pacman fermentation tempurature

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chemman14

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I was curious what temperature people ferment pacman at? I have heard that it should be in the low 60's like 63-64. The recipe I am brewing calls for wyeast american ale or white labs california and a fermentation temperature of 68
 
60˚ is typically what I do for Pacman, and even at that low of a temp my pale ale came out super clear super fast. You might want to try contacting Rogue and see if they can offer any advice since they have so much experience with the yeast though.

Are you using the wyeast pack or stuff taken from Rogue bottles?
 
I think you'll do all right as long as you're somewhere in the 60's, but Pacman really does well on the low end. For a big barley wine though... you might want all the help you can get making sure it keeps going and doesn't stall out.
 
So I did some research and Rogue does have a barley wine (Old Crustacean). I'd suggest emailing them and asking if they ferment that a little warmer than the other beers. If you ask the exact temperatures they'll be a little off because the tanks commercial breweries use can ferment at higher temps without the yeast off-flavors. So just ask if they ferment the barley wine higher than Dead Guy Ale, if they say yes, 60˚ is your DGA mark and move up from there.
 
So I did some research and Rogue does have a barley wine (Old Crustacean). I'd suggest emailing them and asking if they ferment that a little warmer than the other beers. If you ask the exact temperatures they'll be a little off because the tanks commercial breweries use can ferment at higher temps without the yeast off-flavors. So just ask if they ferment the barley wine higher than Dead Guy Ale, if they say yes, 60˚ is your DGA mark and move up from there.

I just shot off an email to them. Hopefully I will get a response before Sunday as that is the brew day. I will report back here with their response when I receive it
 
I am about 90% sure John Maier from Rogue does most of his regular ales with Pacman at 60. Not sure on the barleywine though. I found the anywhere in the mid to low 60's is fine. I got the exact same results. It is a very clean yeast. Exceptional really.
 
well it looks like I will be brewing with white labs cal ale yeast as my LHBS was out of pacman AND 1056 american ale. Oh well, I will use some pacman yeast on my first all grain beer :D
 
i was sure i remember reading that for pacman, yes, low 60s is what they typically do use it at, but it was actually just as good up to 70. obviously imparting a different finish to the brew, though. will edit if i find the info i am referencing.

...found it:

“Pacman is really great yeast; everything about it is good. Pacman attenuates well, is alcohol tolerant, and it produces beers with no diacetyl if the beer is well made. It’s very flocculent, which makes it a great choice for bottle conditioning. I ferment almost all my beers at 60° F; once in a while for certain styles I’ll ferment as high as 70° F, but never higher. Use lots of oxygen, and a high pitch rate. I never repitch past the 6th generation, and I always use Wyeast Yeast Nutrient.” - John Maier, Brewmaster, Rogue Ales www.rogue.com
 
Looks like I'll be using pacman after all. My Lhbs just called me and said they jus got their yeast shipment in. Hopefully I get an email back from rogue or some advice from someone that has used this yeast with a high og
 
In the Shakespeare Stout episode of Can You Brew It head brewer John Maier says he ferments nearly every ale with Pacman at 60. Make a proper starter and give it alot of O2. With it being a barleywine, you may want to ramp up the temp towards the end of fermentation. Maybe let if rip at 60 for 3-5 days and ramp it up to 64-65 after that and let it finish up. Pacman is great. Cheers!
 
In the Shakespeare Stout episode of Can You Brew It head brewer John Maier says he ferments nearly every ale with Pacman at 60. Make a proper starter and give it alot of O2. With it being a barleywine, you may want to ramp up the temp towards the end of fermentation. Maybe let if rip at 60 for 3-5 days and ramp it up to 64-65 after that and let it finish up. Pacman is great. Cheers!

thats what I am planning to do, ramp up the temp as I see fermentation slow
 
Looks like I'll be using pacman after all. My Lhbs just called me and said they jus got their yeast shipment in. Hopefully I get an email back from rogue or some advice from someone that has used this yeast with a high og

Your local liquor store that stocks Rogue products has plenty of Pacman yeast as well :rockin:
 
the wyeast pack may be cheaper.. but you get double the pleasure out of drinking a six pack of rogue beer and harvesting the yeast...enjoying great beer to get great yeast sounds better to me...:mug:
 
I paid $4 for a bomber of Shakespeare Stout, and from that yeast (in a 2L starter) got the best attenuation I've had on any beer so far. That's definitely cheaper :)
 
I paid $4 for a bomber of Shakespeare Stout, and from that yeast (in a 2L starter) got the best attenuation I've had on any beer so far. That's definitely cheaper :)

I did 4 batches from the yeast cultivated from one Dead Guy Ale bomber :D

Building up enough yeast from the stuff in the bottle to do the first batch took some time though.
 
