Is my beer fermenting ok?

[berndawg84]

So I'm currently in the process of fermenting a standard saison recipe. Only my 3rd batch so I'm still new at this. My first 2 batches had a decent amount of krausen during fermentation. My current saison does not.

I used the wyeast 3711 French saison and made a starter and pitched it. Started fermentation at 69 Degrees. It was active at the beginning. Today is day 6. Airlock is still bubbling but the surface of the wort looks odd. The first 2 pics are how it looked on maybe day 4 or so. The third pic is today after raising the temp slowly to 75. The particles on the surface seem to be breaking up, if that's a good thing? The last pic seems to be a bunch of yeast sediment at the bottom? Not sure though. I made sure to mix and aerate the wort well. Thanks in advance for any insights.

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[Kene64]

You should be fine. 6 days in and you still have activity in the airlock is good. Be patient and let it run its course.

 

[flars]

Looking very good and normal. Give your beer time in the primary for most of the remaining yeast rafts on the surface to drop. I rock the primary a little beginning around day 10 to to drop loose yeast stuck in the krausen ring. Time to clear the beer in the primary results in clearer beer in the bottle.

By rocking I mean moving the carboy just enough to shift the surface of the beer about an eighth of an inch. Any more than that could cause some oxidation.

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

Just yeast rafts. Other than that, keep in mind that 3711 can be very slow to finish. Give it lots of time. I had one drop 5 points between weeks 3 and 5. It will likely finish very low.

 

[berndawg84]

Thanks everybody this helps! Also another newbie question but the thick layer of yeast sediment...will that even get sucked up by the bottle filler? I'm guessing I should leave it all behind but I know that some amount of yeast sediment in the bottle is normal or desirable.

I'm at day 8 now so I hope it'll be ready to bottle in 2 weeks, as I want to be able to brew my next batch. I only have one carboy at the moment.

 

[flars]

The amount of yeast that makes it into the bottling bucket depends upon how carefully you rack with the siphon. With your schedule for bottling the excess yeast will have dropped out of solution. Lower your siphon as the level of the beer decreases stopping with the tip of the siphon just above the compacted yeast/trub layer.

I tilt my carboy forward the day before racking. Don't tilt so much that a small amount of pressure will topple it. I do this the day before in case the movement stirs up the trub/yeast layer. This increases the depth of the beer at the forward edge of the carboy to rack the maximum amount without getting into the yeast/trub layer. The tip of the siphon will be visible near the bottom of the carboy if the beer isn't too dark. Sometimes I use a flashlight to see the tip better when it nears the bottom.

 

[ncbrewer]

Thanks everybody this helps! Also another newbie question but the thick layer of yeast sediment...will that even get sucked up by the bottle filler? I'm guessing I should leave it all behind but I know that some amount of yeast sediment in the bottle is normal or desirable.

I'm at day 8 now so I hope it'll be ready to bottle in 2 weeks, as I want to be able to brew my next batch. I only have one carboy at the moment.

You mentioned the yeast being sucked up by the bottle filler. Does that mean you're planning to bottle from the fermenter? If so, that could be a problem - trying to mix the priming sugar without stirring up the trub. Most rack to a bottling bucket that has a spigot, and then bottle from there. Priming sugar solution goes in first, and rack on top of it in a circular pattern by having it enter on the bottom at a tangent so it swirls. To your question - rack off the trub, leaving it behind. Just slowly lower the auto siphon (or racking cane) until a little trub comes with it - then raise it just a little.

Also, I'm not familiar with that yeast, but if BlueHouseBrewhaus's information is correct, and it takes 5 weeks to finish, you shouldn't bottle early. It would keep fermenting in the bottles and could result in bottle bombs. Check for stable gravity. Maybe he can give more detail about this particular yeast, and how to know when it's really finished.

 

[BlueHouseBrewhaus]

Also, I'm not familiar with that yeast, but if BlueHouseBrewhaus's information is correct, and it takes 5 weeks to finish, you shouldn't bottle early. It would keep fermenting in the bottles and could result in bottle bombs. Check for stable gravity. Maybe he can give more detail about this particular yeast, and how to know when it's really finished.

