Should I worry about slow fermentation?

[jbug440]

Hi,
Im new to home brewing and finally decided to make a post here.I did one extract and went to all grain and have done about 6 batches so far. My latest batch is a belgian wit for my wife. I had an o.g. of 1.056 and made a starter of WLP001.My starter didnt exactly take of compared to previous starters,there where no bubbles or krausen but I didnt worry about it and pitched it. It took about 3 days for any activity to appear in my carboy,when it did it has been a slow fermentation. The beer has been in primary for 16 days now with 1 small bubble in my airlock every 5 seconds. I took a gravity reading today and it is at 1.029. I had planned on racking to secondary at day 14 and adding some more sweet orange peel to the fermenter,then let it secondary for another 7-10 days. I guess i need some advice on what to do. How long should I let it stay in primary? I really wanted to open up my carboy this weekend for a brown ale my buddy and I were gonna do. Is there a certain gravity I should hit before racking? I have hit a fairly consistent temp of around 68 degrees throughout fermentation. The only problem I had with this beer was cooling it after the boil before i pitched. It took me about 2 1/2 hours to get it to 80 degrees when I pitched due to equipment failure.Sorry for such a long post.
Thanks,
Mike

 

[hmmmbeer]

Sounds to me like you may have a leak in your fermenter (bucket?) that is letting the Co2 out and you not even knowing it; Been there, done that. I would put some yeast nutrients in it or maybe even pitch another batch of yeast. it's nearly there but for the idea of opening up your fermenter, pitch another! brew that next batch!

 

[JonK331]

That seems way too slow for 001. WHat was your mash temp? If I were you I'd pitch a packet of Safale -05. It's the same strain and will most likely get you going again. You could always transfer to your secondary and pitch into that. Won't hurt anything and will free up your primary.

 

[jbug440]

my mash temp was about 154 maybe 156 at the highest. As far as a leak,I checked it seemed solid to me.

 

[COLObrewer]

. . . . I guess i need some advice on what to do. How long should I let it stay in primary? I really wanted to open up my carboy this weekend for a brown ale my buddy and I were gonna do. . . . .

You should let it stay in primary until fermentation is complete, when gravity is the same over a 3 day period, maybe a week. You may need to invest in another fermenting vessel.

. . . . Is there a certain gravity I should hit before racking? . . .

Not really as long as it is close to the projected FG and it has stabilized there, 3 days to a week.

Again, I think the answer is another fermenting vessel, you have my permission to procure one

Other thoughts from another post: Every fermentation is different due to numerous factors out of our control, not the least of which is probably: moon phase, barometric pressure, temperature, vibrations, etc.

I would call this success if it is fermenting, it's not a problem at all, normal comes to mind, it's RDWHAHB time

 

[jbug440]

I guess ill just leave it on the yeast cake and check the gravity on friday. I was planning on washing this yeast,but should I now? Ppl seem to say this is an aggressive yeast but not in this case. If I wash this yeast will it be slow again on the next batch?

 

[COLObrewer]

Crap shoot, only the yeast knows. The only problem I see could have been the starter didn't make enough yeast before you pitched it? If you want the yeast to perform differently next time you may want to start fresh.

 

[ColonelForbin]

You should let it stay in primary until fermentation is complete, when gravity is the same over a 3 day period, maybe a week. You may need to invest in another fermenting vessel.




Not really as long as it is close to the projected FG and it has stabilized there, 3 days to a week.

Again, I think the answer is another fermenting vessel, you have my permission to procure one

Other thoughts from another post: Every fermentation is different due to numerous factors out of our control, not the least of which is probably: moon phase, barometric pressure, temperature, vibrations, etc.

I would call this success if it is fermenting, it's not a problem at all, normal comes to mind, it's RDWHAHB time

ive heard about the moon thing, but vibrations??? please explain. and wouldnt the barometric pressure always be close to the same if you used the same fermenting vessel and had it filled to about the same level every time.

 

[COLObrewer]

ive heard about the moon thing, but vibrations??? please explain.

Sure,
Motors, noises, music, airplanes, wind, etc. all create vibrations of different frequencies, these vibrations all effect how/when the yeast flocc and probably how/when they split.

and wouldnt the barometric pressure always be close to the same if you used the same fermenting vessel and had it filled to about the same level every time.

Yes, if the barometric pressure of the world (specifically the geographic area you ferment in) is the same every day, which it is not.

My point is simply that there are things that effect fermentation that are NOT in our control and therefore all fermentations will differ in some way. Technically, this is the historical origin of the necessity for RDWHAHB.

 

[jbug440]

So I took a gravity reading last nite,which will be day 18 of primary. It went down from 1.029 to 1.024 last nite. Should I skip the secondary and just let it completely finish in primary? Should I add my last 1/2 oz. of sweet orange peel now,or wait till fermentation is complete then add it and wait a week? Should I just sprinkle it in my carboy,or put it in a hop bag and jam it in there?

I also tasted the hydro reading. It tastes alright but it smells kind of like rubbing alcohol. Any idea what's up with that? All my other batches went really well this one is a PITA. So sorry for all the noobie questions and Ty to all for your input.

Mike

 

[JonK331]

It tastes alright but it smells kind of like rubbing alcohol.

Do you know what your fermentation temperature was? High ferm temps can do that.

 

[jbug440]

It didn't get any higher than 72. It stayed between 68-70 the majority of the time.
Think the smell will remain? Or maybe it will get cleaned up or conditioned out?

 

[AKbrewer]

Pitching at 80 F is too high, it`s best to pitch right at fermentation temps. If I`m going to ferment at 67 I pitch at 67, less yeast stress that way which translates to less weird flavors,alcohols and better beer.

 

[jbug440]

My ic broke,I ran out of ice,and it took an hour in my kegerator to get it from 84 to 80. I ran out of options,it was really late so pitched the yeast. You learn from your mistakes...

On a happier side note, I brewed a brown ale yesterday. Last week I installed a permanent coil with qd's. I bought a submersible pump,froze three 2 liter bottles of water,and put them in my hlt full of water. Pumped the ice water through the coil,and was able to get my beer to 70 degrees and in the ferm. chamber in less than 30 minutes so I'm happy!!

 

[trigger]

That's how it starts...

Next thing you know you'll have 2 buckets, 4 carboys, a dozen kegs and a closet full of bottles...

I keep saying I need to befriend some alcoholics so I can brew more.