california common

ive been brewing for almost a year now and i brewed my first california common this last weekend. i havent noticed much fermentation avtivity. its on the 5th full day of fermentation. i used the san francisco lager yeast but did not use a starter. i never use a starter and have always got good fermentation results with white labs vials pitching anything under 80 degrees. i recently moved and havent unpacked my wort chiller so i used ice and cold water to top off the wort and left the batch in a bucket with an airlock in the garage until the temp was around 80. i pitched the yeast and swirled like i normally do then set the batch in the fermentation fridge and set it to 60. its been at 60 the whole week and i havent noticed the airlock going crazy like it usually does, there is some krausen on the top. i havent checked the gravity and there is a sulfer smell if i press on the lid of the bucket and sniff the airlock. the insert of the airlock is pressed up to the top of the airlock but i just havent seen it bubble. it seems like its only halfway fermenting. any thoughts? is this batch ruined?

just checked the gravity, OG was 1.060. the beer after 5 days is at 1.057 or so. im not sure what to do. can i add another vial of yeast?

kphipps06 said:

just checked the gravity, OG was 1.060. the beer after 5 days is at 1.057 or so. im not sure what to do. can i add another vial of yeast?

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Yes. Ideally, pitch enough yeast this time either with a starter or two or three packages of yeast. That should get it going.

ok. thanks. and being that its sat on this original yeast for 5 days (6 by the time i get another couple vials (i probably shouldnt wait for a starter to get going) will this throw off the flavor?

and should i get san fran lager yeast again? or will too much be over powering?

Keep with the same yeast you started with if the gravity hasn't dropped a lot. The new yeast will become the dominate yeast then. The old yeast shouldn't create any off flavors. There just might be more esters because of the low yeast count. Just curious was this allgrain?

Also just thought you could also add yeast energizer and nutrient to it and stir up the flocculated yeast. That might restart the fermentation.

it was just a steeped specialty and a DME. im in the process of building a horizontal all grain system. so DME is what it is for now. and thanks. i will pick up a vial or 2 of some white labs san fran lager tomorrow. now that the temp has been a solid 60 for 5 days, ill pitch dirctly in. also. my hydro sample smells extra yeasty. similar to a hefe.