WLP029 krausen fell early

[jbsg02]

Anyone ever have an issue with 029 krausen falling early. I brewed monday, pitched a 1L starter of 029 into oxygenated wort and fermented at 65 degrees. There were signs of krausen in the bucket but it's already fallen after 3 days and the beer is only down to 1.030ish.

I bumped the dial up a couple of degrees to help keep it going. Just wondering if this has happened to anyone else with this strain. Not my first time using this strain but never had this happen before.

 

[sandyeggoxj]

How many estimated cells did you pitch and into what og beer?

 

[jbsg02]

How many estimated cells did you pitch and into what og beer?

It was a pretty fresh vial and a 1L starter, well oxygenated wort. OG was probably around 1.050, so it's not like an underpitch. I'm sure it will finish given a little time, just curious to see the krausen fall.

 

[agrazela]

Doing an IPL-type brew right now with WLP029 with a tube I bought maybe 3 weeks ago and had in the fridge.

I made a 2L starter so as to ranch off about 1/4 of it for the future, but even after 3 days on the stirplate and centrifugation I would up with an amount of yeast that looked more like maybe I had done a 1 to 1.25L starter. I would have stepped it up, but my schedule demanded I brew.

Pitched into a 5gal batch of well-oxygenated, OG 1.059 wort at 63F. No sign of any activity for 48 hrs. Bumped to 65F, no activity 24 hrs later. Bumped to 67F and finally that night it was chugging.

It took another week or so to finish at FG 1.013 (78%AA). But at no point did it ever make more than maybe 1/2 inch of krausen. Been in cold crash for a week now and still very cloudy, I have heard this yeast does not floc well. Might have to hit it with some gelatin.

Both my starter and my thiefed gravity samples had a "vomity" aroma to them, I hope that's the "sulfur" thing I've read about with this yeast and that it goes away.

I've never used WLP029 before, but I gotta say, I don't think it should have been that sluggish. Maybe we both got a bad batch?

What kind of brew you making? Did your starter seem like it propagated OK?

 

[jbsg02]

Doing an IPL-type brew right now with WLP029 with a tube I bought maybe 3 weeks ago and had in the fridge.

I made a 2L starter so as to ranch off about 1/4 of it for the future, but even after 3 days on the stirplate and centrifugation I would up with an amount of yeast that looked more like maybe I had done a 1 to 1.25L starter. I would have stepped it up, but my schedule demanded I brew.

Pitched into a 5gal batch of well-oxygenated, OG 1.059 wort at 63F. No sign of any activity for 48 hrs. Bumped to 65F, no activity 24 hrs later. Bumped to 67F and finally that night it was chugging.

It took another week or so to finish at FG 1.013 (78%AA). But at no point did it ever make more than maybe 1/2 inch of krausen. Been in cold crash for a week now and still very cloudy, I have heard this yeast does not floc well. Might have to hit it with some gelatin.

Both my starter and my thiefed gravity samples had a "vomity" aroma to them, I hope that's the "sulfur" thing I've read about with this yeast and that it goes away.

I've never used WLP029 before, but I gotta say, I don't think it should have been that sluggish. Maybe we both got a bad batch?

What kind of brew you making? Did your starter seem like it propagated OK?

Beer is an american wheat, medium/low gravity, planned on finishing just under 5%. The gravity sample I took tasted really good even though it was only half attenuated. There's still a lot of yeast in suspension so I'm sure it will ferment out, just thought it was strange that the krausen fell. It did get a slight jostle a couple of days in, maybe that cause it to fall.

 

[oujens]

I recently brewed a Kolsch with WLP029. I did a starter using Mr. Malty on the hybrid setting which ended up a 1.6L starter on a stir plate. Cold crashed starter for 2 days. Decanted and pitched at 55 degrees and fermented 58 degrees. I had a nice Krausen for the first 3-4 days then it slowly fell back in. I stepped the temperature up after that to 65 degrees by the end of 2 weeks. My gravity went from 1.045 to 1.007, but I didn't check it until close to 2 weeks after I pitched the yeast. This is my first time using this yeast so I'm not sure if the different temperatures we are using has an impact on how the yeast acts during fermentation outside of flavor profile.

 

[jbsg02]

I recently brewed a Kolsch with WLP029. I did a starter using Mr. Malty on the hybrid setting which ended up a 1.6L starter on a stir plate. Cold crashed starter for 2 days. Decanted and pitched at 55 degrees and fermented 58 degrees. I had a nice Krausen for the first 3-4 days then it slowly fell back in. I stepped the temperature up after that to 65 degrees by the end of 2 weeks. My gravity went from 1.045 to 1.007, but I didn't check it until close to 2 weeks after I pitched the yeast. This is my first time using this yeast so I'm not sure if the different temperatures we are using has an impact on how the yeast acts during fermentation outside of flavor profile.

Comforting to know it will still ferment out after the krausen dropping early

 

[jbsg02]

checked today and it was down to around 1.014 or so, should reach final gravity in the next few days as I took it out of the chamber to warm up slightly