I did 4 batches from the yeast cultivated from one Dead Guy Ale bomber :D

Building up enough yeast from the stuff in the bottle to do the first batch took some time though.

And dead guy is supposedly filtered. Good work.
 
So I pitched last night at 61 and received a response from rogue this morning. Here is what they said
I hope you didn’t mean this past weekend! Sorry, I try to answer as quickly as possible but can’t get to things same day lots of times. L I talked to John and while a lot of the beers do ferment at lower temps, the Barleywine is actually fermented at around 70. So, try that and let us know how it turns out! Thanks so much for writing. Were you able to get your yeast from the VSS program at Wyeast or did you culture from a bottle? Just curious.
So I turned my controller to 68 and opened the door to the fridge. it is already at 64 so I dont think I will have an issue getting to 68
 
Any word on this? Obviously it will be young for a BW, but curious on your attenuation. Interested in using this strain in a barleywine as well.
 
I did my double IPA with Pacman and fermented at the low 60's and it went from 1.08 to 1.012 it had no troubles at all.
 
Any word on this? Obviously it will be young for a BW, but curious on your attenuation. Interested in using this strain in a barleywine as well.
yes :D. It ended up at 1.032 from 1.129 for 72.3% attenuation and 12.8% alcohol. The hydrometer sample from the transfer to secondary tasted amazingly good. I was honestly surprised at how good it was only a month after pitching. I allowed it to ferment at 68 for a couple days until fermentation began to slow and then kicked the ceiling up to 72. It never reached 72 (got up to 71). Now I am trying to figure out if I should pitch more yeast for bottle conditioning or not.
 
Awesome, glad it attenuated. 1.129, talk about pushing the style guideline limits:rockin:

Would you mind sharing your recipe, and the size of your starter?
 
I had pacman take a 1.091 IIP to 1.011 or so. I currenlty have it on a 1.095 RIS and it is going like crazy at 68 degrees. I have a feeling that if his barley wine was not an extract recipe, but rather an all grain recipe where fermentation temp could be lowered to make a more fermentable wort, the attenuation would have been higher. I am actually afraid that Pacman is goin to dry my RIS out too much! I mashed at 154 but this yeast is just such a beast! BTW..from one bottle of shakespear stout I have propaged enough yeast for the following.

Munich Dunkel Hybrid Ale OG = 1.048 FG = 1.008
IIPA OG = 1.091 FG = 1.011
Fat Tire Colone OG = 1.055 FG = 1.010
RIS OG = 1.095 FG = ???? (hopefully 1.018 to 1.020)

RIS stout is currently on the cake from the fat tire clone........and I have 5 samples of washed yeast from the dunkel thing in the fridge...all from one delicious bomber of stout.
 
I had pacman take a 1.091 IIP to 1.011 or so. I currenlty have it on a 1.095 RIS and it is going like crazy at 68 degrees. I have a feeling that if his barley wine was not an extract recipe, but rather an all grain recipe where fermentation temp could be lowered to make a more fermentable wort, the attenuation would have been higher. I am actually afraid that Pacman is goin to dry my RIS out too much! I mashed at 154 but this yeast is just such a beast! BTW..from one bottle of shakespear stout I have propaged enough yeast for the following.

Munich Dunkel Hybrid Ale OG = 1.048 FG = 1.008
IIPA OG = 1.091 FG = 1.011
Fat Tire Colone OG = 1.055 FG = 1.010
RIS OG = 1.095 FG = ???? (hopefully 1.018 to 1.020)

RIS stout is currently on the cake from the fat tire clone........and I have 5 samples of washed yeast from the dunkel thing in the fridge...all from one delicious bomber of stout.

idk, i consider 73% pretty good for a 1.129 OG beer
 
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