90 Minute IPA Fermenation Problem?

I brewed a Dogfish Head 90 Minute IPA clone on Thursday. I pitched the WLP005 at about 71 Degrees. The fermenter was going crazy about a day later. I couldn't believe how much it was bubbling. The temperature started climbing to almost 76 so I decided to strap an ice pack to the outside of the bucket. I slowly cooled the beer back down to 71 over the course of an entire day.

After that, fermentation seemed to be done. It has only been about 3-4 days of fermentation. Normally, the lid on the bucket is swelled up and if you push on it, some gas will come out of the airlock. That's not the case with this batch any more. I'm worried that the ice pack may have been a bad idea.

I've read on the White Labs site that the WLP005 was done fermenting after three days for some people but I've also read that fermentation on high gravity beers takes a while. I spun the bucket a little to see if I can get anything going but if it still seems dead when I get home from work then I'll just take a reading and see what I've got.

Any suggestions?

Just get a reading when you get home. If you got some really good yeast in there, it would be done that quickly. You are going to want it to sit a few more days for a diactyl rest, but I am sure you are close to your FG. WLP005 rocks, that stuff takes care of business. If you are at your final grav when you get home today, let it sit another 24 hrs to make sure its done and the crash it out......Sounds like you got a delicious IPA on your hands........

I suggest taking a gravity reading to be sure. My guess is that you're within a few points of your final. If not, and it stays high for several days, let us know, and we'll open the bag of tricks on how to kickstart a stuck ferment.

I appreciate the input. Like I said, I swirled the bucket this morning before work. I called my wife to check on it and she says that she pushed on the lid and the airlock bubbled. So, that's better than it was this morning. I've read that you shouldn't disturb the stuff while it's fermenting but I felt like I was at a loss and it was my only option. I'll let it sit for a little while longer and then take a reading and see where I'm at.

ArcaneXor said:

I suggest taking a gravity reading to be sure. My guess is that you're within a few points of your final. If not, and it stays high for several days, let us know, and we'll open the bag of tricks on how to kickstart a stuck ferment.

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In a way, I'm kind of hoping that it is a stuck fermentation because I'm curious to know what is in your bag of tricks. =)

airlock activity will slow down.
the yeast are probably still workin.

you gotta take a reading to know.

if whatever liquid you have in your airlock gets a little low it will quit moving the inner plastic piece and make you think it's not venting co2.

you gotta take a reading to know whats going on...or atleast look at it and see if the krausen has fallen yet...

Take a reading!!!!! Its the only way to know for sure what is happening.

Whats the recipe you used?

90 min. is my go to beer at my homebase bar, the esteemed Melt, in Cleveland.

I could use a good clone.

DFH 90 Minute Clone (Extract)
Batch Size: 5.00 gal
Boil Size: 2.5 gal
Estimated OG: 1.089 SG (I got 1.079)
Estimated Color: 9.3 SRM
Estimated IBU: 88.1 IBU
Boil Time: 90 Minutes

Ingredients:
10 lbs Pale LME
1.25 lbs Pilsner LME
1.75 lbs Crystal Malt 40L (Steep)
WLP005 British Ale Yeast pitched at 68-72F

Hops
.22 oz Warrior, .06 oz Nugget, .06 oz Simcoe @ 90 minutes
.22 oz Warrior, .06 oz Nugget, .06 oz Simcoe @ 83 minutes
.22 oz Warrior, .06 oz Nugget, .06 oz Simcoe @ 75 minutes
.22 oz Warrior, .06 oz Nugget, .06 oz Simcoe @ 68 minutes
.22 oz Warrior, .06 oz Nugget, .06 oz Simcoe @ 60 minutes
.22 oz Warrior, .06 oz Nugget, .06 oz Simcoe @ 53 minutes
.22 oz Warrior, .06 oz Nugget, .06 oz Simcoe @ 45 minutes
.22 oz Warrior, .06 oz Nugget, .06 oz Simcoe @ 38 minutes
.22 oz Warrior, .06 oz Nugget, .06 oz Simcoe @ 30 minutes
.22 oz Warrior, .06 oz Nugget, .06 oz Simcoe @ 23 minutes
.22 oz Warrior, .06 oz Nugget, .06 oz Simcoe @ 15 minutes
.22 oz Warrior, .06 oz Nugget, .06 oz Simcoe @ 7 minutes
1.00 oz Amarillo Gold (Dry Hop 7 days in Secondary)
0.50 oz Simcoe (Dry Hop 7 days in Secondary)
0.50 oz Nugget (Dry Hop 7 days in Secondary)


I'm leaving mine in the primary for about three weeks and then in secondary for another three if I can wait that long.

let me know how this one turns out for you.

Did you take the reading?

lostboysbrew said:

You are going to want it to sit a few more days for a diactyl rest, but I am sure you are close to your FG.

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Why do you need a diacetyl rest for this ale?

Frodo said:

Why do you need a diacetyl rest for this ale?

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We are new to this! What exactly is a diacetyl rest?

