Gingerbread Beer (BIAB with 1728 Scottish Ale Yeast)

[4JBrew]

Greetings. I just brewed my first BIAB after several extract brews under my belt. Not intending to start yet another Primary/Secondary thread, but I hoping someone with experience with this yeast strain can help me out here. I made a 2.5 Gallon batch of Gingerbread Ale pitching 1728 into a 6 Gallon glass carboy. I have a 2.5 Gallon vessel I was intending to use as a secondary, but don't want to if I don't have to. I'm going to be away from my home in about 7 days and will be gone for 10 days. My plan was to keep in primary for 7 days, transfer to secondary for 14 days, bottle. The questions I have are:

1.) Will keeping the 2.5 G in a 6 Gallon carboy cause any problems if left in for 3 weeks?

2.) Will the 1728 yeast do well in Primary for that long?

Temp of room where fermenter is stored is about 66-68 F.

 

[BlackGoat]

I would just leave it for three weeks in the primary (that would be my standard procedure anyway), and avoid taking the stopper out so that you can maintain a good CO2 blanket for the full three weeks since you have so much headspace. Any ale yeast will do fine for that amount of time, regardless of the strain.

 

[Cider123]

Sounds like you're on your way to some nice holiday ale.
1. I'm not a secondary type person. I leave all my ales in primary for at least 3 weeks. The extra headspace shouldn't matter since your beer will have a nice blanket of CO2 over it.
2. Can't see why it wouldn't. At 3 weeks, it should be done cleaning up the last bits of fermentation.
I BIAB also and have fun with it.
What spices are you using?

 

[4JBrew]

Awesome, thank you both for the quick replies! Spices may be a little heavy for a 2.5 G batch, but...

10 mins before flame out:
1 Cinnamon Stick

5 mins before flame out:
1/8 tsp ground all spice
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground ginger

wort sample tasted awesome!!! hehe

Efficiency wasn't that great (70%)...I missed my target OG 1.061 and ended up with 1.052.... First BIAB....mashed @156, and was able to maintain that temperature for an hour without adding additional heat. Looking forward to doing it again soon!

 

[Travestian]

I too would leave it in the primary for 3 weeks rather than transfer. You'll have no risk of oxidation and less risk of infection. Curious though... do you do small batches regularly and if so, why not purchase a 3gal carboy?

Did you make the recipe yourself? I'm definitely interested in hearing the results.

 

[Cider123]

Looks like it will turn out awesome. Enjoy! Although you lost me on the cloves. I have a fear of clove flavor myself. I ate one out of a ham when I was a kid and the taste made me...well you know.

 

[4JBrew]

I too would leave it in the primary for 3 weeks rather than transfer. You'll have no risk of oxidation and less risk of infection. Curious though... do you do small batches regularly and if so, why not purchase a 3gal carboy?

Did you make the recipe yourself? I'm definitely interested in hearing the results.

Sorry for the late reply! For some reason my notification was not set correctly. Actually, I do in fact have 3gal carboy. I was thinking I was going to using at as a secondary, so I used the 6gal as primary. Had I known I was going to keep it in primary I would have used my 3 gal the whole time. Next time! :cross:

I have only one other 2.5 Gallon batch under my belt. It was an extract Vanilla Coconut porter. Came out, well, so-so. As I progress to all-grain, (this was my first BIAB batch), I will do a few more 2.5 gallon batches... Wish I could buy half yeast packs!! That's the expensive part. I need to learn to harvest my yeast.. Maybe I'll do it with this batch.

 

[4JBrew]

Now I know airlock activity is not the definitive fermentation progress indicator, but mine seems to have stopped after about 5 days. So, you folks still think I should leave it in primary for another two weeks?

 

[Travestian]

Now I know airlock activity is not the definitive fermentation progress indicator, but mine seems to have stopped after about 5 days. So, you folks still think I should leave it in primary for another two weeks?

Yes. To put it simply. And then take hydrometer readings a few days apart. Once they are the same your beer is done.

 

[RM-MN]

Now I know airlock activity is not the definitive fermentation progress indicator, but mine seems to have stopped after about 5 days. So, you folks still think I should leave it in primary for another two weeks?

Nope.

I think you should leave it for another 3 weeks.

Really, the extra time won't hurt the beer a bit and if the ferment gets completed before then, the beer will begin to mature in the fermenter. :rockin:

 

[BlackGoat]

I agree on the extra time, just leave it in there and let it do its thing.

 

[4JBrew]

Ok all. It sat in primary for 22 days. Bottled on Monday. I'll crack one open in a couple weeks and fill you in. Thanks for the comments!!!

 

[4JBrew]

OMG! Now that the holidays are over, I realized I never came back to the group and filled you in. What an A$$! Sorry. Anyway, I was very happy with this brew, but I think I would have benefited form a bit more body. I think low efficiency was to blame, but really dig the flavors. Here's a pic!