Mr. Beer liquid yeast and cake pitching questions

I just brewed my first extract batch in my Mr. Beer kit this last weekend; a Belgian IPA. I used Wyeast's 1388 Belgian Strong Ale yeast.

My first question is whether or not my yeast is behaving correctly. At the recommendation of the guy who runs the homebrew shop, I pitched the entire package of yeast, despite only have a 2.13 gallon batch. At 12 hours, I had a thin layer of krausen and a lot of sediment in the bottom of the tank. At 24 hours, the krausen was up to 1 1/2 inches. Now at 48 hours, it is back down to about 1/2 an inch. Is this normal for the yeast I used? I did pitch low since my wort cooled too fast (about 60) degrees, then brought it up to 70.

When I bottle my IPA in a couple weeks, I want to brew a Saison. Is if it is possible to pitch my next beer right on top of the yeast cake in my fermenter? I have read that using IPA cake can be a problem since the high amount of hops can stop the yeast from working. Here is the information for the IPA currently in the fermenter and the Saison I am planning.

Belgian IPA

Boil Volume: 1 Gallon
Batch Size: 2.13 Gallons
OG: 1.064
FG: 1.016
ABV: 6.2%
IBU: 68
SRM: 11

3.5lb Light LME
0.5lb Carapils
0.5lb American Victory
0.5lb American Crystal 40L

.25oz Zeus @ 60
.25oz Centennial @ 45
.25oz Zeus @ 10
.25oz Centennial @ 5

Wyeast 1388 Belgian Strong Ale

Saison

Boil Volume: 1 Gallon
Batch Size: 2.13 Gallons
OG: 1.059
FG: 1.015
ABV: 5.7%
IBU: 31
SRM: 5

3.0lb Light LME
1.0lb Belgian Pale
0.5lb Flaked Rye
0.5lb Flaked Wheat

.25oz Centennial @ 60
.25oz Centennial @ 15
.25oz Centennial @ 5

Wyeast 1388 Belgian Strong Ale <- yeast cake in fermenter from IPA

Any help or advise would be appreciated.

Cheers!
Kevin
beerandcoding.com

Sounds like a nominal ferment.
I'd recommend washing the yeast in this case.

Time for my next question.

I am 5 day into fermentation of my Belgian IPA. There is some krausen stuck to the sides of the fermenter, but nothing on the surface of the beer. There is a huge amount of sediment in the bottom of the tank (the red line), enough the the spout is completely blocked.



So, I planned on doing 2/2/2 for fermenting, bottle conditioning and fridge. Is there any harm in waiting the full 14 days before bottling if fermentation is complete? I assume that using an entire smack-pack on a 2 gallon batch has quickened the process.

Also, what is the best way to remedy the yeast cake clogging the pour spout? Should I attempt to unclog it when I am ready to bottle? Or, should I get some tubing and siphon out of the top into bottles?

Thanks in advance.

Cheers!
Kevin

beerandcoding said:

Time for my next question.

So, I planned on doing 2/2/2 for fermenting, bottle conditioning and fridge. Is there any harm in waiting the full 14 days before bottling if fermentation is complete? I assume that using an entire smack-pack on a 2 gallon batch has quickened the process.

Also, what is the best way to remedy the yeast cake clogging the pour spout? Should I attempt to unclog it when I am ready to bottle? Or, should I get some tubing and siphon out of the top into bottles?

Thanks in advance.

Cheers!
Kevin

Click to expand...

2/2/2 works fine. There is no problem waiting the full 14 days. I usually just leave mine in the keg for 4 weeks, skip secondary, and go straight to a bottling bucket.
As far as the clogging goes, since you have already fermented, then I recommend you siphon out to a bottling bucket (also easier for mixing priming sugar). In the future, when you set up your keg for fermenting, prop up the spout end by an inch or so and the yeast cake will settle towards the back, then you can bottle from the spout if you prefer. This is only a minimal solution though. Some yeast cakes (particularly if you use fruit) will still be too much to bottle from the spout, or they won't have packed down tight and will slide back towards the spout when you "un-prop" it.
I recommend 4 weeks in primary and then auto-siphon to a bottling bucket on top of your priming sugar, then bottle from that.

Good Luck