Definitely take gravity readings. I usually look for 3 days of no gravity change. With 3711 I look for 5 days. It also depends on gravity. My brew that took 5 weeks was OG 1.086. Finished at 1.006! 3711 is a beast! Lower gravities shouldn't take as long.

 

[berndawg84]

Nc brewer, I should've clarified that yes I will be siphoning it to a bottling bucket first. That makes sense about the trub.

Thanks blue house that helps. The recipe I used said the OG was 1.056, FG should be 1.008. I discovered on brew day that my hydrometer had cracked, so unfortunately I couldn't check the OG. I'll have a new one though by the time I need to check the gravity again. Hoping it'll be good to bottle by end of next week, which will be 4 weeks of fermentation. We'll see. Also what level of carbonation have you used. For Saisons I read you should carbonate at a higher CO2 volume equivalent, like 3.0-3.2 even. That would be about 0.9 cups of priming sugar for a 5 gallon batch.

 

[ncbrewer]

The recipe I used said the OG was 1.056, FG should be 1.008.

Be sure to check for stable gravity before bottling - not just reaching the recipe target. In reality it could finish higher or lower than the target.

 

[berndawg84]

That makes sense. Do you think that multiple stable gravity readings is just important for Saisons, or for any beer at that matter? My big concern about multiple gravity readings is having to remove the airlock so often and risk contaminating the batch.

 

[flars]

Double post.

 

[flars]

At least two SG readings to determine FG is necessary. With just two readings they need to be separated by at least 5 days (IMO) to be able to check for a small change in SG. First SG at about day 14 and second about day 19. Getting the beer out of the primary as quickly as possible and into the bottle isn't necessary. More time in the primary will get you a clearer beer going into the bottle. Planning 4 weeks is good.

I would expect a FG of 1.003 using WY 3711 with an estimated OG of 1.056. Will depend on the recipe ingredients but 3711 will usually finish very low.
Multiple gravity readings are the best insurance for preventing fermentation from continuing in the bottles.

 

[ncbrewer]

At least two SG readings to determine FG is necessary. With just two readings they need to be separated by at least 5 days (IMO) to be able to check for a small change in SG. First SG at about day 14 and second about day 19.

I've cut this a little short by using a bottling hydrometer. It has SG hash marks every .0005, and the hash marks are spaced farther apart than normal. I can easily read to .00025. So I take a reading two days before bottling day and again on bottling day to confirm it's finished. I just don't like it staying in the fermenter any longer than necessary after I've opened it.

 

[berndawg84]

At least two SG readings to determine FG is necessary. With just two readings they need to be separated by at least 5 days (IMO) to be able to check for a small change in SG. First SG at about day 14 and second about day 19. Getting the beer out of the primary as quickly as possible and into the bottle isn't necessary. More time in the primary will get you a clearer beer going into the bottle. Planning 4 weeks is good.

I would expect a FG of 1.003 using WY 3711 with an estimated OG of 1.056. Will depend on the recipe ingredients but 3711 will usually finish very low.
Multiple gravity readings are the best insurance for preventing fermentation from continuing in the bottles.

Yea thanks, that helps. It's only been fermenting for 11 days, so I know I still have some time to wait. I'll probably wait until sometime next week to take my first gravity reading. The yeast cakes on top are starting to drop though, which is a good sign. Thanks to all.

 

[flars]

Yea thanks, that helps. It's only been fermenting for 11 days, so I know I still have some time to wait. I'll probably wait until sometime next week to take my first gravity reading. The yeast cakes on top are starting to drop though, which is a good sign. Thanks to all.

I began estimating 4 billion cells per milliliter, for harvested yeast, when I was getting a krausen that looked like a cake of yeast. Seems to have resulted in beers with much brighter flavor. Krausen also went back to white froth tipped with bits of grain.

 

[berndawg84]

Yea true. Err I should've said yeast rafts, that's what I meant, not cakes.