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ajohnson153 · 07-06-2012, 04:30 AM

Day 3 of fermentation I noticed no airlock activity so fearing a stuck fermentation I went and took a gravity reading and it was at around 1.030. I roused the yeast gently and placed the airlock back on. Sure enough not 5 minutes after doing this my airlock started bubbling again so I think it helped. I will check tomorrow to see if the activity continues. Hydrometer test sample tasted exactly like what I was hoping for out of this beer. This stuff is going to be delicious!

Silverbullet · 07-07-2012, 04:48 PM

Just pitched the yeast on my 2nd, slightly tweaked batch. OG came in at 1.097; very nice! Stepped up a 2L starter twice and aerated for an hour with pump and stone (planned on 30 but got side tracked). Hoping this sucker kicks off hard in a few hours. First batch is still chugging away happily at 66-68 deg. and I think I'll let it sit for another week or two before taking a reading. It's looking good though! As a backup plan in case of stuck fermentation for these two Chimays I have going, I saved a bit of yeast from the massive starter and have another 1.8L starter going now that I'll save as backup should I need it.
Glad to hear yours is doing well ajohnson! Looking forward to comparing final notes/thoughts.

ajohnson153 · 07-10-2012, 04:19 AM

Day 7 and I think fermentation might be done. My hydrometer read my FG at 1.019. I plan to leave it in primary for a month before I bottle condition. Took my reading today. It tastes very good. I'll have to do a more thorough tasting and see what sort of notes I can pick up with my dull as mud palate but I drank the entire test sample that I took this morning. Obviously it had quite an alcohol bite to it but that is to be expected of a beer this green. The online ABV calculator I used puts it right around 10.5%, pretty strong stuff. One question for you more experienced brewers. Should my fermentation have finished that quickly with such an high gravity. I was expecting this sucker to take at least a week and a half to fully ferment. I didn't even use a starter. I was a bit worried because I used no temperature control at all other than the A/C in my house but judging from the flavor I think I got a pretty darn good yeast profile. I was quite impressed.

Silverbullet · 07-10-2012, 04:34 AM

My first batch is also 7 days old but is still chugging away pretty hard. Haven't taken a reading yet but it looks like it's still several days from being done. I used a huger starter, but if anything that should have sped mine up. Looks like you finished in a good range though so I wouldn't worry about it. My second batch (pitched on the 5th) is still going bonkers with a blow off tube. I'm trying to decide if I'm going to keep them in primary for a month or rack to secondary around 2 weeks, assuming fermentation is complete, and condition for....??...as long as I can stay patient?

ajohnson153 · 07-10-2012, 06:20 PM

I don't know what your temperature is so I can only go by mine. Mine stayed at roughly 70-75 throughout the fermentation which might have made the yeast work faster (and poop out quicker causing my stuck fermentation issue as it was especially hot that week). I'll keep taking readings but I'm pretty sure the yeasts are done with this one.

Silverbullet · 07-10-2012, 08:23 PM

Started fermentation at 72 till they got crankin and then slowly lowered temp to 66. Now slowly raising to 68 where I will hold till fermentation is complete.

ajohnson153 · 07-11-2012, 12:03 AM

Hm, I can't think of any reason other than temperature why mine might have fermented so much faster. I did use two vials of yeast but you used a starter so yours should have had more active cells than mine. I find this quite puzzling.

ajohnson153 · 07-12-2012, 04:42 AM

Ok, so I took a second reading on my hydrometer (actually I broke my hydrometer by stepping on it but it happened after I took my gravity reading) I think I must have been reading it wrong the other day because the gravity this time was 1.020 at 70F which comes out to 1.021, which is exactly what Fattyliver hit on his WLP500 batch. So, I guess what I am saying is that I hit what I was aiming at pretty dead on. I'll let it bulk condition until early August then bottle and bottle condition for the long haul. When I can afford it I am going to buy the ingredients and another fermenter so I can do the scotch ale I've been looking at. The LHBS has everything for it except the cherrywood smoked malt. That I'll have to mail order.

Silverbullet · 07-20-2012, 01:40 AM

Took my first reading today on the first batch and it came out to 1.020 (corrected using refractometer). My insane 1.097 batch is still bubbling away very actively! Will most likely transfer the 1st batch to secondary tomorrow or this weekend. How's yours coming along? How long are you planning on bottle conditioning? I'm guessing several months based on "long haul"? Why not condition the whole batch in the secondary for longer then?

ajohnson153 · 08-08-2012, 01:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Silverbullet

Took my first reading today on the first batch and it came out to 1.020 (corrected using refractometer). My insane 1.097 batch is still bubbling away very actively! Will most likely transfer the 1st batch to secondary tomorrow or this weekend. How's yours coming along? How long are you planning on bottle conditioning? I'm guessing several months based on "long haul"? Why not condition the whole batch in the secondary for longer then?

Sorry, I stopped watching this thread as dilligently as before. I brewed this to give as Christmas presents next year, so over a year bottle conditioning with samples along the way. I'm still bulk aging it in primary right now. I'm hoping to bottle this weekend. The reason I don't secondary it is because I only have one better bottle.