SafAle-04 Characteristic Questions

I pitched (dry) a packet of SafAle-04 into a bach of English Bitter with and OG of 1043. This is the first time I have ever used this yeast (read a lot of good threads about SafAle products) and I am looking for some idea on what to expect.
Pitched late Friday at around 75*, let is sit for about 30 minute, and then moved into a swamp cooler with a temp of around 66*. I have lowered the temp to 64* after about 24hrs, and ever since I have been seeing airlock activity about every 2-3 seconds since.
I never saw any massive fermentation needing a blowoff tube, and since I am using a bucket I am not able to see the kraus.

Does this activity sound normal given the variables?

I did a porter using S-04 and it acted about the same as you are reporting, but after 48 hours I had a very violent blowoff. how long has it been in primary?

A little over 48hrs.
What was your porters OG? Was your fermentation temp low?

Ive never used it until this weekend on an esb.I proofed and piched, it was bubbling in about 30 min, no lie i was shocked!My temp was around 66 it has slowly dropped since sunday its now at 58 and not bubbling probably close to done. I used S-05 and it fermented out in about 5 days.I dont usually use dry yeast but so far i love safale!!

OK we are 6 days in and the air lock has come to a complete STOP.. I am giving it another week and then dryhop for about another 6-9 days, then bottle. I am looking forward to seeing the characteristics of this yeast once I bottle.

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S-04 ferments pretty quick. Usually in 4 days. You still want to leave it for 3 weeks. I have also found that is putters out <64F. YMMV...

I ferment my S-04 brews at around 62*F, they are usually pretty quick. Done and over with in 4 days for sure.

It works fast and flocs fast. It has low attenuation and will leave the beer fairly malty. If you ferment warm it will make a loy of fruity esters & diacetyl. If your fermentation temps drop then the yeast has a tendency to stop working atnd flocculate. This leads to the low attenuation. Ideally you would start cool to keep the esters and diacetyl down then finish warm to keep the yeast from dropping out and to improve attenuation.

maida7 said:

It works fast and flocs fast. It has low attenuation and will leave the beer fairly malty. If you ferment warm it will make a loy of fruity esters & diacetyl. If your fermentation temps drop then the yeast has a tendency to stop working atnd flocculate. This leads to the low attenuation. Ideally you would start cool to keep the esters and diacetyl down then finish warm to keep the yeast from dropping out and to improve attenuation.

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What would you consider to be warm? I started a batch of ESB last weekend using S-04.

Pitched at 64 deg, and let it sit in my house which stays around 60 degrees. 2 days later I was barely seeing any activity at all, so I put it in my 64 degree swamp heater. I went on the road for another 2 days and when I came back the airlock was raging.

I don't have a strip thermometer so I'm not sure what the exact temps were. With a 64 deg swamp heater + fermentation should I expect some esters? I was really hoping for a clean profile with this one.

atromic said:

What would you consider to be warm? I started a batch of ESB last weekend using S-04.

Pitched at 64 deg, and let it sit in my house which stays around 60 degrees. 2 days later I was barely seeing any activity at all, so I put it in my 64 degree swamp heater. I went on the road for another 2 days and when I came back the airlock was raging.

I don't have a strip thermometer so I'm not sure what the exact temps were. With a 64 deg swamp heater + fermentation should I expect some esters? I was really hoping for a clean profile with this one.

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64 is plenty cool. Ester production is gonna happen in the first few days as the yeast is growing. Also, it's important to pitch the proper amount of healthy yeast. Under pitching will force the yeast to grow more and growth = esters. Also, oxygenate your wort. Oxygen is required for the growth phase. Make sure the yeast have what they need to grow healthy and they can do the best job possible.

get a stick on thermometer so you can properly monitor your temps. Controlling the temps is a HUGE factor in making great beer.

If you start at 64 the ferment will warm as things get rolling. let it get up to 68 and then try to hold it there. If you can hold it at the warmer temp as things slow down, it will help with attenuation and give the yeast time to clean up some of the off flavors they produced during the growth phase.

Did you hydrate the yeast? Always hydrate your dry yeast.

S-04 tosses some nice british esters. If you wanted a clean profile, you needed to use US-05 around 62°F.

With the swamp cooler at 64° you'll be somewhere in the 68°F range in the bucket/carboy. Should have some nice esters.

Sorry

Yeah I rehydrated, and aerated the crap out of the wort before I pitched. I used 1 11g packet for a 1.050 OG so I'm not too worried about underpitching.

I normally monitor my temps very closely... This time I used a new fermenter that I had got my brother for Christmas... Totally forgot to get a stick on, and didn't realize this until I had already pitched the yeast.

I just poured the first few pints of my second batch using s-04 and I noticed that both beers have a mineral and baking soda like taste. My first batch was with RO water and no water additions. My second batch used the same malts but with proper water additions and an all cascade presentation from boil through dry hop X2. OG was 1.065 and FG was 1.015 fermented at basement temp of 64 deg.

I distinctly remember my first batch having the same mineral/baking soda (i'll call it) ester. Is this common of the S-04 and other English specials? If I recall my first batch definitely got better and minerally baking soda like taste mellowed out.

Thoughts?

EDIT---This was one heck of a violent primary. Blew off a good 1/2 inch of yeast in my bucket on a 5 gallon batch in a 6 gallon carboy

I have never been too impressed with s-04, the few times I have used it, in terms of character. White labs Burton ale and wyeast 1968 both produced a distinctly "english" flavor, reminiscent of Bass. I guess that flavor is the esters? I like to use dry whenever i can, so i would like to be able to do my english ales with s-04. It sounds like i just need to ferment warmer to make the s-04 impart more character to the beer? Maybe this will make it a more suitable replacement for the two above?

maida7 said:

Also, oxygenate your wort. Oxygen is required for the growth phase.

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This is a mixed issue. It's always good to establish a definite routine or procedure for your brewhouse. But the yeast manufacturers tell you you don't have to oxygenate/aerate your bitter wort when pitching fresh/proofed dry yeast. According to Danstar and Fermentis, the manufacturing process adds into the granules everything the yeast need. They also tell you it isn't going to hurt anything, and that's certainly true.

Now, if you harvest your S-04 to use in subsequent batches, those batches need to be aerated. But not the initial pitch.

Cheers,

Bob