Lag time for high gravity beers

My first Octoberfest beer is a wee bit heavy at 1.062 OG. I pitched a pretty darn big WLP029 starter Sunday night and as of this morning, I had fermentation activity of about 1 bloop per 40 seconds on my 3 piece vodka filled airlock.

This is the biggest beer I've ever done, so I'm not sure with the amount of normal lag time. The previous weekend I brewed a rain water Kolsch and put it on a WLP029 cake and had fermentation in under an hour. It was much lighter at 1.044 OG.

I'm out of town now, but I hope I don't have much to worry about. It's in my chest freezer at 65 degrees till I get back.

Since it's the vogue topic of the week... aeration strategy?

1.062 is the biggest you've ever done?

Hey, Ed, what color are your panties? Pink or baby-blue?

olllllo said:

Since it's the vogue topic of the week... aeration strategy?

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I use this for about 40 seconds.

Evan! said:

1.062 is the biggest you've ever done?

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Besides my Apfelwein and a Cabernet Sauvignon, yep. My next IPA may be bigger. I'm not a fan of heavy brews, so I would not drink it. I may do one just for $hit$ & giggles and bottle it to send in to competitions and people like you (just to show of my brewing genius)

Evan! said:

Hey, Ed, what color are your panties? Pink or baby-blue?

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If you must know, they are boxers of various colors ranging black to white with frosty beer mugs & pretzels on them.

My 1.102 Barley wine took off in about 18 hours. Little more lag time than I normally get. Within 36 hours I had to put the blow off hose on.

EdWort said:

Besides my Apfelwein and a Cabernet Sauvignon, yep. My next IPA may be bigger. I'm not a fan of heavy brews, so I would not drink it. I may do one just for $hit$ & giggles and bottle it to send in to competitions and people like you (just to show of my brewing genius)

If you must know, they are boxers of various colors ranging black to white with frosty beer mugs & pretzels on them.

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I asked what color your panties are...you know, the things you wear when you brew those little wimpy ladies drinks that you like so much?

To be serious...my palate is a bit of a paradigm. When it comes to wine, I'm all France...all about terroir, balance, finesse, grace and subtlety. But beer...well...I tend towards the "kick you in the ass and laugh at you as you stumble home in a drunken stupor" kind of brews. Not to say that I'm not a huge fan of balanced brews---in fact, one of my favorite breweries is Brooklyn...and Garrett is famous for balanced, traditionally-style beers. But there's nothing quite as mind-blowing as a Mephistopheles or a Ruination.

yeah man cider gives me a headache, so i have to drink a big beer to numb myself.

Is this why you want the 3L erlynmeyer flask?

It will be cool pitching a 3L starter at high krausen...should take off in no time

EdWort said:

I use this for about 40 seconds.

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Oxygenation is great and will produce top-notch results, but keep in mind it will extend the lag time. Yeast won't start fermenting and producing CO2 until there is no more oxygen.

How big was your starter big boy?
Even if you underpitched (used only the contents of the vial from WLP) you should see some action within 8-12 hrs with adequate aeration.

The first time I used a WLP029 vial only, it took 36 hours before I got any action. This time, I used a 1L starter.

EdWort said:

My first Octoberfest beer is a wee heavy

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Wait! Your first Oktoberfest is a Wee Heavy? I am sooo confused

(jk)

Fwiw, I don't make too many high gravity brews myself. Most clock in around 4.5% to 5.0% when all is said and done.

Yeah, it'll be 6.9% if I get my F.G.

I am by far no expert (still a noob barreling down the AG path), but I did do an IIPA a few weeks back. The OG was just barely 1.090. I made my first one liter starter using a Wyeast smack pack. I had fermentation within a few hours that lasted two weeks. I still get some bubbling after having moved it to the secondary where it will sit for another 8 weeks before I bottle.

Greg

I just made a 1.062 Belgium Dubble and pitched a 2liter starter. It was bubbling rapidly in 6 hours and had a huge blowoff when I got home 18 hours after pitching.
On the other hand I had a Mild at 1.034 that took 3 days to start. So i don't think starting gravity is a big factor in lag time.
Craig