Day off = 10 gallons of SWMBO Slayer

So with the whole week off (forced for cost savings) I am going to get some brewing done! I decided on 10 gallons of SWMBO slayer AG. The only difference from the recipe is it will be split into two fermenters and one will by Wit Ale Yeast and the other will be Wit Ale 2. Should be interesting to see the difference. Usually I let my water sit for a day before brewing to let the Chlorine evaporate but this is last minute sooo I'm going to boil the water to get it out hopefully.

Oh yeah and a pic -

Wow, this sounds like next week for me. Also being forced to take a week off for cost savings, and I was planning on doing this same recipe.

Yeah I'm in pretty good spirits right now. The water is boiling, I figure give it 20 minutes then cool for the mash! Just drank an Avery Karma for inspiration. I'll keep updating...

Alright hit a mash temp of 155.7 and was aiming for 154 oh well 1.7 degrees off is the closest I've ever come to hitting temp

Looks like a nice thermometer you have there.

Yes I borrowed it from work but hey they're saving money right? Anyway it's got T-type thermocouples and it's NIST traceable calibrated and seems to be within .1F! I checked it to the temp of boiling water at my altitude and barometer reading and it was right on.

Looks like you have it going in the right direction, Brew On Brother!:rockin:

Finished sparging (batch sparge) collected about 12 gallons of wort. Temp only fell to about 154F. The hydrometer sample is still cooling. The boil is started with a nice hot break. Hops are added and I just remembered the other thing I changed. I used Target hops for the 60 min addition because I didn't want to use whole leaf and that is all my LHBS had. It's going very well so far! This is my third AG batch!

Thats a h*ll of a setup for only your third AG! (Jealous) Propane tank is nice and big too!

Thanks! Got it all cleaned up and two fermenters sitting in the basement. My efficiency was not good, not sure what it is yet as I haven't calculated it but I missed my OG by quite a bit. I think it was supposed to be 1.057 but I ended up with 1.048! Dang it!

OK so after two weeks in the fermenter, the gravity on the Wit I yeast is 1.009. The SG on the Wit II yeast is 1.015!. I did run out of Oxygen when I was aerating the two different carboys. The Wit I got hit with the O2 and the Wit II got shaken to aerate. Apparently it wasn't enough. I'm going to keep checking the SG to see if it is really done at this point but I think it is.

Question is, how should I continue from here? I'm thinking keg the one that finished out nice and dry and tastes good. Then take the yeast from that one (kegged), build up a nice big starter then throw it on the one that still needs to dry out.

Help!

I would try samples from each one and make a decision. It might taste really good at that gravity.

weirdboy said:

I would try samples from each one and make a decision. It might taste really good at that gravity.

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Actually I did taste them. I should have put that in my post. Anyway I really liked the one that attenuated down to 1.009. It was a more crisp and refreshing ale which is what i really wanted. It was also a little lighter on the citrus flavors. The 1.015 was still fairly sweet and very grainy to me. The citrus was huge to me. I thought it tasted good but not great. I thought about blending them but not sure if thats a good idea. One has to go in the keg and the other has to get bottled. Thanks for the advice!

I was able to brew this up last Thursday during my week off. I hit 1.052, but I ended up with almost 6 gallons so I used too much water. I used the WL 400 yeast, and should have used a blow off tube. Those buggers were active! I only shook to aerate, so it will be interesting to see how much attenuation I get. I might have to look into using oxygen if it makes that much of a difference.

Why not just leave it alone for another 2 weeks. ?

JesseRC said:

Why not just leave it alone for another 2 weeks. ?

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Not a bad Idea. In the meantime I guess I can Keg the batch that fully attenuated and drink it. Maybe in a couple weeks it'll finish out. Got to check the gravity again tonight and see if it moved at all.

nopride said:

I was able to brew this up last Thursday during my week off. I hit 1.052, but I ended up with almost 6 gallons so I used too much water. I used the WL 400 yeast, and should have used a blow off tube. Those buggers were active! I only shook to aerate, so it will be interesting to see how much attenuation I get. I might have to look into using oxygen if it makes that much of a difference.

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Ya the one with the WLP400 yeast and O2 blew off like crazy for me. Definitely need that blow-off tube!

I checked my SG last night, and it's down to 1.010. That isn't too much different than your first batch. Maybe it's the different yeast that accounts for the different attenuation?

nopride said:

I checked my SG last night, and it's down to 1.010. That isn't too much different than your first batch. Maybe it's the different yeast that accounts for the different attenuation?

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That could be. By the way I ended up blending 5 gallons of the low FG with 2.5 gallons of the high FG then racked the remaining 2.5G of high FG into the other fermenter to see if it would dry out and it's happily fermenting away as we speak. The blended batch tastes great!

I'm actually tasting it side by side with some Hoeggarden and some Leffe. It tastes much closer to the Hoeggarden (Wit) then the Leffe (Belgian Blonde). At any rate it is a very good beer. Thanks BierMuncher!

Sorry for the cell phone pic but here is the SWMBO Slayer sitting between the Hoeggarden (left) and the Leffe (Right)

Just a thought but, I have gone to the website for the manufacturer of the yeast to read up on the expected characteristics.
Did you do this? If so what are the differences between the 2 yeast's?
John

Buzz1 said:

Just a thought but, I have gone to the website for the manufacturer of the yeast to read up on the expected characteristics.
Did you do this? If so what are the differences between the 2 yeast's?
John

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Here is what I found:

It looks like the Higher final grav (wit 2 1.015 67%) did not fully attenuate. I was worried about this since I didn't get a good aeration and I didn't use a starter. Oh well after blending I have a beer that tastes really good!

WLP400 Belgian Wit Ale Yeast
Slightly phenolic and tart, this is the original yeast used to produce Wit in Belgium.
Attenuation: 74-78%
Flocculation: Low to Medium
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 67-74°F
Alcohol Tolerance: Medium


* WLP410 Belgian Wit II Ale Yeast
PLATINUM STRAIN – May/June
Less phenolic than WLP400, and more spicy. Will leave a bit more sweetness, and flocculation is higher than WLP400. Use to produce Belgian Wit, spiced Ales, wheat Ales, and specialty Beers.
Attenuation: 70-75%
Flocculation: Low to Medium
Optimum Fermentation Temperature: 67-74°F
Alcohol Tolerance: Medium

Great response!
I am surprised that the higher gravity beer was brewed with a yeast that had a higher attenuation rate.
Glad your beer turned out!
John