Bells yeast very slow fermenter

[rtstrider]

I've recently cultured up some Bells yeast from a 6 pack of two hearted ale. I used the following instructions https://www.homebrewtalk.com/Harvesting-Yeast-from-commercial-bottles.html (cold crashing/decanting as soon as it moved to the stir plate and every step up from there) and actually built it up to a 2 liter starter for insurance. I saved a half liter of slurry and ended up decanting the last 1.5 Liters and pitching that. It was a VERY hefty slurry. It was really thick and gelatinous...Almost a spitting image of the yeast you get from White Labs now. I brewed an Amber with an OG of 1.053 so it wasn't crazy high or anything. Anywho I pitched the slurry into 60f wort on 7/12 around 4pm and set the temp controller at 64f (let it free rise). It krausened at 12 hours and hit high krausen at day 3. I bumped the temperature up to 68f (let it free rise) yesterday morning (day 5) to help speed things up a tad. Just checked this morning and it's still going strong. The krausen is still in place, tons of co2 is being generated, etc. I'm going to let this ride out but wanted to know if anyone else had experiences with Bells yeast fermenting slower than a granny in the fast lane on a Tuesday? Today at 4pm will be 6 full days of fermentation and that's out of the norm for me at these temps/gravity. If this were a lager (fermenting at low temps) or a higher gravity ale then I'd definitely expect this sluggishness but not a low/mid gravity ale in the mid 60's lol.

 

[Pappers_]

I don't have any experience with Bell's yeast, but for me, active (visible) fermentation lasting six days doesn't seem slow. Yes, many beers appear to be 'done' (again, visually) after three days, but six isn't slow or unusual. But that's just my experience, of course.

 

[rtstrider]

I don't have any experience with Bell's yeast, but for me, active (visible) fermentation lasting six days doesn't seem slow. Yes, many beers appear to be 'done' (again, visually) after three days, but six isn't slow or unusual. But that's just my experience, of course.

Yeah in this case I'm just looking at visible fermentation. Usually I'll let it sit in primary for at least 7 days at 68f after visible signs are done. Figure that gives it time to clean up and such prior to cold crashing/gelatin or bottling.

 

[JWK]

Just brewed an Oberon clone with a 3 pack starter. 24 hrs in and a crazy high krausen. I'll post back in a few days to compare.

 

[rtstrider]

Of course naturally the yeast is settling down and starting to floc out right at 6 days. Going to leave the fermenter at 68f till next Wednesday then I'm racking to secondary and hitting with gelatin for 7 days prior to bottling

 

[OnePlate]

I made a blonde ale with Bells yeast cultured from some Oberon and yeah, it definitely took a few extra days to finish fermenting. I think it took about 4 or 5 days at 65F to reach terminal gravity from only 1.045 or so. It's certainly not a fast performer.

 

[rtstrider]

Yep very VERY slow! I bumped it up to 68f two days ago and now the krausen is dropping so it's finishing up fermentation. Should be ready to rack to secondary and cold crash/gelatin Wednesday I'm hoping

 

[couchsending]

I’d agree it’s a bit slow... but worth the wait! I wonder if there are any specific tricks when it comes to pitch rate and O2 to optimize it. Someone should reach out to Bells and see, since they’re offering their yeast for sale now.

I’ve used the Midwest ale from TYB quite often And love the results. Last week I brought some Oberon home and harvested some Hill Farmstead yeast from some cans of Walden on the same day. Hill Farmstead yeast was literally twice as fast every step of the way.

The Bells yeast makes phenomenal beer. It might be slower than Chico but it floccs and you can top crop it. It’s definitely my go to for clean American ales. I find it does seem to amplify malt while not sacrificing hop flavor/aroma. I don’t use much in the way of specialty malts in hoppy beers but even too much pale ale malt as opposed to 2 row can get a little over powering.

 

[z-bob]

I've used Bell's (Oberon) yeast once to make a porter. I don't remember anything remarkable about the fermentation, but the beer turned out wonderful. I need to use it again before the yeast slurry in the fridge gets too old...

 

[kingmatt]

I just brewed a pale ale with the Imperial Bell's House strain, top cropped and brewed a Two Hearted clone, top cropped again and plan to brew an Oberon clone with it next.

It produces a MASSIVE krausen so it is a great top cropper but it does take forever to drop out and finish. It is worth the wait though.

I just tried my Two Hearted clone and it is dead on. I can't wait to try it fermented a little warmer in the Oberon clone.

 

[rtstrider]

I did not get a massive krausen this go around. Now the first time I used Bell's yeast I had to use a blow off. This was just like a normal chico ferment except MUCH slower. I took a gravity reading yesterday and it's down to 1.010 and has a "hot" flavor to it. Seeing as it took forever to ferment I'm just going to leave it in primary for a few more days to see if it cleans up. If it does somewhat then I'll toss it in secondary for a bit and age it for a few more weeks just to see what happens. Worst case it's a dumper, best case it's a SLOWWWW yeast Luckily I'll be brewing a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale clone this weekend so I'll have something to take up the primary fermenter in the meantime.

 

[rtstrider]

Just wanted to give a heads up. The yeast has cleaned up the hot flavors. It still has a TON of mellowing and such to do. I've verified the sugar munching portion of fermentation is complete though. Took a gravity reading 5 days apart and they both showed 1.010. Going to rack this over to secondary for 2 weeks to free up a fermenter (brewing a Sierra Nevada Pale ale clone tomorrow). Figured I could cold crash/gelatin both brews at the same time then worst case age the amber in bottles.

 

[JWK]

I'm 10 days in and still bubbling away. Gravity this a.m. was at 1.020 still. Slowest yeast I've dealt with so far.

 

[rtstrider]

I'm 10 days in and still bubbling away. Gravity this a.m. was at 1.020 still. Slowest yeast I've dealt with so far.

Yeah I'm thinking my yeast was petered out to begin with. The Krausen wasn't crazy high like it normally is. This was built up from two hearted. The other, successful one, was built up from Oberon

 

[OnePlate]

I've read in other threads that yeast from Two Hearted has issues because of the stress its been under due to the high IBUs of that beer. Oberon or Bells Amber are the way to go.

 

[rtstrider]

I've read in other threads that yeast from Two Hearted has issues because of the stress its been under due to the high IBUs of that beer. Oberon or Bells Amber are the way to go.

I wouldn't think it would be due to the IBU's. It seems to me that it might be due to the higher alcohol content. Anywho I'm giving it 3 full weeks in secondary, at room temp, and will just see what the heck happens If it's mellowing out/getting better, then I'll just bottle it at that time, set them aside, and forget about them for a few months. If not then it'll be a dumper/lesson learned

 

[JWK]

Well, the 1.020 is just where it quit. Put in a pack of S05 to see if it will finish in the right neighborhood.