Ouch... Only a 28 point drop in SG...

in 10 days...

But, it's not like it wasn't expected. My mash was at 162 for half an hour before I realized it was that high.....

The OG was 1.048 and today it was 1.020. Gonna be a really sweet wheat beer in a couple of weeks.

I bought the same grain/hop bill yesterday...

5 Lbs of Gambrious ESB 4L
5 Lbs malted wheat
1 Lbs Crystal 40
1 Lbs CaraPils

1 Oz NZ Saaz 5.2 @ 60
.5 OZ NZ Saas 5.2 @ 30
.5 Oz NZ Saaz 5.2 at flameout

This time I'm going to make damn sure that I keep the mash temp UNDER 150
And I'm going to Pitch on the Fermentis WB yeastcake from last weeks attempt.

Well, at least you know what you did wrong.

Good idea on the yeast cake.

Let me know how the WB-06 turns out. I have a pack of it and am nervous about how it'll be.

I repitched onto a wheat cake once and it made the worst wheat I have ever had. Pitching on an entire yeast cake is an overpitch of epic proportions and in something like a wheat where you want some esters you really need some reproduction going on.

Wow, 162F... yeah that is high, I am surprised you had as much conversion as you did.

Now, realize, you will probably see a noticeable gain in eff. if you get those temps in the mash below 160F... so 12 pounds of grain may put you right at the top of the OG scale for a Heffe, or over it.

70% will give you 1.052 (this being the max for the style)
80% will give you about 1.060

AnOldUR said:

You could make a dryer version of the same beer and blend the two before bottling or kegging.

Click to expand...

That is my plan.

The mash today was 148 so it should be way dry.

The Pol said:

Wow, 162F... yeah that is high, I am surprised you had as much conversion as you did.

Now, realize, you will probably see a noticeable gain in eff. if you get those temps in the mash below 160F... so 12 pounds of grain may put you right at the top of the OG scale for a Heffe, or over it.

70% will give you 1.052 (this being the max for the style)
80% will give you about 1.060

Click to expand...

I'm not much on sticking to style.

Todays OG was 1.048 as well.

My efficiency sucks.

If you've already pitched on the cake, it's a little late.. but everything I have read states that an over-pitch by even 20% will noticeably change the character of the beer, and not for the better. You're much better off washing the yeast and measuring out slurry... the mr. malty pitching rate calculator has a tab for that. I did this with my last batch of beer and it worked great.

MacBruver said:

If you've already pitched on the cake, it's a little late.. but everything I have read states that an over-pitch by even 20% will noticeably change the character of the beer, and not for the better. You're much better off washing the yeast and measuring out slurry... the mr. malty pitching rate calculator has a tab for that. I did this with my last batch of beer and it worked great.

Click to expand...

I pitch on cakes quite often.


I usually dump out about half of it first though.

ah, well.. thats better than the whole thing, but it's still probably over by 100% or more. You should try leaving only a cup or so of slurry, even if you don't go through the whole washing procedure. The fermentation still takes off pretty quick, and I think you'll get a better final product.

MacBruver, what are the noticeable effects of overpitching, in your experience? Does it lend itself to lower ester production, so that it would be particularly inappropriate for a heffe? Are there other off flavors that are produced (excess diacetyl, fusel alcohols)? I feel that this is a topic where some folks haven't yet had bad experiences with teh practice and other folks argue that it's just a matter of time...

Much, much lower ester production, which is pretty critical for a hefe. Diacetyl and fusel are not a problem, that's more due to fermentation temperature than anything else. It's not really a matter of off-flavors, it's more a lack of flavors that are typical of the style.

Your biggest risk of pitching too much or right on the yeast cake is overtaxing the supplies of dissolved oxygen, simple sugars and nutrients available to the yeast. This can result in a lot of off flavors and autolysis.