Using Camden Tablets to Stop Fermentation

Some may call it plagued, some may call it lucky. My beers have been attenuating down to 1.005-1.008 on my last 3-4 batches. Most likely due to my pitching a mountains worth of ale yeast from the prior weeks batches. This has more than made up for falling short of my OG target, and resulted in some clean, dry, crisp beers.

Now however, I'm getting ready to brew a fast Oktoberfest style ale. I want it malty. I want it sweet. I want it smooth.

I'm going to use a low attenuating yeast, but I'm considering tossing in some camden tablets to cease the fermentation when I hit the 1.017 range (starting G will be about 1.053).

Anybody have any thoughts on killing the yeast at a 1.017 range?

Oh...and I keg and force carb so no need for yeast to carb it up.

What temp are you fermenting at. (I know, I'm from Louisiana so I can put "at" at the end of a sentence).

If you ferment "hot", you may get higher attenuation.

My shop is always at 68-70 degrees. I think it's the shear quantity of yeast that's giving me qucik and thorough fermentation.

I think you can use camden tablets, especially because you keg. I like my Ofest malty, not sweet, necessarily.

If you're going over the range of attenuation stated on the yeast label, something is up.

Does your beer come out ok ?

Taste ok ?

Well, attenuation rates on yeast strains are determined through fermentation of a "generic" wort. Factors like ingredients, mash temps, fermentation temps, etc. make a big difference.For example, using sugar in Saison to get it down to a very dry finish.

Brewer3401 said:

If you're going over the range of attenuation stated on the yeast label, something is up.

Does your beer come out ok ?

Taste ok ?

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Oh yeah. The beer is great. I'm not looking to correct my BAU brewing process, I just want to artificially halt the fermentation process on a particular beer to keep it on the high malty side.

Are you going to be making an authentic Ofest, or an ale version?

Iordz said:

Are you going to be making an authentic Ofest, or an ale version?

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No time to lager. Gotta go the "pretend" route.

I figure the right grain bill, a 20 IBU and a high mash temp, should get me there.

Why no time? Patience is a virtue! What yeast are you going with?

Pitch a smaller amount of yeast and then cold crash the secondary. you are going to want the beer crystal clear anyway so cold condition for a week when you hit your desired FG and you won't have to worry about it.

Cheers

A few more percentage points worth of crystal malts and a higher mash temp should get you there without changing yeast cell count or killing it (in theory). Your thermo might be reading 3F too low which would explain the high attenuation. Just think, 149F mashes are way more fermentable than 152F.

Sorry man I can't help you with the Camden thing but I know that St. Arnold's use an ale yeast for their Ofest and it's an awesome beer.

Check out my thread with thier grainbills and check out thier website for hops, ibu's and what they say about thier yeast for that beer.

http://homebrewtalk.com/showthread.php?t=37573

Good luck

Iordz said:

Why no time? Patience is a virtue! What yeast are you going with?

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I'm going to use an Englsih Safale-04. It's supposed to be a lower attenuating yeast and I'll just drop in the dry packets (unlike using a previous yeast cake).

I had to run to the LHBS today and the prop suggested I get the mash temp as high as 163-165, saying that the tannins don't become an issue until the 170+ range.

He also said that this is the temp that a lot of English Milds are mashed at, yielding a lowe ABV with a more robust flavor.

He's never steered me wrong in the past and seems to be the kind of guy who has a passion for beer and wine making.

BierMuncher said:

I'm going to use an Englsih Safale-04. It's supposed to be a lower attenuating yeast and I'll just drop in the dry packets (unlike using a previous yeast cake).

I had to run to the LHBS today and the prop suggested I get the mash temp as high as 163-165, saying that the tannins don't become an issue until the 170+ range.

He also said that this is the temp that a lot of English Milds are mashed at, yielding a lowe ABV with a more robust flavor.

He's never steered me wrong in the past and seems to be the kind of guy who has a passion for beer and wine making.

Click to expand...

According to this page (http://www.realbeer.com/jjpalmer/ch14.html) it should work well to mash it at those temps. It indicates that it might actually be beneficial to raise the pH just slightly from the usual 5.2 (if that's something you control tightly in your process).

As for the camden since you force-carb and you want it sweet I can't think of any reason not to do it.

I'd go with the higher Mash temp. 165 or so.

You'll probably have full conversion in 15-20 minutes at that temp.. Yikes, let us know how it turns out.

There are plenty of other things you can do than murdering the yeasts. Toss some caramunich or flaked barley into the mash. See how it finishes. If it's still too dry (which I can't imagine it would be), boil a small amount of water with maltodextrin powder or lactose, then add that to the carboy.

I don't have anything more advice wise than what has already been given. However I use safale -04 in my Stout so I know it won't leave waiting long.

After a vigorous shaking to aerate the wort I sprinkle the yeast on top of the foam head and usually have action in the airlock within an hour or two. GOOD LUCK!