Not loving S-04...

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I have some on it's way over the seas from Blighty Thailand bound right now. I am going to ferment it very cool,about 14c and see what that gets me.
 
I have a Brewer's Best RIS fermenting with this right now. I've been keeping it at about 67 and it still stalled out on me at 1.024. Since I don't have a back up, I've been keeping the fermenter in warm water and shaking the snot out of it once an hour. My gravity sample revealed flocculation that was very impressive. Unfortunately, I'm not ready for their retirement party just yet. Has anyone else had a similar experience? BTW, the gravity sample was still pretty tasty with strong roasty flavor and some suddle fruit aromas.
 
1.024 isn't exactly an overly high FG for an RIS to finish attenuating. What was your OG?
 
if it was indeed a RIS, then you are looking at 75% attenuation,right?
Or is it just me thinking the RIS has a low OG?
 
i think you will be fine. I love s04. I think people on here just like having NO yeast character whatsoever, which is why a lot just use us-05.

I use s-04 a lot, and am planning many more brews (ipas, stouts, whatever) with it because it flocs like a mo-fo and is super fast.

Yes...yes....well said....110% true.
 
I have a Brewer's Best RIS fermenting with this right now. I've been keeping it at about 67 and it still stalled out on me at 1.024. Since I don't have a back up, I've been keeping the fermenter in warm water and shaking the snot out of it once an hour. My gravity sample revealed flocculation that was very impressive. Unfortunately, I'm not ready for their retirement party just yet. Has anyone else had a similar experience? BTW, the gravity sample was still pretty tasty with strong roasty flavor and some suddle fruit aromas.

I just kegged a Black Pearl Porter. It finished at 1.024 also. I forget at the moment what the FG was supposed to be. I know it was supposed to be lower, but I didn't worry about it. It's supposed to be a sweet Porter anyway. I'm going to let it age for a few weeks. It also really flocs wonderfully too. I really didn't have any loss from the trub at all.
 
1.024 FG should be fine for an RIS. There are usually a lot of unfermentables in there, especially if it was extract. Why are you shaking it? You want good aeration initially, but after it kicks off leave it alone. You don't want oxidation/stability problems later on.
 
1.024 FG should be fine for an RIS. There are usually a lot of unfermentables in there, especially if it was extract. Why are you shaking it? You want good aeration initially, but after it kicks off leave it alone. You don't want oxidation/stability problems later on.[/QUOTE]

That's called 'rousing the yeast', it drives off CO2 from the cake, and resuspends yeast that has flocculated earlier. It can sometimes help lower the FG a little. There is a blanket of CO2 over the beer and it is in a sealed fermentor, so oxidation isn't an issue.
 

What he said. I tweaked the recipe with a half pound of carapils in place of the maltodextrin they left out of the kit. I'm not sure if that changes anything or not. I've never brewed anything that finished this high, so it looks like I worried for nothing. I also didn't get a violent fermentation like many described with the kit.
 
I have some on it's way over the seas from Blighty Thailand bound right now. I am going to ferment it very cool,about 14c and see what that gets me.

S-04 wouldn't underattenuate at 14C?

I don't know anything about the biology or pragmatics of brewing ales at that sort of temperature, so please inform me.
 
S-04 wouldn't underattenuate at 14C?

I don't know anything about the biology or pragmatics of brewing ales at that sort of temperature, so please inform me.

Fermentis says that S-04 will ferment anywhere from 12 - 25 C, with 15 - 20 C being the optimal range. So 14 isn't that low.

I just made a brown ale using S-04. The temperature has been between 14.7 and 18 C for the first three days, and then yesterday I set my ebay aquarium controller to target 18 C (meaning it will have to hit 19 C before it kicks on). I doubt it will get that high on its own now that the most active fermentation is done (it's also sitting in a swamp cooler in a very cool part of the house, so I'd be really surprised if it got that hot). It seems to be holding pretty well on its own at 17.5 or so.

Never used S-04 prior to this ale, but I have high hopes. I don't mind yeast character in my beer either. I am kind of hoping that it will complement the spiciness of the Northdown hops I used.
 
