WLP800... Taking FOREVER

[matchrocket]

Recipie: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f58/cats-bitburger-premium-pilsner-100625/
OG: 1.050
6L Starter, used Mr Malty. 3 tubes in the starer.

Pitched at 49. Fermented at 50. 3 Weeks out, 12pts high... (1.022)

Is this normal? First Pilsner. Beer tastes okay, just sweet which is not surprising. I am letting the fermenter rise to 65 now to see if anything starts up again. Pretty sure a re-pitch won't help at this point. Looking for peoples input / experience on this. From what I read I should be more or less at terminal. The beer was going NUTS ~12 hours after pitch, had to use a blow off tube so I am a little surprised by the "stall"

 

[Yooper]

Just checking, but you're using a hydrometer that reads 1.000 in plain water, and not a refractometer?

 

[matchrocket]

Hydrometer, and funny you should ask, I did a calibration check on it right after pulling the beer. 1.000.

 

[stpug]

Pitching a sachet of rehydrated US05 and keeping at 65ish should help you get down to a more reasonable FG. Since it will work on so little sugars it should not affect the overall flavor of the pilsner by much, if at all. I doubt you'll get to 1.010 but you might get it down to 1.016 or so, maybe a tad lower. HTH!

 

[matchrocket]

Pitching a sachet of rehydrated US05 and keeping at 65ish should help you get down to a more reasonable FG. Since it will work on so little sugars it should not affect the overall flavor of the pilsner by much, if at all. I doubt you'll get to 1.010 but you might get it down to 1.016 or so, maybe a tad lower. HTH!

Its the crazy start and flat finish that I don't get. Only thing I can figure is maybe not enough O2, otherwise everything else was as it should of been.

Edit: What is HTH! ?

 

[stpug]

HTH = Hope this helps

I've just finished up three batches using WLP800 and the attenuation percentages were 77, 73, 72 on different mash schedules. All fermented at 48-50F for 10 days, raised for a 2 day D-rest to 62, then crashed out to 34. All had 90-120 seconds of O2 through a 0.5micron aeration stone.

That yeast strain was a solid performer for me and I wonder if you're on to something with the O2 level not being sufficient. How much did you give your beer?

 

[matchrocket]

That yeast strain was a solid performer for me and I wonder if you're on to something with the O2 level not being sufficient. How much did you give your beer?

I think this is the issue. I am a shaker... I don't do to many huge beers, and really haven't gotten into lagers at all so it hasn't been a priority. But,,, I want to venture into more of these and this is high on my to-do list.

I gently rousted the carboys last night, temp's raised to 55 over night and I have another mini-krasen on top of the beer. Might work its way down.. I hope.

 

[matchrocket]

12 hours after a roust and a 5deg temp raise, its going nuts again. Almost need to re-install the blow-off tubes...

Crazy....

 

[matchrocket]

Well... after raising temp to 57-58 and stirring up the yeast in the bottom of the carboys, it wound up finishing up at 1.013 (reading today). Dropped it back down to 55 for a few more days before starting the 4 week lauger.

On a side note, two bigmouths showed up on my door step along with a 0.5um diffusion stone for oxygenation.

 

[g-star]

Big ales and all lagers really benefit from pure O2, which can easily achieve oxygen levels of 12-14ppm in under 2 minutes. These levels of oxygen are required for difficult fermentations if you want to make the best beer possible.

If you're just using air, you'll never get above 8ppm, no matter how you shake, strain, whirlpool, etc, as you are limited by the chemical composition of the air itself (21% O2).

 

[Imperator85]

I think an oxygenation setup is worth the investment. There are things you can spend far more money on and effectively get less out of in this hobby. It may be overkill for low gravity beers, but it can really help for higher gravity beers where you really want to make sure your yeast are prepared for the tough battle ahead. Plus, there's the convenience of casually bubbling gas through your wort as opposed to shaking, using a drill stirrer, etc.

 

[sjlyons81]

Well... after raising temp to 57-58 and stirring up the yeast in the bottom of the carboys, it wound up finishing up at 1.013 (reading today). Dropped it back down to 55 for a few more days before starting the 4 week lauger.

On a side note, two bigmouths showed up on my door step along with a 0.5um diffusion stone for oxygenation.

Had the exact same thing happen to me with this strain. How long did you keep it 58?

 

[matchrocket]

About a week. Beer turned out pretty good, second run is sitting the carboy's now and terminated out in 7 days with a huge starter (repitch) and proper O2.