NewBrew09
Well-Known Member
Hey all,
3 weeks ago, I brewed up a batch of cherry stout. I have a couple concerns about the fermenting activity and if anything may be wrong, I doubt it, but still...
The recipie came out of "The complete guide to homebrewing" and was listed as the "Cherry Fever Stout" The recipie called for 6.6 pounds of dark LME, 1 pound of dark DME, and some specialty grains that only provided coloring. It also called for 3 pounds of sour cherries and 2 lbs of choke cherries. For hops it called for Northern Brewer for the boiling hops and Fuggles for the aroma.
Here is where I deviated from the recipie: Instead of the sour cherries and choke cherries, i substituted 5 pounds of crushed black cherries, and for hops, Northern brewer wasnt available, so I substituted in the same amount with Nugget.
Going into the fermentor, I tested the OG and it was at 1.071 (original recipie said it should be 1.069 at most) and from the vial, I gave it a taste test. It tasted similar to Guinness, with a slightly hoppier flavor with a cherry aftertaste and a intense hoppy aroma, so no complaints there.
After 5 days, I noticed that activity in the airlock had all but stopped, so I decided I would take a gravity reading and ended up with a reading of 1.021 (recipie said that the FG should be 1.018 at most) effectively giving it a primary AC of 6.43% ABV. At this point I transferred to a secondary where it has been since. I plan on bottling it this saturday.
My concern is the amount of krausen that I found in the primary, which was only about 3 inches. I was under the impression that stouts are notorious with fermenting activity. I would think there would be much more krausen after the primary fermentation was effectively over after 4 days. The previous batch, which was a hefe had exploded out of the airlock on the second day.
I am sure the brew is fine, but why would there be so little krausen? Could it be that the crushed cherries floating on top of the wort kept it lower than it could have been?
Also, I would appreciate any comments on the ingredient substitions as well.
3 weeks ago, I brewed up a batch of cherry stout. I have a couple concerns about the fermenting activity and if anything may be wrong, I doubt it, but still...
The recipie came out of "The complete guide to homebrewing" and was listed as the "Cherry Fever Stout" The recipie called for 6.6 pounds of dark LME, 1 pound of dark DME, and some specialty grains that only provided coloring. It also called for 3 pounds of sour cherries and 2 lbs of choke cherries. For hops it called for Northern Brewer for the boiling hops and Fuggles for the aroma.
Here is where I deviated from the recipie: Instead of the sour cherries and choke cherries, i substituted 5 pounds of crushed black cherries, and for hops, Northern brewer wasnt available, so I substituted in the same amount with Nugget.
Going into the fermentor, I tested the OG and it was at 1.071 (original recipie said it should be 1.069 at most) and from the vial, I gave it a taste test. It tasted similar to Guinness, with a slightly hoppier flavor with a cherry aftertaste and a intense hoppy aroma, so no complaints there.
After 5 days, I noticed that activity in the airlock had all but stopped, so I decided I would take a gravity reading and ended up with a reading of 1.021 (recipie said that the FG should be 1.018 at most) effectively giving it a primary AC of 6.43% ABV. At this point I transferred to a secondary where it has been since. I plan on bottling it this saturday.
My concern is the amount of krausen that I found in the primary, which was only about 3 inches. I was under the impression that stouts are notorious with fermenting activity. I would think there would be much more krausen after the primary fermentation was effectively over after 4 days. The previous batch, which was a hefe had exploded out of the airlock on the second day.
I am sure the brew is fine, but why would there be so little krausen? Could it be that the crushed cherries floating on top of the wort kept it lower than it could have been?
Also, I would appreciate any comments on the ingredient substitions as well.
