Fermentation

[Talsma]

Just started my first batch yesterday..already fermenting after 24 hours. It's a caramel cream stout with safale s 04.

1. Is this normal to ferment this fast?

2. The foam is pressing its way through my air lock. What should I do? How long will this continue?

 

[pabloj13]

Just started my first batch yesterday..already fermenting after 24 hours. It's a caramel cream stout with safale s 04.

1. Is this normal to ferment this fast?

2. The foam is pressing its way through my air lock. What should I do? How long will this continue?

1. Yes it can be normal, but it will be especially vigorous if it is too warm. What temp are you at?

2. You need to install a blowoff tube ASAP. Search on here. There are a billion threads about them. Either that or get your mop ready.

 

[jestmaty]

#2.. blow off tube asap! I've been brewing for about a year and a half and needed a blowoff tube for the first time on my last batch! I used my first-ever liquid yeast AND a stir plate. A day into the fermentation, it had filled the airlock with krausen and gunk, threw on a blow off tube asap!

You can see the 'spooge' on the bottom of the freezer that got away before I installed my blowoff tube

 

[Talsma]

Is there a special set up for the blow off or can I just pick up some tubing and a buck from home depot that fits the fermenter lid?

 

[Talsma]

And my apartment is between 65 and 72 degrees and it's on a tile floor on ground level

 

[pabloj13]

And my apartment is between 65 and 72 degrees and it's on a tile floor on ground level

Keep in mind that active fermentation will run 5-10 degrees above ambient. That might be too warm for S-04 depending on how cold you chilled the wort prior to pitching.

Yeah any tubing that will fit air tight will work. Any sort of container (bucket, pickle jar, mason jar, etc.) will work. Fill it with sanitizer.

 

[Talsma]

Okay, got my tubing from an aquarium hook up at Meijer..crossing my fingers on it holdong

 

[pabloj13]

Okay, got my tubing from an aquarium hook up at Meijer..crossing my fingers on it holdong

View attachment 75982

Well done. Next step, make a swamp cooler to control those fermentation temps!

 

[jestmaty]

Young grasshopper.... well done!

Two more steps...... as pabloj13 said, make a swamp cooler to make a controllable environment. And, buy a $3 thermometer strip to stick along the side of your fermenter. It reads the temp on the plastic/glass side of the fermenter and is a GREAT measure of just how warm or cool things are.

The fermentation above was primarily at 70*F, but the chamber was set for 60*F, hence the active time of fermentation was about 10* higher then my "air temp"

Oh... and for Gosh sake, throw a t-shirt over that clear fermenter, light wreaks havoc on your yeast/beer, especially florescent(sp?) light

 

[Talsma]

Thanks for the tips..I'll have to run out and get that thermo strip..and find a shirt big enough and stylish enough for my new friend haha

 

[Talsma]

For the swamp box..is it just a small box freezer box? What's the general cost?

 

[kh54s10]

I start all of my fermentation with a blowoff tube set up. You never know when it is going to be needed and it really beats cleaning krausen off the ceiling.

Because I always (since my second brew) use a blow off I have never needed to do a cleanup.

 

[pabloj13]

For the swamp box..is it just a small box freezer box? What's the general cost?

I have been using a method like Nordeast's here. It was $5 for a rope tub from Wal-Mart and a couple empty 2L bottles that I froze into ice blocks. Fill tub halfway up the fermenter with water and add ice until the wort is the desired temp (low to mid 60s for S-04). Then add ice as necessary to keep the temps down. Works like a champ and CHEAP.

 

[JordanThomas]

I have been using a method like Nordeast's here. It was $5 for a rope tub from Wal-Mart and a couple empty 2L bottles that I froze into ice blocks. Fill tub halfway up the fermenter with water and add ice until the wort is the desired temp (low to mid 60s for S-04). Then add ice as necessary to keep the temps down. Works like a champ and CHEAP.

This is what I do as well. after letting my EsB ferment really high, I didn't want it to happen again.

 

[Hackwood]

and find a shirt big enough and stylish enough for my new friend haha

Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice!

 

[Talsma]

Finally calmed down enough to put my air lock back on..dry hopping on Sunday..and bottling next Sunday..now for the caramel stout, I was told I should add a little sugar to the beer before bottling to bring out the sweetness of the caramel. Has anyone done this yet?

 

[pabloj13]

Finally calmed down enough to put my air lock back on..dry hopping on Sunday..and bottling next Sunday..now for the caramel stout, I was told I should add a little sugar to the beer before bottling to bring out the sweetness of the caramel. Has anyone done this yet?

Any regular sugar will be fermented out in the bottle (and if it is too much you can have bottle bombs). Maybe add some non-fermentable sugar like lactose?

 

[Talsma]

Yeah that's what I was thinking..never heard the term bottle bombs though

 

[pabloj13]

Yeah that's what I was thinking..never heard the term bottle bombs though

Yeah search around on the site. They can be quite dangerous. Adding fermentables right before bottling (other than the correct amount of priming sugar) or bottling before fermentation is complete can be catastrophic.

 

[duboman]

Finally calmed down enough to put my air lock back on..dry hopping on Sunday..and bottling next Sunday..now for the caramel stout, I was told I should add a little sugar to the beer before bottling to bring out the sweetness of the caramel. Has anyone done this yet?

Slow down and forget calendar dates!
Yeast work hard but not by calendar. Before doing anything you need to take gravity readings to ensure fermentation is complete. I will usually wait two weeks from active fermentation which you are experiencing now to take the first. Then wait a day and take another. If the 2readings are the same then you can begin dry hopping and then proceed to package.

As for adding sugar, IMO the only sugar you need to add is the priming sugar at bottling time. If you add additional sugar and it does not fully ferment you will definitely wind up with bottle bombs-exploding glass all over the place and no beer to show for the disaster created!