Fermenting Question

[Cubbies2585]

Hello All,

I'm new to the site and have a quick question about a batch I just started yesterday.

I have brewed 3 times before yesterday and each time has been successful. Yesterday I was showing my neighbor the ropes and we have hit a snag last night into this morning. We developed a wort for an American Red which was bought from a local Homebrew Store. after we finished the wort we moved it to our 5gallon glass carboy and waited for it cool. Normally I get the final wort in the carboy cooled in a matter of minutes but for some reason this time it took a bit longer. When I had come back to the carboy after maybe an hour and a half i noticed the temp was good (76F) and was about to pitch the yeast when I noticed that all the sediment that is usually floating around had sunk to the bottom. I was faced with a decision to either remix the sediment back in, or leave it on the bottom and pitch the yeast. I pitched the yeast WITHOUT re-stirring, placed my blowout tube on, and tucked it in goodnight. This morning there is only about a 1/4in of foam on top after only about 12 hours.

It has been about a year or two since I have brewed and I remember there being a lot of foam coming through the blowout tube in the past. We are using a California Ale Yeast if that matters.

Is it normal to have this little amount of foam? Should I attempt to lightly stir the sediment up to see if the yeast will feed off the gunk at the bottom? Any guidance sure would be appreciated!

 

[camelcarlson]

I wouldn't worry about stirring the sediment, I think that the contamination risk is too high. What temp are you fermenting at?

 

[Cubbies2585]

I believe we are currently at 72F

 

[erikpete18]

The sediment that settled is just hot/cold break from the boil and hop fragments if you used pellets and didn't filter (I never do anymore). Not having that in solution won't hurt anything. However, what would hurt would be if you didn't aerate your wort. Normally I cool mine in the boil kettle, then siphon into the carboy and swirl it around for a while to aerate the heck out of it, then pitch the yeast. If you didn't aerate, that may be why the yeast is taking a little longer to take off than usual.

The other thing it could be is yeast count. I'm assuming the California Ale yeast you used was liquid? If it was, you might just have had a lower cell count than you did before. A lot of people now make up starters for their liquid yeast to build up the cell count a little before pitching, might be something to look at for next time.

Either way, you'll be fine, it just might take a little longer than usual. Not sure what your plans are, buy you might have slightly stressed your yeast. If you've got the time, leave the beer on the yeast for at least 4 weeks and they will clean up some of the off flavors they may have produced.

 

[cfonnes]

Pouring hot wort into a glass carboy is not a good idea. I have heard of carboys shattering by doing that.

 

[JonK331]

Did you use a whirlfloc tablet or irish moss when you may not have before? That may make the sediment look different. Overall I really don't think you should worry. Just let it do its thing a be patient. And yeah I agree that it's not a good idea to pour hot wort into glass. Cool it first in your kettle, then transfer.

 

[Cubbies2585]

Did you use a whirlfloc tablet or irish moss when you may not have before? That may make the sediment look different. Overall I really don't think you should worry. Just let it do its thing a be patient. And yeah I agree that it's not a good idea to pour hot wort into glass. Cool it first in your kettle, then transfer.

I did add irish moss but I have done that in the past too. And once again I didn't put hot wort into the glass carboy. It chilled it and then poured. It was about 78-80 when I poured it in and I was waiting to chill it down to 75 so I could pitch the yeast.

Since yesterday though the yeast have become way more active and the foam has began entering the hose. I think we are good to go now.