Firebat138
Well-Known Member
well, the first all grain Oktoberfest went well as I said in my other post, but three days later NO activity. Keeping it in the fridge around 50 degrees. I guess I can just wait it out...
no activity3 days later
- Thread starter Firebat138
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Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:
I am a returning (beginning/starting over again after long abscence) all grain brewer so please take what I say for what it's worth. If you're using ale yeast, it may help if your fermentation temps are a bit higher up around 68-72 to get it started and then regulate between 60-70 keeping the temp as stable as possible. A similar thing happened to me during the cooler months and I put a space heater in my brew area to bring the temps up to around 68 or so and fermentation started. Could have been coinceidence but hope it helps.
Mikey
PS - apologies, I haven't seen your other thread.
Mikey
PS - apologies, I haven't seen your other thread.
Firebat138
Well-Known Member
no worries, just doing what the sheet said... lol... I did just that tonight, so we shall see. Thanx man and welcome back
HH60gunner
Well-Known Member
did you take a hydro reading and there's been no activity, or are you basing this on airlock activity?
I am interested in this thread.
I brewed an Bock Lager last year that did the same thing. It was chugging right along soon after boiling, the fermenter temp sticker was reading >65 while sitting in my 40F fridge. As soon as the temperature dropped into the 50s it quit and never came back. As a new brewer I didn't think to do a gravity reading, I assumed it was done since my ales finish so quickly. After a week I transferred to secondary for lagering for 6 weeks, temp was in the high 40s. I took my reading when I bottled the beer and was very surprised to see that it finished so high (1.020). It has taken me a year to drink this sweet crap, every time I drink one I wonder what went wrong.
Now that I have temperature control, on my next lager I want to keep the primary at about 60F until it is near FG. Not sure if that is a good idea or not. Maybe someone more experienced in lagers can shed some light on this temperature thing.
I brewed an Bock Lager last year that did the same thing. It was chugging right along soon after boiling, the fermenter temp sticker was reading >65 while sitting in my 40F fridge. As soon as the temperature dropped into the 50s it quit and never came back. As a new brewer I didn't think to do a gravity reading, I assumed it was done since my ales finish so quickly. After a week I transferred to secondary for lagering for 6 weeks, temp was in the high 40s. I took my reading when I bottled the beer and was very surprised to see that it finished so high (1.020). It has taken me a year to drink this sweet crap, every time I drink one I wonder what went wrong.
Now that I have temperature control, on my next lager I want to keep the primary at about 60F until it is near FG. Not sure if that is a good idea or not. Maybe someone more experienced in lagers can shed some light on this temperature thing.
OH.. also... yeast date... I recently did a 10 gallon batch of wheat and used two 1010 Wyeast packs. One was dated July XXXX, the other was May XXXX. The July pack took off pretty quick while the May one took its sweet time and started about a full 1.5 days later. That was at 70-72*. Being yours is a much lower temp, perhaps you have an older yeast that needs time to get started?
Mikey
PS - thanks for the welcome back
. Feels good to be brewing damn good beer again at .34C per brew .
Mikey
PS - thanks for the welcome back
. Feels good to be brewing damn good beer again at .34C per brew .
How much yeast did you pitch? Did you make a starter? I've only done one lager, but everything I read prior to brewing it was that lagers need a lot of yeast, and typically don't go crazy like ales. I would take a gravity reading, to confirm the lack of activity, then maybe bump your temp up just a bit if indeed fermentation has not begun.
Firebat138
Well-Known Member
Yes, I was only basing it on the airlock... I took a gravity before pitching of course and got 1.054, right on target... Only pitched one pack of yeast, but not sure of the date. No starter, I still have to read up on that.
That's not a good idea at all. Most lager strains ferment at 48-55 degrees or so. Keeping the lager fermenting at 50 degrees or a bit below is what makes the lager taste clean and crisp. Fermenting a lager at 60 degrees will cause some off flavors.
For lagers, they need about four times as much yeast as you think they do. So, without a starter and only one package of yeast, you might have to wait a very very long time for this to take off. The yeast manufacturers tell you to pitch the yeast in the 60s, wait for signs of fermentation, and then lower it to proper temperatures. That doesn't necessarily make the best product, but instead it's designed to help compensate for severe underpitching. You could try that.
Firebat138
Well-Known Member
ok... should I pick up another packet? I can run by today
Take a gravity reading before doing that. I don't know what you're fermenting in, but the buckets I use don't seal very well. I get no airlock activity at all. It can be deceiving if there is little or no krausen. Also, aren't lagers notoriously slow to start? Maybe give it 5 days before doing anything. However an extra pack of the same yeast wouldn't hurt.
