AHS Imperial Stout - which yeast?

http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?products_id=316


Im using a dry yeast, I ordered it w/ the recommended "mutons premium gold". But I also have a packet of salafe s-05, which from what I read is a very popular dry yeast.

So i was thinking of using the s-05, but obviously ahs selected mutons for a reason, but what was the reason?

so nobody has used these yeast before eh?

Depends what style you're going for more malty flavor geared toward English Stout or a American version of it. US-05 will finish more clean tasting and will give you more alcohol out of the beer. The mutons is more geared toward leaving some residual sugar for more body. So all depends what you want.

English Stout = S-04

American Stout = S-05

Going cheap = Nottingham

Gambling = Munton's

Attenuation is really important for a stout, if you get to active of a yeast your brew will end up thin( little or no mouth feel)

1.072 you should be fine with S-04.
They are hinting at an English ale yeast on the website...

im leaning towards ordering some s-04 then...

I just got this kit too and I'm going with some S-04 that I washed last week. The main reason is the Munton's was only a 6g package. Would probably need 2 or 3 of those.

I went out and got s-04... and after 2 days, there was no activity - I pitched the mutons and I got activity within 3 hours. Must have had some bad S-04. Maybe eventually it picked up and will help the mutons out.

But it's been fermenting nicely now for about a full week or so. Everytime I think it's about to slow down and stop, it keeps on going! I do shake it every once in a while to make sure the yeast dont get to sleepy too early. I'm going to do 1 month in primary and then bottle.

Don't shake the fermenter once it's fermenting. You're basically just shaking CO2 out of solution, and you think that it's fermenting more because of the airlock activity. It's probably finished. Take a gravity reading.

kanzimonson said:

Don't shake the fermenter once it's fermenting. You're basically just shaking CO2 out of solution, and you think that it's fermenting more because of the airlock activity. It's probably finished. Take a gravity reading.

Click to expand...

I dont think it's finished at all, but that's just my opinion. Shaking of the fermenter on big beers is something that, I think it was John Palmer. on a podcast, suggested to get yeast back into suspension to try to get more attenuation. I know when shaking it its just c02 being released, but what about 5-6 hours later, possibly its fermenting more. I think there is little downside here.

I'd swirl, rather than shake. Shaking will get more oxygen back into solution, which is not good at this point, but swirling the beer around in the carboy should rouse the yeast with little to no risk of oxidation.

I don't mean to come off as an ass, but whether it's done or not is not a matter of opinion. Your hydrometer will give you the facts. If you're concerned about attenuation, it would be prudent to check the gravity and make decisions about how to treat your beer based on that reading. I'd hate for the beer to be at 1.010 or so and see you swirling it trying to get greater attenuation yet.

GuldTuborg said:

I'd swirl, rather than shake. Shaking will get more oxygen back into solution, which is not good at this point, but swirling the beer around in the carboy should rouse the yeast with little to no risk of oxidation.

I don't mean to come off as an ass, but whether it's done or not is not a matter of opinion. Your hydrometer will give you the facts. If you're concerned about attenuation, it would be prudent to check the gravity and make decisions about how to treat your beer based on that reading. I'd hate for the beer to be at 1.010 or so and see you swirling it trying to get greater attenuation yet.

Click to expand...

Well it is more than a swirl than a shake, Hard to shake a bucket with an airlock on it, poor word choice on my part. But even so, there is probably no oxygen in there - the headspace should all be c02, and so that shouldnt be a risk.

Also, the beer is near 10% abv, and has been fermenting for about 8 or 9 days now and there is still lots of airlock activity. Ignore the airlock for a minute, and I still wouldnt call this done regardless of a hydro reading, a beer this big could use a little bit more time with it's yeast, conditioning

Making beer is not a race. I dont have to rack it off the yeast as soon as it's done.

I agree with you 100% on this. I just wanted to make sure you actually weren't picking it up and shaking it. I imagine that would necessitate taking the airlock out, wouldn't it?

I made a RIS with US-05 in March. It dropped 5 points in the secondary, which was weeks 7-11 of fermentation. Big beers like this often need lots of time, as you've said. Since 04 flocs a bit better than 05, I suppose it probably wouldn't hurt to give it a little swirling, but I'd still opt for a gravity reading. That way you know whether to let it sit and condition quietly, up the temp and swirl a bit, or whatever. However you decide to proceed, I hope it turns out delicious!

Any help is of course appreciated. I'll probably take a hydro reading in a few days... I use a water tub method for fermenting, after the first week I always stop putting frozen water bottles and let the beer warm. From what i've read, there is no harm in this, as the phase in which esters are produced is over .

11 weeks of fermentation... holy cow. I can't do that I only have one fermenter!

With the money you saved by not doing one brew every 3-4 weeks over that 11, you should buy yourself a 6 gallon Better Bottle

kwantam said:

With the money you saved by not doing one brew every 3-4 weeks over that 11, you should buy yourself a 6 gallon Better Bottle

Click to expand...

It's on the list but I just bought the stuff for a mash tun and an immersion chiller... gonna have slow down a little or swmbo will start asking a lot of questions.