Is 2206 known to be slow

[bwible]

I smacked a pack of 2206 on Thursday, March 2. It took a few days to swell up and then I pitched it into a 1 liter starter in a flask kept at room temp on Wednesday, March 8 - 6 days before I brewed a German Pils on March 14. I pitched it at about 62 degrees and put it in my fridge to drop to 50. Fermentation was very slow to start. Today is the third day and gravity has only gone down 2 points according to my Tilt. Today I finally see a layer of foam on top that was not there until this morning.

Is this yeast a known slower fermenter - slower than other lager yeasts? I’m only recently able to do lagers and only done a few. I have not used 2206 before. I have used 34/70 and 2035 which was a seasonal release - both of those started much quicker.

Thanks!

 

[OLBrews]

I have not found 2206 to be a slow starter when pitched fresh and with enough cells. Did you happen to note the best before date on the Wyeast pack? Seeing it took 3 days to swell suggests either an old packet or it was already stressed prior.

 

[bwible]

I don’t know how to read their date codes anymore and the package went out in the trash. It said best before June 23 I think. Good to know, I was just wondering because some of these yeasts have quirks. I’m surprised 6 days in a 1L starter didn’t get it going. I’ll hope for the best.

 

[stealthfixr]

I am using 2206 for the first time in an all-grain New Zealand Pilsner. Pitched a 2.5L starter from 2 swelled packets into a 7gal batch with a 1.053 OG. This is the slowest fermentation I think I have ever observed--ten days into fermentation and it still has about 0.010 gravity points left to go. From pitch at 48F to the first blowoff bubbles was a solid 24 hours.

This is supposed to be an equivalent yeast to 34/70, but it sure does not ferment like 34/70 at all. I might be too impatient for 2206!

 

[bwible]

I smacked a pack of 2206 on Thursday, March 2. It took a few days to swell up and then I pitched it into a 1 liter starter in a flask kept at room temp on Wednesday, March 8 - 6 days before I brewed a German Pils on March 14. I pitched it at about 62 degrees and put it in my fridge to drop to 50. Fermentation was very slow to start. Today is the third day and gravity has only gone down 2 points according to my Tilt. Today I finally see a layer of foam on top that was not there until this morning.

Is this yeast a known slower fermenter - slower than other lager yeasts? I’m only recently able to do lagers and only done a few. I have not used 2206 before. I have used 34/70 and 2035 which was a seasonal release - both of those started much quicker.

Thanks!

To follow up on this, I just kegged the German Pils I made with this back in March. One thing and another came along and it ended up lagering for about 9 weeks before I got to putting it in a keg. I have to say its very tasty. I do like the result of this yeast.

 

[Bobby_M]

This is an older discussion, but if that was a 5 gallon batch the pitch rate was still really low.

I made some assumptions about the gravity below. Wyeast has about 100B cells in the pack on day one. If your best by date was June back in March, and it's a 6-month span, I moved the date for this calculation to March since today would be about the same age. Either way = 23% estimated viability or only 23B cells. Notice that the target pitch is 389B cells and using a single pack would require 2.7 liters of starter IF STIRRED but the innoculation rate is well below the recommended 25M cells level. With the "calc starter size" unchecked and forced to be 1 liter, it estimates the ending cell count at 162B cells which is still only about 40% of the yeast recommended. Long story short, lagers need a LOT of yeast.

 

[bwible]

Thanks Bobby that makes sense. I usually make 3 gallon batches for most of my ales but I do 5 gallons for all my lagers. Out of curiosity, what software is that you’re using? And do I see a new picture with some hardware? I like it.

 

[IslandLizard]

Out of curiosity, what software is that you’re using?

That's BrewFather.

 

[Holden Caulfield]

This is supposed to be an equivalent yeast to 34/70, but it sure does not ferment like 34/70 at all. I might be too impatient for 2206!

2206 is not the same as 34/70. WY2124 and WLP830 are the same. 2206 is the Weihenstephan 206 strain and behaves differently. It does make very good beer, so no worries

 

[Bobby_M]

Thanks Bobby that makes sense. I usually make 3 gallon batches for most of my ales but I do 5 gallons for all my lagers. Out of curiosity, what software is that you’re using? And do I see a new picture with some hardware? I like it.

Yeah, that's Brewfather.

That hardware picture was after last year's state fair (August) where my club had an epic showing. Hope to repeat in a couple weeks, but we have some NHC results to hope for in the meantime.