Dreadnaught fermentation

I have a Dreadnaught clone brewed. It has been fermenting about 10 days. 65-68 degrees. I checked gravity today & it was 1.060 started at 1.102 I used the so4 two packages. As the recipe called for. Is this normal fermentation or should I be concerned. I was gonna tranfer to secondary in 14 then dry hop another 14. Any ideas? Cheers

Probably fine. For a beer that big. I'd def leave it in primary at least 3-4 weeks (and personally I'd dry hop right in primary and not bother with secondary).

DrinkNoH2O said:

Probably fine. For a beer that big. I'd def leave it in primary at least 3-4 weeks (and personally I'd dry hop right in primary and not bother with secondary).

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+1

advogold said:

I have a Dreadnaught clone brewed.

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No ideas here, but would you mind posting your recipe?

You could raise the temp to speed up fermentation and make sure that yeast doesn't drop out as it is prone to dropping early. At this stage it won't effect your ester profile.

Love Dreadnaught, though Zombie dust is my new favorite IPA type from them

So nobody thinks it's weird that S04 has only chewed through .040 in ten days?!?! It's been rapacious the two times I used it.

As for a big beer, I just made a barleywine at 1.102 and WLP099 took it down to 1.022 in four days.

That being said, I don't think there's much to be done beyond (as Tarheel pointed out) raising your fermentation temp. It's not uncommon to let it rise to 70-71 to get a bit more enthusiasm from the yeast.

I would have expected it to ferment more than it has in ten days, but I don't quite think it's cause for concern yet.

Overall though I will say I wouldn't personally choose S-04 for a beer like this. S-04 is not very attenuative and flocs out too early.

Best bet at this point is to wait a few more days then check SG. If it's decreasing leave it alone. If it's not, swirl the yeast back into suspension and raise the temp a few degrees.

Thanks for posts. I will see if I can post a recipe. I found it in BYO clone recipe mag. I've never done a beer this big so all info helps. Thanks

Probably not the place but here's the recipe I used.

5 gal
Boil 6.5 gal
Time 90
Grain 17.5
OG 1.097
FG 1.030
SRM 7.2


2 row 16.25lbs
Melanoidin 1.25

Warrior .53 60min
Simcoe .62 60min
Centennial .72 45min
Centennial .72 30min
Cascade 1.6 15min
Irish Moss 15min
Yeast nutrient 15min
Dry hop Cascade 1.5 7-14 Days.
Wyeast 1968
(I used so4 because its the equivalent in dry to 1968)

Sparge Target says 159 but I found that high should be 152-154 in my opinion I had to add a cup n half to hit gravity of DME. Sparge 170

Did you re-hydrate the S-04? Did you aerate or oxygenate? What was your mash temp? Three possible issues there for such a high gravity brew w/o simple sugars.

I agree that S-04 should be more than 40% of the way through fermentation by 10 days, it is usually fast and furious...you've got a problem. It is usually done in 3-5 days at most, and also has a tendency to drop like a rock, so it is difficult to get it going again once it decides to crap out.

Take any gravity readings today advo?

I checked gravity this morning, yeast was hydrated and there was air in beer fermenting in bucket. Should I pitch more yeast. Or wait n see if greater temp maybe 70 brings it back to life.

Recipe said mash at 159 but i mashed lower 155 for 60 min.

Don't pitch any more yeast yet, save that for plan b. Warm her up a bit and see if she comes around.

advogold said:

I checked gravity this morning, yeast was hydrated and there was air in beer fermenting in bucket. Should I pitch more yeast. Or wait n see if greater temp maybe 70 brings it back to life.

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Well what was the gravity?

My gravity was mentioned in the original post 1.060 this morning.

Thanks for all the help. I can't get this beer where I live and It's the biggest beer I've brewed to this point. I plan on letting it warm a bit its at 64 now so hopefully that works. I'm using a bucket so i can't really see any activity compared to glass carboy. Cheers.

advogold said:

My gravity was mentioned in the original post 1.060 this morning.

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Sorry, thought another day had elapsed

Will be interesting to see if its dropped any today.

