Fermenation time for big beers

Hello,
My third batch has now been in the primary just shy of two weeks. I'm making the AHS Cannon Ball stout (extract recipe), which ended up with an OG of 1.115. I pitched two tubes of WLP007 and also added a capsule of BrewVint yeast nutrient to give the yeast a good running start. I do need to thank everyone here for the blow-off tube advice. In well under 24 hours I had a lot of foam going through my tube, a good bit leaking out around the edge of my airlock stopper, and the top of my ale pail was still bulging upwards a bit! It's settled down a good bit now, though when I checked the gravity yesterday, it read 1.040.
I knew going in that I'd have to be really patient with this one and that there was no way it would come out of the primary in anything less than 2 weeks. With the gravity still this high, I figured I wouldn't even bother checking it again for another week. My question is, how long should I expect the fermentation to take? I did give the bucket a bit of a swirl to encourage the yeast to keep moving. My fermentation temps have been between 64deg and 71deg. Should I be at all surprised that the gravity is still that high 2 weeks in?

Thanks,
JB

Not really. That's a HUGE beer, and it will take time, if it's not already done. If you see no more movement in a week, try to rack it to rouse the yeast. If that does nothing, then you may have maxed out your yeast.

You're already pushing 10% ABV, there, and 007 can start pooping out around that point.


TL

1.115 is leaning to imperial stout status. I would suggest 3-4 weeks in primary, 3-4 weeks in secondary and 6-8 weeks in a bottle. A beer that big takes a while to ferment, age and mellow.

I have been looking at this same kit. If wlp007 cant handle this big of a beer ( I think thats what Texlaw is saying) what yeast would you all recomend.
Thanks
Kyle
Sorry not trying to hijack your thread.

Hello all.
Well, it's been a week and there's been no movement in my SG. Should I go ahead and rack it? I was under the impression that very little fermentation will actually happen in the secondary. Also, I was thinking that a good bit of the sediment at the bottom is yeast, which means that racking would essentially reduce the number of yeast present. Would I be better of sanitizing my brewing spoon and trying to stir the wort up a bit (obviously while limiting the amount of splashing and aeration as much as possible)?

crazyboy said:

1.115 is leaning to imperial stout status. I would suggest 3-4 weeks in primary, 3-4 weeks in secondary and 6-8 weeks in a bottle. A beer that big takes a while to ferment, age and mellow.

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Leaning? 1.115 is leaning towards Emperor Stout status.

I'd go with stirring rather than racking. Secondary won't drop the FG. You'd do that after the final FG was more or less attained.

I should have added that you did underpitch for a beer this size. 2 vials is really not enough for a beer like that. You might reach normal attenuation on this beer, but I wouldn't expect it to go beyond.

Would it be too late to get another vial and pitch it as well? With the wort already at around 10% alcohol, would another vial of yeast even really have a good chance to get started? I'll trying stirring it up a bit later on tonight.

One other thought: I'm fermenting this in an ale pail, and I'm getting my hydrometer samples from the spigot at the bottom of the bucket, which probably means my gravities may be a bit high, especially for the OG. But I would assume that wouldn't be enough to account for this large a gravity late in the fermentation.

This is a big beer, just walk away from it for at least 2 more weeks....and then consider secondarying it for another month...and expect it to need a couple months to lose the rocket fuel taste in the bottle..

I have a belgian golden strong (1.090 Original grav) that at 2.5 months is only now starting to carb up...your triple is a high grav beer, it's gonna need more time.

I had it in Primary for a month feeding it with a pound of candi sugar each time the krauzen fell (did that twice-1 week after the krauzen fell, then a week after that one fell-for three krauzens)

I left it for a month in primary.

Then I racked it and secondaried it for a month as well.

Just walk away and let it do it's thing.

I've got a strong scotch ale that had a much lower OG and it is still bubbling almost 3 weeks later. I used a different yeast and pitched two packages into a starter. Definitely want to rouse the yeast after it slows down with bigger beers. Also, slowly increasing the temp "wakes" yeast(the converse is true as well). If you are using a temperature controlled fermentation chamber then you might try increasing 1 degree per day for a few days. I'm using the swamp cooler method so I just turned the fan off. Next I'll remove the shirt, then remove from the tub. Gonna keep it in primary for at least 4 weeks.

Revvy said:

I had it in Primary for a month feeding it with a pound of candi sugar each time the krauzen fell (did that twice-1 week after the krauzen fell, then a week after that one fell-for three krauzens)

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Did you hold out sugar from the initial recipe or are the 1 lb feedings on top of the original amount called for?

Well, I checked the SG from the top of the fermenter and get 1.037 - a touch lower but not substantially so. I stirred the wort up gently, and I figured I'd leave it to sit another week before I bother it again. Would adding an ounce or two of corn sugar be beneficial in getting the yeast active again? I don't have very good temperature control. My fermenters sit on a shelf in a closet that doesn't really have any room to put a water bath around them. I did put some foam insulation in a box shape around them, and between a computer fan to move the air around and a 2-liter bottle of ice, the ambient air temps usually sit around 67-70 deg. Neither fermenter is particularly active at the moment, so the wort temperature shouldn't be too far away from that.

I would continue to rouse your yeast daily for another week. If your FG doesn't fall after that time, I would pitch some more higher attenuating yeast.