Double the Yeast Fuel??

[tim.jamison]

Well my brewing partner and I were enjoying are pervious brew a little too much while starting our porter. With our brew pack came a yeast fuel and we had an extra one as well so we put thinking that it might help it out but within 12 hours foam keeps coming out of the airlock and pressure shoot the airlock lid into the air. We taped the lid down but i don't know if that will help out.. did you ruin our batch?? If anyone knows anything about this please help me out.

 

[Beermaker]

No, its ok, just a vigorous fermenting. Its okay, try to put a blow off tube from the top of the fermentor to a bucket of water. The foam will go out the tube into the bucket. The water serves as your air lock. Dont tape it closed. You will soon be cleaning your ceiling.

 

[ajf]

Sounds to me like you overfilled your primary fermenter.
The good news is that the fermentation is creating a positive pressure, so no nasties can get in to the brew. The bad news is that the spewing can make a terrible mess on the floor.
If it is still causing you problems, then try pouring some of the brew down the drain to create a bit of head space. (For a 5 gallon brew, I would always use a 6 1/2 gallon primary fermenter.)

If you cannot bring yourself to throw away any brew, then mop up the mess until it stops spewing, then refill the airlock.

-a.

 

[Blaine]

Not sure what recipe you were using that called for two lots of yeast but I was thinking of trying that on my next Lager in an attempt to speed up fermentation at the lower lager temperature!!!.... Hopefuly with better results than Tim.

Any thoughts ?????

 

[Rookie]

Blaine wrote, "Not sure what recipe you were using that called for two lots of yeast but I was thinking of trying that on my next Lager in an attempt to speed up fermentation at the lower lager temperature!!!.... Hopefuly with better results than Tim."

You do want to go with a lot of yeast if you are starting your lager ferment at a low temperature.

 

[casebrew]

Not sure what recipe you were using that called for two lots of yeast but I was thinking of trying that on my next Lager in an attempt to speed up fermentation at the lower lager temperature!!!.... Hopefuly with better results than Tim.

Any thoughts ?????

Yeast critters double in numbers in -what, every 20 minutes? So doubling the yeast to begin with ought to make a fermentation...20 minutes faster?

I'm thinking of only using 1/2 an envelope of dry yeast, and mixing my starter 20 minutes earlier...

Edited to change my math, per David 42, see below:

OKAY, so doubling the yeast/starter/fuel, will save 2 hours, of what... a 7-14 day process? I guess an adaquite number of yeasties, and good starting, would maximize chances of some possible problems....

 

[david_42]

The doubling time for yeast is 2 hours. Bacteria double in 20 minutes. That's why we stress about cooling the wort and getting a good start on the fermentation.

 

[mpetty]

Yeast critters double in numbers in -what, every 20 minutes? So doubling the yeast to begin with ought to make a fermentation...20 minutes faster?

I'm thinking of only using 1/2 an envelope of dry yeast, and mixing my starter 20 minutes earlier...

Edited to change my math, per David 42, see below:

OKAY, so doubling the yeast/starter/fuel, will save 2 hours, of what... a 7-14 day process? I guess an adaquite number of yeasties, and good starting, would maximize chances of some possible problems....

Not only are you saving 2 hours (2 hours, who cares?), but you are decreasing the off flavors that are created during the replication phase of the yeast.

 

[eolle]

Not only are you saving 2 hours (2 hours, who cares?), but you are decreasing the off flavors that are created during the replication phase of the yeast.

FWIW. Doubling time and fermentation rates are not the same thing. The doubling time is how long it take the yeast to divide. Fermentation rate is how long it take the yeast to convert a sugar molecule into ethanol and CO2. In a simple system...doubling the number of yeast would cut the brewing time in 1/2. However this is not a simple system. With a optimal pitching rate you can cut days off of a brew! The fastest I've done is an ale with a big starter O.G: 1.062 FG: 1.010 finished in 3 days! That same brew with a single tube of white labs took 8 days to complete. There was a good study done I believe by the Edinbourgh Brewery Institute (?I believe) that showed a linear relationship between pitching rates and fermentation rates...up to a point. Then it became the law of diminishing returns.

-Eric