Sa-04 yeast questions

I pitched 2 packs of rehydrated 04 into a 1.062 milk stout Friday at 130 pm. Took off great after 16/18 hours...then completely stopped Saturday night around 11 pm. Switched blow off tube for air lock just now and there's little to no activity. Gravity is 1.030 so nowhere close to done. Is this normal for this Yeast? This is my first time using this style.

 

What temp?

04 tends to finish a little high, and the lactose will push you higher as well.

You may need to up the temp and give it a swirl to get the yeast back in suspension.

 

Temps are 67-68 right now. Maybe a good shake or swirl? I've never had yeast fall off this quickly

 

Gentle swirl, no shaking.
Is this in a bucket or carboy? It could still eat away those last points with little to no airlock activity.

 

I pitched 2 packs of rehydrated 04 into a 1.062 milk stout Friday at 130 pm. Took off great after 16/18 hours...then completely stopped Saturday night around 11 pm. Switched blow off tube for air lock just now and there's little to no activity. Gravity is 1.030 so nowhere close to done. Is this normal for this Yeast? This is my first time using this style.

 

It's still working, just not as apparent. Your temperature didn't drop, did it?

 

66-68 through out fermentation

 

It's in a bucket. Is this common for this specific yeast strain?

 

Post the entire recipe

 

This is what Beer Smith is telling me

View attachment 1436120353067.jpg

 

Lots of unfermentables in there with the chocolate malt and roasted barley. Basically 20% unfermentable sugars. I don't use beersmith but how is it calculating attenuation? Is it entered manually based on the yeast used and average attenuation for that yeast? Based on the recipe I would say it's done.

 

S04 is a beast of a yeast, and two packs would rip through a 60-something point batch in fairly short order - explosively, even, if lacking temperature control.

How is the current gravity being checked - with a hydrometer, or a refractometer? If the latter, it needs to be "corrected"...

Cheers!

 

Using 04 at the moment, had no activity in the airlock what so ever but had a really nice krausen on top. CO2 is coming off as i get a huge hit on the nostrils when i open the lid. I assume its just a slow working yeast. Temperature set at 22C so at the top end. Assume its normal activity for this yeast. Not checked gravity yet but i will do as nearly 7 days have passed

 

Attenuation is 71% minimum and 75% maximum. All the yeast info is already entered in Beer Smith. Just pick your strain. There is a small amount of air lock activity now. I gave it a slight swirl 5 hours ago.

I am using a hydrometer for gravity readings. I have a digital temp control on my fridge so I can rule that out.

I'm just shocked at the speed of this particular fermentation. I know that it's not complete, but I have a batch that was brewed a week ago that's still bubbling...that was 0001 yeast though. Thanks for all the feedback. I'll probably forget about it for a week and then check it.

 

According to your beersmith recipe 1.067 to 1.013 is 80% attenuation. And it should know that all of the milk sugar is not fermentable. Roasted Barley is not malted therefore contributes basically no sugars. And the chocolate malt is mostly non fermentable sugars. So basically 71-75% is not obtainable with this recipe. 60% is usually what I get with my milk shouts and is probably about what you will get with yours. I bet it doesn't go lower than 1.028

 

I honestly don't pay attention to the attenuation. I know I should though. Time to do more research.
I'm less than impressed with Beer Smith. I struggled through 5 batches trying to get mash and sparge water volumes correct. My actual og was 1062.

 

Have you changed any of the settings to allow for losses through your brew day? I was coming up well short on my software (i use brewmate) because i had changed these for my equipment. Most of the defaults were set to 0 but now im making fine adjustments and coming up pretty much on target

 

I have tried that andrewf1985. Actual the last brew I did, I used 1.5 q per pound, mashed, ran off, took that volume minus total volume I wanted pre boil and sparge with that. Had 2 quarts left in mash tun after I reached pre boil volume so I'm getting closer

 

So I couldn't wait...this situation is frustrating me to no end. Gravity is still at 1.030. Very young still, but I'm concerned it won't be drinkable. I know it's supposed to be sweet, but finishing this high sounds Not good. Is it too far gone to pitch more yeast? That doesn't really seem like a good solution. Just throwing it out there.

 

Mash in was 157 and after an hour it was 154. This is my fist time brewing this style and with this yeast so I'm not familiar with how it ferments or tastes during the fermentation. I'll hold out for two weeks and then bottle or keg. Thanks for the advice Yooper.