Wow, that was fast

On Sunday morning I brewed up 5G of English Mild (OG = 1.036), finishing around 11:30am. Using one packet of rehydrated S-04, I had airlock activity within 4 hours and a rocking krausen by 10pm. By 5pm on Monday the krausen had already fallen but airlock activity continued. By 5pm today airlock activity had slowed/stopped and the surface of the beer was basically clear. I was concerned that the yeast may have quit before their work was done so I took a gravity reading and it's already hit FG at 1.011 - tastes great for green beer as well.

This one will continue to sit in primary until new years before being transferred to bottle, but wow...that was fast - all of my other beers have taken at least 4 days to finish fermenting, this one less than a day and a half. Is this typical of S-04 or am I just getting better at this stuff?

That's pretty fast, but not surprising for that strain. S-04 usually starts very quickly, and when it's done, the yeast drops fast, one of the reasons I really like it.

What was your fermentation temp?

CGengo said:

Is this typical of S-04 or am I just getting better at this stuff?

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I think if you were getting good, you'd realize that a little extra time in the fermenter was a good thing. You cannot control the yeast and you cannot make it ferment faster. Even 4 days is fast. 2 weeks or more will give you a consistently good beer.

You might be interested in the discussion in the Project 10-der and Mild thread in the Swap forum.

Edit: Link to Project 10der and Mild

bsay said:

You might be interested in the discussion in the Project 10-der and Mild thread in the Swap forum.

Edit: Link to Project 10der and Mild

Click to expand...

I tried to brew a mild in November, but my efficiency was freakishly high and it ended up at 1.048 instead of 1.038!

BlindLemonLars said:

That's pretty fast, but not surprising for that strain. S-04 usually starts very quickly, and when it's done, the yeast drops fast, one of the reasons I really like it.

What was your fermentation temp?

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I'm using a Johnson control to keep it at 68 degrees. This is my first experience with this yeast, so far I'm very happy.

bsay said:

You might be interested in the discussion in the Project 10-der and Mild thread in the Swap forum.

Edit: Link to Project 10der and Mild

Click to expand...

If only I had a kegging setup...should make for a good new years resolution.