Yeast Suspended in Primary

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

hsodano

New Member
Joined
May 26, 2016
Messages
2
Reaction score
0
I am brewing a 10 gallon all grain Munich Helles using WLP860 and the yeast appears to be suspended in the fermenter in a way I have not seen before and wanted to get any opinions on weather it is contaminated. I used a plate chiller, yeast starter, aerated the wort with oxygen and am lagering at 52F. The attached picture is 3 days after pitching. The beer is very clear and I usually have much more haze in my primary so I wasn't sure if I just haven't been able to see the flocculation of the yeast in the past or if something went wrong. The WLP860 is a specialty yeast and may also behave differently.

Any advice would be appreciated.

IMG_1915.jpg
 
I'm guessing you split the 10gal between two fermentors, do they look the same?
What did the first couple days of fermentation? How much yeast did you pitch?
 
I did split the batch into two 6 gallon carboys and then other is behind in that image with a similar yeast flocculation. I haven't tasted it but the gravity was about 1.052 to start and the yeast appeared this way after the first day. I pitched a half liter started into each.

I have never been able to see clear through a primary fermenter.
 
To me, that looks like hot-break material, which makes me wonder if fermentation has even started.

A 1.0L starter of WLP860 would have been a very small starter for 10 gallons of Lager. 2.0L for each 5 gallon carboy would have been closer to the recommended pitch rate.

Give the batch a few more days and see if the yeast manage to catch up, or try pitching a packet or two of 34/70 into each.

>Edit<
https://www.dropbox.com/sc/dm3gpkf3j1dwhwr/AACFtz0Lu5n5hlqy9k0spxb5a

This is what the hot-break in my canned starter wort looks like.
 
Nice nerf gun pellet beside the primary. You must have kids as those are a regular site around my house.
 
Severely underpitched unfortunately. Each of those carboys should have gotten at least 2 liters of starter and that's on the low end. I'm not sure that has started fermenting yet.
 
Back
Top