crazy S-04 on steroids

Just to share this - I have a beer that fermented out from 1.050 to 1.012 in 12 hours. The krauzen has dropped down now....

It never happened before.... Don't know how this is possible. It fermented quite cool (18°C) - didn't areate much, just shook a little bit, didn't rehydrate the yeast, didn't use nutrients or similar stuff.....


any comments on this?

In my experience, 04 has always had very vigorous fermentations....

In fact, I quit using it because I'm scared of it!

Vigorous fermentation would be at least 48 hours, which is close to what I get every time I use S-04. This is the quickest yeast I've ever used, but 12 hours?????

cmon....

I've seen the monster at work also I hate when I go to bed and it's mostly fermented when I wake up. I haven't used it in a while just because of beer styles but next time I want an English yeast flavor I'll use it. It is my dry yeast backup if a fermentation fails or stalls.

S-04 is a monster and must be treated with caution when unleashed from her yeast packet cage.

Hmmm, I just pitched a very healthy starter of wlp570 and a packet of S-04 into the delirium clone I just finished. Perhaps I'll go back down and put blowoffs on these carboys. I thought it would be okay until morning, but now you guys have me worried.

The fermentation on my Russian Imperial Stout with two packet of S04 scared the crap outta me!

It's going to be a loooong time of aging before I know if it turned out ok!

alexdagrate said:

The fermentation on my Russian Imperial Stout with two packet of S04 scared the crap outta me!

It's going to be a loooong time of aging before I know if it turned out ok!

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what does this mean? If it's quick like this, could it cause some off flavors or eventual problems with beer in the end?

That's crazy. I'd be afraid that without a thermowell / temp regulator that the temperature would rocket up in a fermentation that fast. That's purely speculation, as I've never seen anything that fast, so take it with a grain of salt.

I tasted the sample and it's really good - just as the sample should taste....

In my limited experience, s-04 is nuts. Both beers I've brewed with it have shown airlock activity within a couple hours. The first one had an OG of 1.078 & it finished fementing (down to 1.015) in 3 days no problem. The second had an OG of 1.045 & has been bubbling furiously for the past 2 days.

This stuff would be great to keep around just in case you had other yeast crap out on you.

It's also great because it forms a really nice compact sediment on the bottom especially if you cold crash it. This makes for easy racking and very clear beers.

bwomp313 said:

It's also great because it forms a really nice compact sediment on the bottom especially if you cold crash it. This makes for easy racking and very clear beers.

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+1 to this! I always get crystal clear beers with this yeast, and if I ferment cool enough, the flavor profile is quite clean....

400d said:

+1 to this! I always get crystal clear beers with this yeast, and if I ferment cool enough, the flavor profile is quite clean....

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What kind of temps do you mean by cool enough?

Is that the ambient air temp or the liquid inside the carboy?

bwomp313 said:

It's also great because it forms a really nice compact sediment on the bottom especially if you cold crash it. This makes for easy racking and very clear beers.

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I used S04 on my first brew and current (third brew).
This time I aerated vigorously. the timing of the krausen and fermentation were identical, but the activity was significantly more vigorous. I needed a blow-off tube this time.

It is already flocculating (48hrs) because I can see a white layer of sediment over the grey-green layers. It is still bubbling though.

On my first brew the beer was very clear without much help.

There is a lot of fruity taste with this yeast and I like it.

commonsenseman said:

This stuff would be great to keep around just in case you had other yeast crap out on you.

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A backup?!?! Forget that, for me its a main player. No reason to keep this yeast on the bench, its a fantastic workhorse with a nice, mild English character. In fact, I'd love to find a way to get a little more stone-fruit kind of character out of it.

S-04 ferments FAAST, can tolerate high 60'd, low 70's temps without getting too funky, and gives a nice, clean English profile. As a bonus, its cheap (compared to a tube of liquid) and requires no starter. LOVE IT!

ghpeel said:

A backup?!?! Forget that, for me its a main player. No reason to keep this yeast on the bench, its a fantastic workhorse with a nice, mild English character. In fact, I'd love to find a way to get a little more stone-fruit kind of character out of it.

S-04 ferments FAAST, can tolerate high 60'd, low 70's temps without getting too funky, and gives a nice, clean English profile. As a bonus, its cheap (compared to a tube of liquid) and requires no starter. LOVE IT!

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Crap, you're making me re-think my fancy "create a starter with liquid yeast instead of use s-04" method.