Incomplete Fermentation or Underpitched?

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giant

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I've been reading this forum for months, and to date have brewed 25 gallons of extract.

My first batch was a disaster and was thrown out (didn't pitch properly, long cool time, soapy taste)

My 2nd batch a bit better, but still had a very light body and I perceived what I believe to be high diacetyl. It was a session IPA that I bottled after 5 days, and I'm confident that while it may have been done fermenting, it needed more time on the cake before being bottled. It is drinkable, but still not quite right.

My 3rd and 4th batches were a success (so far) and have been bottled and are currently conditioning.

It's the 5th batch that I'm concerned about.

I split a 5g extract brew into 2 3.5 gallon buckets, split the yeast, hydrated, and pitched 5 days ago.

I had plenty of airlock activity until yesterday, so this afternoon I took gravity readings and found them both at 1.01.

However, there was a difference:

The first batch revealed significant krausen, while the 2nd was much more mild. The only difference between the two was that in the first, I used a hop bag for dry hopping, and in the 2nd, I just threw the pellets in.

The first smells and tastes great, but the 2nd has a light body and much less flavor. It appears to be lighter in color even, and has a hint of diacetyl.

I'm going to let them sit on the cake for another 8 days or so, but wondered if anyone has run into this before and if so, has advice on whether I've underpitched or maybe the yeast just hasn't finished its work.

They both sat in a temp controlled freezer at 64-70.
 
If their both at 1.010 then the yeast has or is working. What was the original gravity for the two? Did you top off with cool water before seperating? Just thinking if you did it may not have mixed equally leaving one batch lighter with less body to it (more topping up water). As far as the diacetyl, let it ferment completely and chill out on the yeast. They should clean up after themselves.
 
Thanks for the reply.

OG was 1.048.

I thought the same thing at first, but I had trouble cooling and spent a lot of time stirring vigorously in order to let the heat escape.

I'm going to give it 2 more days in the cooler (total of 7 days) and then give it a week at room temps to see how it pans out and will be brewing again tonight to see if I can get it right and refine the process a bit more.
 
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