Recent content by brechbräu

So, I’ve been using yeast starters for quite some time and have recently added in the addition of a stir plate. My understanding was that the added aeration from the stirring would increase the yield of yeast in the starter. I’m not sure I’m noticing much of a difference, though. I use the...

Outside of whirfloc tabs, I’ve only used finings once in a beer and head retention did not seem to be affected.

Thanks to everyone who helped me through my freak-out moment last night… things have looked and sounded normal today… first time using that yeast and brewing that recipe… I guess I have brewed enough to really have seen a wide range of yeasts work and precipitates drop out of solution…

I’m hoping that the stratification is from pitching the starter (which was much less dense than the boiled wort) and the white spots are yeast rafts (they’re growing already). Otherwise, I think I’m in trouble…

The stratification seems to have stalled over the last two hours or so, while the white spots have grown…

Next question… how quickly can yeast rafts form?

I used White Labs WLP565 Belgian Saison I yeast.

Update: How fast can an infection show? Now I’m noticing these constellations of white dots in the clear top part of the wort… no additional change in amount of settling…

Thanks… I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a clear division of levels… it looked like oil and water and got me freaked out a little… haha.

I used a Whirlfloc tab… in fact, I may have used two by accident…

Brewed a saison today. About three hours in the fermenter and I have a very clear stratification that I don’t think I’ve ever seen before: The sample in my hydrometer tube didn’t do this. The only difference is that I, obviously, added the yeast from my starter into the fermenter. I decanted...

Do you leave the stir plate on and… stirring… the entire time the starter is going?

This is going to sound dumb, but can you describe the process and the supplementary equipment you need to ferment in a keg. I’ve seen people talking about this, but it is a totally new idea for me, having been out of the homebrew scene for the better part of 18 years or so…

If your gravity readings are right, then your ABV calculation is correct. I didn’t think that amount of extract would give such a high starting gravity, but I could be wrong. I would have thought it’d be more in the 1.050 range. Did you do a partial boil, perhaps, and measure the original...

What was your grain bill? Starting gravity? Final gravity?