Hi all, long time brewer, first time poster.
I'm brewing a California Common (i.e., Steam Beer), and it's my very first experience with lager yeasts. That's mainly the reason I'm posting here--I have no idea what lager yeast should be doing when it ferments, and I have an unusual situation going on in my carboy. I can't figure out whether it's normal or not.
Basically, the concern is this: I have a bunch of junk floating around in the brew, between the settled yeast and trub at the bottom and the krausen at the top. It's pretty actively circulating around. Is this normal? In ales I've made in the past I've never seen anything like this. Here are a few pictures:
(You can't quite tell, but that junk floating around is swirling and churning like crazy. There are currents.)
I'm not really sure where I would have messed up, aside from the fact that I'm brewing above temp right now (landlord turned on the heat while I was at work today). I mash all-grain recipes pretty regularly, and I'm confident in my equipment and ability to use it.
This beer's specs:
9.25 lb American 2-row
1lb 80° Crystal Malt
Mashed 30min with 2.6 gal @122°, 90min with addition of 1.8 gal @200° (151° total)
Sparged 30min with about 4 gal @170°
Boiled 90min with 0.5oz Columbus (whole leaf), then another 0.5oz Columbus and an irish moss tab for last 15min, added another 0.5oz Columbus for last minute. Cooled with immersion chiller, pitched Wyeast Laboratories California Lager 2112 at 68°. OG at pitching was 1.060.
This was Saturday. Really strong fermentation by about midnight, and all day yesterday. Those photos I took above were taken just now. It smells fantastic.
So, did I mess something up here, or is all that junk swirling around in there normal with a lager yeast brewed above its normal temperature range? Does anyone know what it is?
I'm brewing a California Common (i.e., Steam Beer), and it's my very first experience with lager yeasts. That's mainly the reason I'm posting here--I have no idea what lager yeast should be doing when it ferments, and I have an unusual situation going on in my carboy. I can't figure out whether it's normal or not.
Basically, the concern is this: I have a bunch of junk floating around in the brew, between the settled yeast and trub at the bottom and the krausen at the top. It's pretty actively circulating around. Is this normal? In ales I've made in the past I've never seen anything like this. Here are a few pictures:
(You can't quite tell, but that junk floating around is swirling and churning like crazy. There are currents.)
I'm not really sure where I would have messed up, aside from the fact that I'm brewing above temp right now (landlord turned on the heat while I was at work today). I mash all-grain recipes pretty regularly, and I'm confident in my equipment and ability to use it.
This beer's specs:
9.25 lb American 2-row
1lb 80° Crystal Malt
Mashed 30min with 2.6 gal @122°, 90min with addition of 1.8 gal @200° (151° total)
Sparged 30min with about 4 gal @170°
Boiled 90min with 0.5oz Columbus (whole leaf), then another 0.5oz Columbus and an irish moss tab for last 15min, added another 0.5oz Columbus for last minute. Cooled with immersion chiller, pitched Wyeast Laboratories California Lager 2112 at 68°. OG at pitching was 1.060.
This was Saturday. Really strong fermentation by about midnight, and all day yesterday. Those photos I took above were taken just now. It smells fantastic.
So, did I mess something up here, or is all that junk swirling around in there normal with a lager yeast brewed above its normal temperature range? Does anyone know what it is?
