Three day fermentation?! Expertise needed!

[rustedbucket]

I brewed a batch Monday and used a second generation Conan/Trub mix. I literally transferred off of a yeast cake, removed some, and pitched my wort directly into the fermenter had just transferred out of.

My wort was 1.074, three days later (today) and it's at 1.008. It's an A/IPA with Pearl, oats, and Caramalt bittered with Apollo to target 75-80 IBUs.

My thought is to cold crash it and then hop it and move on. Is there any reason I should let it finish out? My target FG was 1.010, so I'm afraid that letting it finish will push it lower.

This has never happened before and don't really know how to approach it. Cold crash at 34-36 for a couple days and dry hop?

Thoughts?

What should I do?

 

[d3track]

How warm was it?
If you're bottling you need to let it finish out.

I'm of the opinion to just give it some time and let the yeast clean up, that could be a hot beer...

 

[flars]

Leave the beer in the primary until stable SG is reached. Kegging or bottling a beer before fermentation is complete will cause problems.

Attenuation percentages are just guidelines for comparing different yeasts. There are to many variables in brewing for these estimates to be exact.

 

[rustedbucket]

It fermented at 63 degrees. I won't be bottling as I've got a fridge that's been converted into a double-tap.

 

[titansvol]

leave it on the yeast longer. You need them to clean up.

 

[rustedbucket]

What does clean up mean? I talked with another home brewing friend and he said the same thing, but neither of us really knows what that means.

 

[Sammy86]

What does clean up mean? I talked with another home brewing friend and he said the same thing, but neither of us really knows what that means.

Clean up means exactly what it sounds like...the yeast create alcohol and CO2 as they eat the sugar and of course there are some byproducts that are produced during fermentation as well. Once primary fermentation is complete and before the yeast go into suspension they will eat the byproducts and other goodies created by fermentation then slowly fall asleep and fall to the bottom of your fermentor.

Cold crashing makes this happen a little faster of course and creates what many enjoy a very clear beer.

 

[jfr1111]

What does clean up mean? I talked with another home brewing friend and he said the same thing, but neither of us really knows what that means.

Reabsorbtion of medium compounds (acetaldehyde being the most notorious): the yeast will process these and transform them into other compounds.

It's important to not rack the beer off the yeast before this is completed, but if you pitched a good amount of healthy yeast, this process can be over roughly at the same time FG is achieved.

It's my personal experience that most ales* are done, meaning they do not need any more bulk aging on the cake, in 7 to 10 days and can be packaged at that time if final gravity has been reached. This doesn't mean that a second, longer aging in the package will not be beneficial, but it really depens on the beer.

* This can be strain dependant. Always use an hydrometer to measure gravity, moreso if packaging in bottles.

 

[ScrewyBrewer]

I've been raising the temperature of the fermenting beer 2 degrees, after about five days of fermentation to allow the yeast time to convert any off flavor causing precursors into flavorless compounds. After a few days at the higher temperature I cold crash the fermentors, this has produced very clean tasting beer for me.

Some folks think of the yeast as storing up energy before going dormant and it really is the same thing, its just that as they are storing up the 'energy' they are also reducing off flavors too.

 

[rustedbucket]

Interesting. Glad I asked, these are concepts that were unfamiliar to me.

I notice though two thoughts. Sammy mentions that cold crashing makes this happen quicker while Screwy suggests the opposite. This batch is now 4 days in and, based on Sammy's suggestion, I reduced my freezer temp to 50 degrees this morning to slowly bring the temp down. I was planning on bringing it further today when I get home from work. Should I not have done that?

I will say that the sample I pulled yesterday looked quite amazing. Krausen had already completely subsided and the clarity was surprising being only at 3 days. Is it possible, however unlikely, that my yeast was THAT healthy? Is it unheard of to have a beer finish that quickly?

Thanks for the help!

 

[d3track]

Interesting. Glad I asked, these are concepts that were unfamiliar to me.

I notice though two thoughts. Sammy mentions that cold crashing makes this happen quicker while Screwy suggests the opposite. This batch is now 4 days in and, based on Sammy's suggestion, I reduced my freezer temp to 50 degrees this morning to slowly bring the temp down. I was planning on bringing it further today when I get home from work. Should I not have done that?

I will say that the sample I pulled yesterday looked quite amazing. Krausen had already completely subsided and the clarity was surprising being only at 3 days. Is it possible, however unlikely, that my yeast was THAT healthy? Is it unheard of to have a beer finish that quickly?

Thanks for the help!

Floculation happens faster at cold temps, not the by-product re-uptake. The "clean up" phase happens more quickly at higher temps. That's part of the reason many lager Brewers use a diacetyl rest.

 

[rustedbucket]

So should I leave it at 50 or drop the temp to 34 to cold crash it completely? Or, further, assume by this point the beer may be done and dry hop it?

 

[m00ps]

dependant upon OG, yeast strain, and temperature, its certainly possible to reach FG within 3 days. There will still be considerably clean-up and conditioning on the yeast's part though. Its generally recommended to let the beer warm up further on into fermentation to facilitate this process

I would not cold crash it so early on in fermentation since it may shock the yeast into finishing up their work

 

[biochemedic]

If the low FG really bothers you, or if it seems too thin, you can always add some maltodextran at the end to boost the effective FG and mouthfeel...

 

[Dcpcooks]

You had an awesome primary fermentation congrats! Now let it have
a nice secondary fermentation. Then you can dry hop wait a bit then crash your beer and drink the best beer you've made.