First time using S04, SUPER fast fermentation?

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bonecitybrewco

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Brewed two 5 gallon batches of Oktoberfast Ale on the weekend, my first time using S04. Wondering if this rate of fermentation is normal? OG was 1.060. Target FG is around 1.014-1.016

We brewed Saturday, had airlock activity within a few hours, and as of last night, beer was down to 1.022. Krausen formed and fell within 24 hours (crazy to me). Sample tasted amazing other than some slight yeasty/fruity smell. Ambient temp in location is around 65F. Was hoping to warm this up to around 72 and let the yeast clean up after itself after primary, but being almost there, I am wondering if the yeast will even be able to do that. The airlock bubbling rate has slowed down, so the yeast have obviously slowed down.

The interesting thing is the other batch has been sitting in a colder location and has a huge Krausen and is around the same gravity.

Any thoughts? Is this normal to almost ferment out in 3 days with S04? It's possible my temps were a bit on the high side, but with no obvious esters other than a yeasty smell, it seems unlikely, no?
 
S04 is a beast, and given a 65°F ambient sans actual temperature control, it's almost a sure bet that beer was over 70°F during the throes of fermentation, and 3 days to hit FG was a lock...

Cheers!

That said, I'm guessing that given the sample had no off flavours, that the beer won't have any ester issues etc? AKA just let it ride and it will be fine? AKA RDWHAHB? Obviously, concern was yeast falling out before cleaning up and secondary becoming redundant really, but I will just let it ride for another 7 days and see what happens.
 
I brewed an Octoberfest with 04 on Saturday: OG 1.057, today it's sitting at 1.016 and will probably be finished up by tomorrow. Totally normal, mine fermented at 64º

Will probably raise it up to 72 overnight and then immediately cold crash so I can keg on Saturday.
 
I brewed an Octoberfest with 04 on Saturday: OG 1.057, today it's sitting at 1.016 and will probably be finished up by tomorrow. Totally normal, mine fermented at 64º

Will probably raise it up to 72 overnight and then immediately cold crash so I can keg on Saturday.

1 week turnaround? That just seems insane and goes against everything we are told, no? I am very excited at the prospect of a 1 week beer.
 
1 week turnaround? That just seems insane and goes against everything we are told, no? I am very excited at the prospect of a 1 week beer.


I use S-04 and S-05 almost exclusively... especially S-05


I love them..

I get vigorous ferments starting within the first hour or two most cases... Krausen usually falls sometime between 48-72 hrs... I give it two weeks and then cold crash, but I'm pretty sure I could cut that down some....

If you want to see a really fast ferment, try Nottingham... Krausen falls in less than 24 hours... done in 7 days or less.. but I give it ten.. ;)
 
1 week turnaround? That just seems insane and goes against everything we are told, no? I am very excited at the prospect of a 1 week beer.

Nothing crazy about it! The beer may not be drinkable after 1 week but in my experience, many ale yeasts ferment out within 3-5 days. My Brewpi tracks gravity with a Tilt (formerly Brewometer) which I've used all summer and I was even surprised to see that the lagers (1.04 OG) reached FG within 7 days.

You can see my latest beer here which was a stout. The data got a little noisy at the end but it was fully fermented at about day 3.5 (it doesn't handle cold crashing well, that's not a real FG drop).
 
Given proper pitch rates, some would be surprised how quickly some beers ferment. My lagers are often fully attenuated in a week's time.
 
1 week turnaround? That just seems insane and goes against everything we are told, no? I am very excited at the prospect of a 1 week beer.

No, if it's done at 5 days, it's not going to get doner at 10 days or 15 days.

I am not on the "leave your beer in the fermenter 10 years" bandwagon, so I'm not sure of why they feel that longer is better.

If you use a quick fermenting highly flocculant yeast (like S04) and the beer is finished and clear (since it drops clear like a rock super fast), why wouldn't you go ahead and package it? I would. The only thing aging a beer that doesn't need aging will do is make it old faster.
 
As a homebrewer, this is one reason why I like using glass carboys as primary fermenters. You can see what's going on.
I bought a kit with two food grade plastic buckets. The one with a spigot does its designated duty, but the big six gallon bucket doubles as a sanitation bucket and ferments nothing.
 
No, if it's done at 5 days, it's not going to get doner at 10 days or 15 days.



I am not on the "leave your beer in the fermenter 10 years" bandwagon, so I'm not sure of why they feel that longer is better.



If you use a quick fermenting highly flocculant yeast (like S04) and the beer is finished and clear (since it drops clear like a rock super fast), why wouldn't you go ahead and package it? I would. The only thing aging a beer that doesn't need aging will do is make it old faster.


Thanks Yooper. Appreciate it! Bottled today. Everything went well. Now to hurry up and wait...
 
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