I've never made a lager so I can't speak from experience, so I'll just put a link in here so you can read about a diacetyl rest it in Palmer's "How to Brew":

http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter10-4.html

Keeping an ale in a fermenter for a longer time at normal fermentation temperature after the visual stages of fermentation are done is not a diacetyl rest; it is simply an aging period. My question was more of a "do you know what the hell you are talking about?" sort of comment... sorry.

Take a reading!!! The airlock doesn't mean anything regarding fermentation. Though it at times can be a clue (if high krausen is blowing out of your air lock you've had some sort of fermentation) it's not an accurate indication of the current state of your ferment. Take a reading today, and one tomorrow, or even better just wait the 7-10 days or more and then take a few daily readings.

Frodo said:

I've never made a lager so I can't speak from experience, so I'll just put a link in here so you can read about a diacetyl rest it in Palmer's "How to Brew":

http://www.howtobrew.com/section1/chapter10-4.html

Keeping an ale in a fermenter for a longer time at normal fermentation temperature after the visual stages of fermentation are done is not a diacetyl rest; it is simply an aging period. My question was more of a "do you know what the hell you are talking about?" sort of comment... sorry.

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Definitely not a lager! IPA

MRmac said:

Definitely not a lager! IPA

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Yes, I realize that an IPA is not a lager... I posed the original question "why would you need a diacetyl rest for this ale?" because I knew the person who posted the statement "let it stay in the fermenter for a few more days for a diacetyl rest" didn't know what the hell he was talking about, then in my second post I was simply trying to answer your question "what is a diacetyl rest?"... saavy?

Frodo said:

Yes, I realize that an IPA is not a lager... I posed the original question "why would you need a diacetyl rest for this ale?" because I knew the person who posted the statement "let it stay in the fermenter for a few more days for a diacetyl rest" didn't know what the hell he was talking about, then in my second post I was simply trying to answer your question "what is a diacetyl rest?"... saavy?

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Style guidlines for an imperial IPA say no diacetyl:

http://www.bjcp.org/docs/2008_Guidelines.pdf

To MRmac: Diacetyl is a toffee or butterscotch flavor in the beer. Diacetyl is produced by yeast during fermentation, but will be reabsorbed during the later stages of fermentation. Warm conditioning stages are recommended, but longer cooler conditions will remove it too. It just takes longer.

Saavy!:rockin:

MRmac said:

We are new to this! What exactly is a diacetyl rest?

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I guess I shouldnt have called it a Diactyl rest.....however, if you end a fermentation to early you will get some diactyl. A diactyl rest is indeed more inportant on lagers, but it also does exist on ales. The only reason I brought it up is because it was said it had only been 3 days or so, and he most likely should let it set a couple more days to make sure there is no diactyl, b/c like stated above, IPAs of any sort are supposed to have NO trace of diactyl.

Sorry for the confusion.

Diacetyl is a buttery/butterscotch-like flavor and aroma compound that gets produced by many yeast strains during fermentation; lagers as well as ales. A diacetyl rest is simply raising the temperature of the fermentor by a few degrees after activity slows way down or stops to persuade the yeast to re-uptake that diacetyl instead of just going to sleep and leaving it behind in the beer. It tends to be more common in lager than ale-brewing.

Many people have moved away from doing a dedicated d-rest and instead use a fementation temperature profile that slowly rises throughout the process, minimizing initial production of many undesirable flavors and encouraging their sequestration by delaying yeast settling.

I think swirling the bucket woke up the yeast becuase from what pete says there is some action going on in the airlock!

MRmac said:

I think swirling the bucket woke up the yeast becuase from what pete says there is some action going on in the airlock!

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would you just take a gravity reading and figure out where the beer is at?

the yeast cake is probably gassing off co2.
swirling the fermenter just helped it do that so your airlock, which is just a vent for the co2, bubbled some.

if you want to know if your beer is done or still needs time you need to take a gravity reading.

ignore the airlock. get a wine thief. pray some starsan around the lid. pop the lid. grab some wort with the sanitized wine thief. close the lid. dump the sample into the plastic tube your hydrometer came in and gently place your hydrometer in there. correct the reading if the temp isn't 68*. taste the sample.

Calm down. The beer is fine.

So I racked it into secondary over the weekend. I tasted it and it was pretty delicious so far. However, there was a slight metallic after taste. I'm not sure where this came from. I've never had any problems with my water or brew equipment in the past but I have read a little about yeast stress causing metallic flavors. If this is true, I'm sure that's where the flavors came from. Oh well. It's unfortunate but there's nothing I can do now.

I wouldn't sweat about a slight metallic taste in a beer that's not finished. It may drop out.

The metallic taste dropped out. It actually tastes pretty good. The beer is quite a bit darker than the actual 90 min and it's a lot more cloudy. I didn't use any Irish moss or anything like that so that's probably why. It smells pretty piney which is a little different than the original but the hoppy taste is almost right on. It lacks a little of the malty biscuit type flavor that the 90 min has. Not bad but I wouldn't spend the money on all the hops to do this particular recipe again.

My 90 min ipa was finished in 3 days. Rack to secondary then dry hop. It will be great. If your that worried let it sit for a week or two the rack to secondary and dry hop.

fishH2o