I posted here early on as a naysayer on SO4 but read others comments on fermentation temp. I decided to give it one more go. My basement stays at about 65F but this time I took a digital thermo and taped the sensor to the side of the fermenter bucket with the whole thing in a swamp cooler. I kept the wort at 62 or lower for a week. The beer has none of the objectionable esters I have gotten before. It is quite good! There are a lot of good things about this yeast - ferment speed, good flocculation - if you can keep the temp down. I am a fan once again.
 
S-04 does wonders for me with my scottish 80/. Always ferments fast, flocculates like crazy (rock hard) and clears very quickly. Also, I don't notice the fruity off flavors that some other reports. I even re-use my yeast cake for several brews without any problem.. I am a fan of it.
 
Love, love, love s-04!
Grasshopper, you must be patient!
Let it sit in the primary for 3 to 6 weeks!

S-04 will then drop like a stone!
 
I'll be tasting later today the first batch I've made with S-04. It's a Best Bitter NB kit. Normally I use Windsor for bitters and like the result but NB recommended S-04 so I thought I'd try it.

This batch sat in the primary for 3 and 1/2 weeks, then bottle conditioned for a month and has been in the fridge a week. It should be good. I know what this would taste like with Windsor, so it'll be interesting to see if S-04 is much different.

Rick
 
I brewed 10 gallons of centennial blond, split it into two 5 gallon fermenters, and pitched S-05 in one and S-04 in the other. I'm currently on my third pint of each, and still can't tell the difference.

I did keep fermentation temp low at 60-62 F.
 
Took a sample last night after 12 days in primary.
Fermented at 13-14c it is giving a great,very typical English real ale profile,bloody great!
 
I used S04 for a Chocolate Oatmeal Stout, and it came out AMAZING. Absolutely fantastic. It tastes just like commercial oatmeal stouts I've had.

I washed the yeast and pitched it into an ESB. The ESB tasted AMAZING when I bottled it - I probably drank half a pint straight from the siphon. Now, two weeks later, it's just not good. Weird twangy flavors all over the place. Normally my beers are great after two weeks bottle conditioning, but this one just isn't. I'm really hoping time will heal this one, but I probably won't use S04 again. I repitched from the ESB into a Cascade/MO SMaSH IPA, which I've been keeping at 58-60*F, and it's been bubbling like mad. Crossing my fingers that I won't get wacky weird flavors in that beer... hopefully the 50+ IBUs and dry hopping will mask any twanginess.
 
What a difference a week makes - I really need to stop critiquing my beers before they've had 2-3 weeks in the bottle. You'd think I would have learned this after 8 years of homebrewing, but no....

The funky ester flavors have mellowed out. Still some esters, but they're generally pleasant. The mouthfeel has filled out. Malt flavors are showing nicely. Maybe I don't hate S04 as much as I thought. :D
 
What a difference a week makes - I really need to stop critiquing my beers before they've had 2-3 weeks in the bottle. You'd think I would have learned this after 8 years of homebrewing, but no....

The funky ester flavors have mellowed out. Still some esters, but they're generally pleasant. The mouthfeel has filled out. Malt flavors are showing nicely. Maybe I don't hate S04 as much as I thought. :D

Good to hear it's improving. :ban:

In your previous post something that caught my eye was that you washed the yeast after brewing a Chocolate Oatmeal Stout then used it for an ESB. I was uinder the impression that going from lighter (gravity as well as colour/grain bill complexity) to heavier beer was the preferred way to do it, for some reason.
 
It is your beer. You can do what you want! :D

They say that because coming from a dark beer will bring a little color. You wouldn't notice anything going from a stout to an ESB though.

Also, yeast in a high gravity beer won't be as healthy as yeast from a lower gravity beer. He didn't say what his gravities were but it is quite possible that the ESB ABV% was >= the stout's.

If that wasn't the case, it wouldn't be optimal, but it can still be effective.
 
My Stout was 1.044, so that should not be an issue (I used LME in a recipe calling for DME). It was dark, but fairly low gravity. My understanding was that the yeast might pick up some color from a dark beer, but that's unrelated to their health. I've had great results going from a dark Mild to bigger paler beers.
 
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