Usually I buy 1 vial of yeast and make a starter. Jamil's book says use 2 vials or make appropriate starter. So I thought, well, to save time, I'll just buy 2 vials.
This time I made a Belgian Pale Ale. I bought 2 vials of White Labs' WLP500 Belgian Ale Yeast. I pitched around 65 degrees. Put fermenter in chamber and set at 62F, expecting it to get warm during vigorous fermentation.
The lag time was at around 24 hours, which, obviously is a lot longer than the 3 or 4 hours I can get with a starter. It got going pretty good, bubbling away, but I did not see much more than a half inch of krausen. Maybe an inch in places.
As I saw it slowing, about 3 days out, I raised temperature up to 66 (fermometer shows ~68), which is what the recipe calls for. The beer is bubbling very slow now, and never got that big foamy head of krausen I'm used to.
Should I worry? Is this normal for a yeast like WLP500? Thoughts or suggestions?
Thanks!
This time I made a Belgian Pale Ale. I bought 2 vials of White Labs' WLP500 Belgian Ale Yeast. I pitched around 65 degrees. Put fermenter in chamber and set at 62F, expecting it to get warm during vigorous fermentation.
The lag time was at around 24 hours, which, obviously is a lot longer than the 3 or 4 hours I can get with a starter. It got going pretty good, bubbling away, but I did not see much more than a half inch of krausen. Maybe an inch in places.
As I saw it slowing, about 3 days out, I raised temperature up to 66 (fermometer shows ~68), which is what the recipe calls for. The beer is bubbling very slow now, and never got that big foamy head of krausen I'm used to.
Should I worry? Is this normal for a yeast like WLP500? Thoughts or suggestions?
Thanks!