxygen in the carboy for it to get started again?

Thanks for your feedback!

Heiko

You do NOT want oxygen in there now, nor is an extra packet of yeast likely to help. I would raise the temp and swirl gently to rouse the yeast. Maybe if that doesn't work, I'd make a starter and pitch it at high krausen. The problem is that the environment in your carboy is pretty inhospitable to yeast at the moment. Low oxygen, alcohol present, etc. Pitching a packet of yeast into that environment will probably not do much, but if you get the yeast going ahead of time they might have a fighting chance to lower your gravity. Oxygen introduction at this point would oxidize the beer and make it taste like wet cardboard. Any chance your mash temp was jacked up?

**sweetcell** · 09-25-2012, 04:03 PM

in my experience, aeration by shaking only once isn't sufficient for big beers. i've recently switch to a stone + aquarium pump setup, and i'll hit the wort 2 or 3 times in the first 24 hours after pitching. pure oxygen would be best, obviously, but i haven't graduated to that yet.

as pable said, you don't want to get any air in there at this point. if you want to stick with S-04, then rehydrate it, and start adding small amounts of the beer to it so that the yeast have time to acclimatize to. after rehydration, i would add maybe a half-cup of wort per hour for 4 or 5 hours (feel free to go slower, but keep things sanitary and keep the yeast & beer covered/protected). alternately you could use something like WLP099 which is alcohol tolerant. make a starter with it and pitch at high krausen.

in the future, you should consider rehydrating your dry yeast before pitching it. that helps ensure that the most yeasties survive re-animation and make it into your wort. also, check out mrmalty (http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html) to determine how much yeast to pitch. for your 1.086, a 5 gallon batch required 1.5 packs. so if you pitched only one, that might also explain why you didn't go as low as expected.

**run42beer** · 09-26-2012, 12:53 AM

Thanks pabloj13 & sweetcell for your advice!

Looking at my brew notes I think I hit the mash temps but may have kept the wort in the MLT for 70 instead of 60 minutes before the sparge water was ready.

I moved the carboy out of the fermentation chamber into my living room where it may get up to 77-78F during the day and swirled it around a bit. Took another SG measure which came out at 1.036@76F thus decided to let it sit and see what happens (even saw a bubble make it through the air lock). I've picked up another package of S-04 but will hold off dehydrating/adding it until a couple more days in case FG doesn't go down. I suppose RDWHAHB is in order.

Thanks again for the valuable advice!

Heiko - still learning :-)

**sweetcell** · 09-26-2012, 03:45 AM

spending extra time in the mash isn't going to hurt, in fact it can only help. so your 70 vs 60 isn't an issue.

once your carboy has a day or two to warm up to the mid-70's, give it another swirl. right now, the wort is still cool so anything that you kicked up might settle out before things get warm. and if you're using a clear fermenter (glass or better bottle), be sure to keep your brew out of the sun. drapping a thick t-shirt over it, with the neck poking out a sleeve, is a good way of keeping the contents of your FV in the dark.

pabloj13 · 09-26-2012, 12:51 PM

Yeah, like sweetcell said, a longer mash might make the wort MORE fermentable if anything. What kind of thermometer do you use? Is it calibrated? It's still dropping so that's a good sign!