I know I overpitched, but....

[goodham]

I brewed a porter on Feb 27th. I hit my target gravity spot on (1.052). I chilled my wort to 68 degrees and pitched two packets of Safale S-04 directly to the wort. I could not keep an airlock on after two hours, had to use a blow off. Within 7 days, I had reached 1.012. I racked to a secondary for a couple of days and cold crashed after the gravity did not change. Friday, I kegged and force carbed. Taste my beer last night and it was really boring. It smells awesome, slightly spicy and quite roasty. But, it has very little mouthfeel and little malt complexity. Could over piyching be the cause?

 

[broadbill]

Could over piyching be the cause?

probably not since I wouldn't call this over-pitching in the first place

 

[Synovia]

probably not since I wouldn't call this over-pitching in the first place

Well, if they're 11g packets, he pitched twice what he needed to (according to Mr. Malty).


Its just green beer. It was in fermenters for 10 days? and then he force carbed it.





Pull the keg out of the fridge, put it in a closet somewhere, and put a label on it that says "don't touch until April 16th"

 

[hukdizzle]

What temp did you mash at? You could write it off as green beer no doubt and the beer will definitely get better with age but i am curious about your temps you hit and your recipe. Over pitching could definitely make a very clean beer that would be all but void of the esters you previously may have experienced but mouth feel is typically attributed to other things than yeast population.

 

[dcp27]

What temp did you mash at? You could write it off as green beer no doubt and the beer will definitely get better with age but i am curious about your temps you hit and your recipe. Over pitching could definitely make a very clean beer that would be all but void of the esters you previously may have experienced but mouth feel is typically attributed to other things than yeast population.

+1, overpitching mostly just results in a lack of ester production and shouldn't effect mouthfeel or maltiness.

Just out of curiosity, why did you use 2 packets?

 

[goodham]

I mashed at 153 degrees. The recipe is as follows:

10.5 lbs 2 row
.75 lb chocolate malt
.25 lb black malt
1.0 lb crystal 80L
4 oz Special B

1 oz Northern Brewer (60 mins)
1 oz fuggles (5 mins)

I pitched 2 packs because I am lazy and did not rehydrate. I did not realize that I was pitching as many cells as I was until I visited the Fermentis website a couple of days later.

 

[dcp27]

I pitched 2 packs because I am lazy and did not rehydrate. I did not realize that I was pitching as many cells as I was until I visited the Fermentis website a couple of days later.

haha certainly a good reason.

On paper it looks like it should taste like you were expecting. I'm guessing its just still green

 

[hukdizzle]

If your thermo is correct and you indeed mashed around 153 which it seems like you may have since you got proper attenuation out of the s-04 the beer should have fine mouth feel and the malt should be quite complex especially since you threw a bit of special B in there. Next time you brew this porter throw in roughly 4% flaked barley and see how that works out for you. I throw roughly that much in my porter and it turns out with great body if mashed around 153'-154'F. Also make sure to calibrate that thermo if you haven't done it in a while. You could also try using malto-dextrine in the beer to add body if you wanted although don't use too much it can sweeten it up quite a bit.

Oh and the over pitching, yeah it could possibly detracted from the ester profile of the beer so you may be missing that if you've had it before in your other beers.

 

[goodham]

Thanks for the advice. I thought about my thermometers. I use three and the only vary about two degrees total, but I need to invest in a good one. That's my next purchase. I think I will try the same recipe in two weeks with the flaked barley and ONE rehydrated pack of S-04. The last time I brewed this, I did not use the Special B and it was great. So the B and flaked barley should really make it interesting!

 

[dcp27]

I think I will try the same recipe in two weeks with the flaked barley and ONE rehydrated pack of S-04.

According to the Fermentis website you can just pitch the dry yeast directly in, then mix it up after 30mins or so. I've done it a few times without any problems if you want to stick to the lazy route

edit: I usually top off my wort though, so its essentially the same as rehydrating it beforehand. I haven't tried it without topping off.

 

[Yambor44]

According to the Fermentis website you can just pitch the dry yeast directly in, then mix it up after 30mins or so. I've done it a few times without any problems if you want to stick to the lazy route

edit: I usually top off my wort though, so its essentially the same as rehydrating it beforehand. I haven't tried it without topping off.

+1

I pitch one packet per 5 gallons dry and it works and attenuates fine. Have been doing so for over a year.