I will have to check it later tonight its warmed up a few degrees now but it'll be pretty late by then. 9-10 mtn time.

I rechecked gravity today it was 1.058 at 68 degrees but its strip on side of fermenter so it could be couple degrees lower. It smells really good. Hopefully it will get up around 70 we've had rain & thunder storms for the last week.

Does anyone think using a paint stirrer to agitate yeast & increase air into wort would be a good idea at this point? I had about two inches of foam on top before pitching yeast into it. But for this gravity maybe it still needs more o2.

it's probably too late to add 02 unless you have a way to do it sanitarily. The biggest factor should be temperature. Low 60s makes many yeast sluggish, which would explain your situation. At this point I'd put it where it can be close to 70 degrees so it can finish before the alcohol hurts the yeast too much.

This is slightly off topic, but the lack of hops in the recipe really jumped out at me. This is an imperial IPA... are you sure the hops are right in your recipe?

Yes, hops are accurate. Lack of hops? How so? By weight or be aau? I think the bitterness was up around 100 ibu. This recipe is a clone straight from byo clone mag. Hope that helps

I guess by weight... but I stand corrected. I just always thought there was a lot more in there, based on what my tongue told me. Good luck with the yeast issue, I'm sorry I can't offer any help on that other than what others have suggested.

No, worries. Not usually my style beer but lots of positive wanted to give it a shot

The final gravity was supposed to be 1.030-1.024. I Sat the fermenter on top of my fridge it usually is warm in the low 74-68 range. So well see if that helps.

Being that your last reading showed a decent drop in only a day (this is a good thing) I think you're doing fine. Just relax and let it go for a few more days, sometimes these "bigger" beers take a little more time. If you're still not satisfied with the progress at that point throw a heat belt on it but I would try to keep it under 75 or so given the yeast still appear to be working.

Ok good to hear that. The less I fool with it probably the better. Cheers. Damn I think my keg of red ale has just run out

Temps up at 73 so I'll leave it for now. Check gravity tonight or tomorrow. My time is wacked on this brew talk app anyone know how to change it?

advogold said:

Temps up at 73 so I'll leave it for now. Check gravity tonight or tomorrow. My time is wacked on this brew talk app anyone know how to change it?

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Look under "user CP" --> "edit options", then "date/time settings"

My temps been at 70-73 last couple days I'll check gravity today see if its gone down. Its only supposed to go down .030 to .036 for final gravity of 1.030 to 1.024

advogold said:

My temps been at 70-73 last couple days I'll check gravity today see if its gone down. Its only supposed to go down .030 to .036 for final gravity of 1.030 to 1.024

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Looking forward to your update. I've found two things over the last 15-20 batches: warming towards the end leads the yeast to a stronger finish; and that my FG sometimes is rather lower (by 3-5 points) than what my software predicts.

I usually dry hop in secondary. On this thread. Someone suggested keeping it in primary. Not sure that will produce off flavors. It could help with fermentation I suppose. Anyone clear me up on this for such a big brew.

There's hardly ever a need for secondary, I'd just dry hop right in primary. What's your SG at today?

advogold said:

Recipe said mash at 159 but i mashed lower 155 for 60 min.

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155 is a high mash temperature. You will get a less attenuative wort (sweeter) than one mashed at 151-52. And if the only time I've heard of doing a mash at 159 was as the second step in a step mash going from 147-49 or so to 159.

So I think you might be tapped out due to insufficient starch conversion in the mash.

Kinda bummed just checked my gravity still hanging around. 1.058 decided to dry hop in primary. On the other hand, have a 1 gallon cider that went from 1.084-1.008 in a week. I don't know if there's any more I can do with Dreadnaught clone. Seems like I've done all I can do but let it run its course its above 70 now. It's been between 70-73 last 3 or 4 days.

Maybe I missed this, but what size yeast packets did you use? 5 or 11 gram?

You still have the option of pitching another yeast. I'd suggest wlp099 super high gravity yeast--it's English & tolerant to 25% in theory. Make a big starter, well aerated. Even with mashing at 155 or even 159, there's plenty of fermentable sugars left in there for a hardy yeast to chew up!