To aerate a 2nd time for OG 1.088

[sjcarlson34]

I am wondering if and how I should aerate my fermenting wort for a 2nd time since I am looking for a 8.5 to 9% beer. I am about 14 hours in and have bubbles about every 4 seconds, not overly active. If I should aerate it again, I am going to give it the good ol' Elvis shake. But do I do that with the top off or on? Any help would be awesome. I haven't done it in the past, but reading up on it, sounds like it might make for a better beer.

 

[Kickass]

What was the wort volume, how much yeast did you pitch and what method did you use to oxygenate the first go?

Shaking doesn’t had much O2, especially when compared to a carb stone or pump. Wouldn’t be worth the effort to me.

 

[Hoochin'Fool]

Without knowing your recipe, or the yeast (what kind, how much) or the temperature you're fermenting at, you're just going to get very generic advice!

So that said, if the yeast is happily bubbling away in 14 hours, everything is moving along nicely. Unless you're really pushing up against the abv limits of your yeast, you shouldn't need to shake anything (and every common beer yeast can do 9% without much trouble, given a relatively normal wort). You definitely shouldn't take the lid off, no matter how tempted you are to peek at it! Give it 3 weeks to ferment at a hopefully cool-ish temperature, then bring the fermenter into a warmer 70F room for another week to finish.

But like I said, without more details, you're just gonna get generic advice!

 

[sjcarlson34]

Without knowing your recipe, or the yeast (what kind, how much) or the temperature you're fermenting at, you're just going to get very generic advice!

So that said, if the yeast is happily bubbling away in 14 hours, everything is moving along nicely. Unless you're really pushing up against the abv limits of your yeast, you shouldn't need to shake anything (and every common beer yeast can do 9% without much trouble, given a relatively normal wort). You definitely shouldn't take the lid off, no matter how tempted you are to peek at it! Give it 3 weeks to ferment at a hopefully cool-ish temperature, then bring the fermenter into a warmer 70F room for another week to finish.

But like I said, without more details, you're just gonna get generic advice!

Thanks for the advice. I am using Nottingham, I rehydrated and pitched an 11g packet into about 5 gallons of wort (maybe a little short of 5). I am afraid it won't be enough. I am keeping the temp of the wort at about 64/65 degrees. It is bubbling nicely this morning. I am planning on bumping the temp in several days to 69/70 degrees. I aerated the wort to the point I got a nice foam on top before pitching. We'll see if she dies out early. I haven't brewed in a few years, just fun to get back into it. My wife says I pay more attention to my brews than her... I am afraid she may speak the truth. But she also drinks more of my beer than I do. It's a win win for sure!

 

[sjcarlson34]

What was the wort volume, how much yeast did you pitch and what method did you use to oxygenate the first go?

Shaking doesn’t had much O2, especially when compared to a carb stone or pump. Wouldn’t be worth the effort to me.

Thanks for the reply. I used Nottingham. You can see my reply below. We'll see how she goes.

 

[hotbeer]

You probably under pitched for that OG.

The pitch calculator for Nottingham says you should have pitched 17.4 grams. I would have used two 11 gram packs. Pitching too much is seldom a problem. Pitching too little frequently is.

https://www.lallemandbrewing.com/en...brewing-calculators/pitching-rate-calculator/
Still, I'd just live with it and let it do what ever it does. It's going to take more time and you'll have to be very patient. You might not hit your target. Maybe the next batch will be better if.

Dry yeast doesn't need the wort to be aerated. However the fact you did might just make up for the under pitch.

 

[sjcarlson34]

You probably under pitched for that OG.

The pitch calculator for Nottingham says you should have pitched 17.4 grams. I would have used two 11 gram packs. Pitching too much is seldom a problem. Pitching too little frequently is.

https://www.lallemandbrewing.com/en...brewing-calculators/pitching-rate-calculator/
Still, I'd just live with it and let it do what ever it does. It's going to take more time and you'll have to be very patient. You might not hit your target. Maybe the next batch will be better if.

Dry yeast doesn't need the wort to be aerated. However the fact you did might just make up for the under pitch.

I saw that this morning when I got on the Lalleman site. Kickin' myself a bit. But live n learn so they say. I appreciate all the feedback. I'm gonna let this one sit for a while, and I may just give the bucket a quick swirl when I walk by it every now and again. My guess is, I'll come up a little short on FG. Patience is gonna be key, because this is my first brew in 2 years... I may not have enough in me. Haha

 

[mac_1103]

I usually give anything over 1.08 two packs. Biggest beer I ever got away with one pack for ended up around 8.3%. That was S-04. It was bubbling within 3 hours and I got 75% AA in three weeks. I don't oxygenate (just aerate before pitching). Chocolate milk stout; finishing a couple points high is pretty much irrelevant in a recipe that has a helluva lot of unfermentable sugar and high FG by design.

