First time bizarre 3944 fermentation

[Rev2010]

Not sure why I'm posting this, I'm not worried or anything and know the beer will be fine - been brewing like crazy for a year now so I've seen the variances, but this one is intriguing. I'm making a White Peach Wit (peach not added yet) and everything went according to plan and I basically used a slightly modified version of my Belgian Wit as the base minus the orange peel and reducing the coriander. Anyhow, the Wyeast pack fully inflated as usual over the entire brew time (say about 3 hours from smack to pitch) and is dated less than a month old. Next morning fermentation was bubbling away very nicely, but there was no krausen. Looking into the wort I could see the liquid visibly active meaning I could see motion in the wort, it was slowly flowing like there were undercurrents. Temps also went up two degrees celsius. But the next morning the activity seemed to slow to a near crawl both visibly and via the airlock.

This isn't a "my airlock isn't bubbling thread"!! I'm well aware of that whole thing so don't pidgeonhole me, just mentioning it. Anyhow, a krausen still never formed when I always had a long held krausen before with this yeast. Not worried about it of course and I've read the oil in oats can prevent krausen etc etc.

Anyhow, it's just odd. The temp dropped back down the 2 degrees and it's just sitting there. I'm sure it will be fine in 3 weeks, I just found this interestingly odd and thought I would share lol.


Rev.

 

[Rev2010]

Well, this morning it dropped down to 17C, just above the bottom of the temp range for the strain so I moved the fermenter into a warmer room and put a blanket around it. Should get it going again I'd think.


Rev.

 

[Coff]

I had alot of problems with the batch I made last weekend, one carboy took off and the other never got going ( 2 different strains, same wort). It was unexpectedly 16 degrees in my area so my basement hit 58f, I put a heating pad under the fermenter and it took off in about 2 hours.

Different issue then yours but probably the same solution?

 

[Rev2010]

Different issue then yours but probably the same solution?

Yeah I'll know when I get home from work. I keep my fermenters in my hallway which is significantly cooler than the rest of the house since it leads to the front door. Never been a problem though since fermentation always kicks up the temps and the hallway ambient temp is probably like 60, I should check on that actually. Anyhow, the kitchen is at 70 so if temp was the issue it should be kicked up again by the time I get home.


Rev.

 

[Rev2010]

Mystery solved - no change so I took a hydro reading and it's actually finished. I hit 1.010 FG in under 4 days. I've never had this strain finish so fast and usually the krausen is still on top at 2 weeks, this time no krausen at all. Interesting Going to add the white peach this weekend.


Rev.

 

[AKnewbrews]

Yeah, I have a 3944 fermenting a wit right now and I pitched on Sunday afternoon two weeks ago, going on the 3rd week. There is still lots of krausen, slow airlock activity, and it is at 70 degrees. Makes me wonder if it's done yet. I still have to pitch pomegranate to a secondary.

 

[psubrewer]

I used 3944 yeast for a wit last month and had almost the same experience. Little krausen and very slow airlock activity. It attenuated very well after 5 days. I have to say though, the beer turned out great.

I pitched a tripel on top of that yeast cake and this also attenuated rather quickly with minimal airlock activity.

 

[callback79]

I know it's a semi-old thread but count me in the group for this super fast fermentation with #3944.

The krausen has been on the low side too and the beer is now on the 5th days in the fermenter. Just took a look at the fermenter and the krausen was mainly dropped. That gives me the idea to take a look at the gravity.

1010 on the 5th days @68F. OG was 1.050. This is a new hydrometer, I just check to see if it's accurate and tap water is at 0997 so it might be off a few points. Anyway, attenuation has been quick in my opinion. I've seen a lot of thread with people claiming this yeast is veeeery lazy and took 3 weeks to a month to attenuate well.

 

[April15Hater]

Don't mean to revive an old thread, but my experience seems to be a bit different.

My session is a Belgian Wit where I pitch 3942, however this time I decided to try the 3944. Normally with the 3942, I have a 4 day fermentation as noted by others in this thread with the 3944 and was expecting something similar. However, I pitched the 3944 last Monday (7 days tomorrow), and it's still fermenting. What's even more odd is that the Krausen really started growing yesterday. I have it in a big mouth, but no blow off, so I'm hoping that it doesn't get to much bigger, but was interested if anyone else had a similar experience.