 

[McMullan]

No need to oxygenate wort when using dry yeast, but enough yeast need to be pitched. Double the manufacturer's pitching rate. Triple or quadruple for an imperial strength wort. Ideally, pitch on top of a fresh yeast cake next time. Again, no need to oxygenate the wort.

 

[Kickass]

Double the manufacturer's pitching rate. Triple or quadruple for an imperial strength wort.

A little bit of a belt and suspenders approach. Definitely won’t hurt but a little overkill. I can’t think of a scenario where I’d quadruple the manufacturers recommendation.

Admittedly, I’m a little frugal. I’d have no issues pitching on a big cake from a previous batch but there’s no way I’m buying 4 packs of dry yeast for an 8-12% ABV beer.

 

[Dog House Brew]

I wouldn’t sweat it personally. I’d definitely up the temp as soon as it slows.

 

[McMullan]

A little bit of a belt and suspenders approach. Definitely won’t hurt but a little overkill. I can’t think of a scenario where I’d quadruple the manufacturers recommendation.

Admittedly, I’m a little frugal. I’d have no issues pitching on a big cake from a previous batch but there’s no way I’m buying 4 packs of dry yeast for an 8-12% ABV beer.

A fresh yeast cake is going to be equivalent to something like 4 packs of yeast, seed among the most predictable kick-ass fermentations possible and finish in good time. If you don’t have a fresh yeast cake to pitch on, pitching 4 packs is going to be your next best option. We’ve set the bar. Some people are going to make comprises for a number of reasons and pitch at a lower rate. We should note, though, that yeast manufacturers are more interested in making profits than promoting the best pitching rates for home brewers. Doubling their profits rather than home brew pitching rates is a no-brainer from their business point of view. On the other hand, doubling pitching rate is a no-brainer for the brewer. But it boils down to personal choices at the end of the day, because we all have different expectations factored in to compromise what works best. It’s still going to “work” for some people’s expectations regardless. What I’ve learnt on my journey so far is, if I want to make beer comparable to my favourite commercial brands, pitch yeast like a pro not how home brewers have been taught. Cost is always a limiting factor and, imho, commercial yeast is getting really expensive. I rarely buy it. But it can be made at home for ‘free’ as a byproduct of fermentation to harvest and repitch. Not only that, but fresher with more vitality than what most of us can buy. I don’t have a “more is better” mentality generally, but when it comes to pitching yeast, more is better, imho.

 

[IslandLizard]

I may just give the bucket a quick swirl when I walk by it every now and again.

I would urge against doing that!
Aside from potentially creating a mess because swirling/shaking/rousing will cause CO2 to come out of solution, creating more foam (krausen), that could come out the top. There's also much very active yeast in that krausen, you stand to lose by rousing, followed by a big blow-off.

Currently the yeast is actively fermenting, it mixes the content continuously. No extra help is needed. Any air/oxygen added at this point is useless to the yeast, but may ultimately oxidize your beer.

The one thing you can do for this batch, is preventing the temp from dropping at any time! So keep the beer in a place/area where temps are consistent.*
Keeping the temps consistent (and not dropping) is most helpful to bring this fermentation to a happy ending. Especially when the big event starts to slow down, you want to keep the yeast going, by increasing the temp by 3-5°F over one or two days. And keep it at that until it's all done!

* An overnight temp drop for example could cause her to stall. And there's not much, if anything, you can do to revive her at that point.

 

[BrewnWKopperKat]

For those looking to grow a single sachet into a larger starter (and, for 'reasons' can't make a smaller beer two weeks earlier), this may be of interest:

https://www.lallemandbrewing.com/en/united-states/products/diamond-lager-yeast/

 

[mac_1103]

We should note, though, that yeast manufacturers are more interested in making profits than promoting the best pitching rates for home brewers. Doubling their profits rather than home brew pitching rates is a no-brainer from their business point of view.

On the one hand, dry yeast manufacturers don't put twice as much yeast in each pack so they're clearly interesting in increasing profits. On the other hand, dry yeast manufacturers tell home brewers that one pack is usually enough for ales so they're clearly not interested in increasing profits.