Oatmeal Stout - Lag in Fermentation

[sundaybrewingco]

Hello everyone,
I have a quick question that hopefully brings an answer that won't upset me...

Background: I brewed a Oatmeal Stout on Sunday (2/7) and on Thursday morning (2/11) I did not see any movement in the carboy. In a semi-drunken, pissed off state of mind, I decided to shake a carboy a bit to see if that would do anything. Well, by Thursday night, I started to see some movement in the carboy, so it looks like it just took some time for the fermentation to begin... (This morning it was fermenting as normal)

My question is.. Did I make a boo-boo by shaking the carboy? (oxygenating the beer)?

 

[Yooper]

No, you didn't oxygenate it (much) because I assume the lid and airlock were on? Even so, that little bit of shaking probably wouldn't have mattered.

I'm glad it is going now. It's hard to wait, that's for sure.

 

[sundaybrewingco]

Yes, well, I had a stopper & blow-off tube submerged in a growler of star-san/water mixture.. so i'm guessing I should still be ok..

Thank you for easing my mind YooperBrew!

 

[broadbill]

Hello everyone,
I have a quick question that hopefully brings an answer that won't upset me...

Background: I brewed a Oatmeal Stout on Sunday (2/7) and on Thursday morning (2/11) I did not see any movement in the carboy. In a semi-drunken, pissed off state of mind, I decided to shake a carboy a bit to see if that would do anything. Well, by Thursday night, I started to see some movement in the carboy, so it looks like it just took some time for the fermentation to begin... (This morning it was fermenting as normal)

My question is.. Did I make a boo-boo by shaking the carboy? (oxygenating the beer)?

Was there a ring of dried hop gunk, foam, etc 1-3" above the beer? Is it possible that it fermented between Sunday and Thursday and you missed it? In the oatmeal stout that I recently brewed, fermentation was done 3 days after pitching.

I'm thinking that the shaking just made some dissolved CO2 come out of the beer, looking like fermentation.

edit to add: you could of also taken a hydrometer reading....

 

[sundaybrewingco]

Was there a ring of dried hop gunk, foam, etc 1-3" above the beer? Is it possible that it fermented between Sunday and Thursday and you missed it? In the oatmeal stout that I recently brewed, fermentation was done 3 days after pitching.

I'm thinking that the shaking just made some dissolved CO2 come out of the beer, looking like fermentation.

edit to add: you could of also taken a hydrometer reading....

No, I checked it daily to see if any fermentation was happening, and nothing was taking place. It was just the liquid sitting there. I'm 99.9% sure its fermenting now as there are bubbles pushing through the blow-off tube and the krausen is starting to form. We did get 24 inches of snow during the course of the fermentation, so maybe my basement was just too cold for the fermentation to kick off right away.. in any case, I think I am good now.

 

[broadbill]

No, I checked it daily to see if any fermentation was happening, and nothing was taking place. It was just the liquid sitting there. I'm 99.9% sure its fermenting now as there are bubbles pushing through the blow-off tube and the krausen is starting to form. We did get 24 inches of snow during the course of the fermentation, so maybe my basement was just too cold for the fermentation to kick off right away.. in any case, I think I am good now.

If you think that temperature is the problem then you might consider moving the carboy to a warmer area of your house. If low temperatures are the reason for the slow start, than you risk a stuck fermentation as fermentation slows a few days from now. The trick is keeping it warm so the yeast can work, but not too warm that they produce off-flavors.

Hope this helps.

 

[sundaybrewingco]

If you think that temperature is the problem then you might consider moving the carboy to a warmer area of your house. If low temperatures are the reason for the slow start, than you risk a stuck fermentation as fermentation slows a few days from now. The trick is keeping it warm so the yeast can work, but not too warm that they produce off-flavors.

Hope this helps.

That's a great point. I heard a little trick to do is to plug in some christmas lights and wrap them around the carboy to give it some heat. I was debating on doing that soon until I saw the fermentation kick off.. do you think this would still be beneficial to do?

 

[broadbill]

That's a great point. I heard a little trick to do is to plug in some christmas lights and wrap them around the carboy to give it some heat. I was debating on doing that soon until I saw the fermentation kick off.. do you think this would still be beneficial to do?

I think its a great idea to warm up the carboy in some manner, but I think that using Christmas lights to do it is a HORRIBLE idea (my opinion, no offense).

Most Christmas lights are sloppily made in the first place, and they really aren't designed to be left on for long periods of time. Combine that with using them in a potentially wet environment is just asking for trouble! What is there is some blowoff/leakage from your carboy and those lights get wet?

There are plenty of ways to keep that carboy warm, and safely. The easiest is simply moving to a warmer area of the house. I put my carboys in a tub of water with an aquarium heater. Even this makes me a little nervous, and aquarium heaters are designed to be left on and in wet environments.

Good luck!

 

[sundaybrewingco]

I think its a great idea to warm up the carboy in some manner, but I think that using Christmas lights to do it is a HORRIBLE idea (my opinion, no offense).

Most Christmas lights are sloppily made in the first place, and they really aren't designed to be left on for long periods of time. Combine that with using them in a potentially wet environment is just asking for trouble! What is there is some blowoff/leakage from your carboy and those lights get wet?

There are plenty of ways to keep that carboy warm, and safely. The easiest is simply moving to a warmer area of the house. I put my carboys in a tub of water with an aquarium heater. Even this makes me a little nervous, and aquarium heaters are designed to be left on and in wet environments.

Good luck!

I see where you are coming from... I guess that could be pretty bad, haha. Wouldn't it be a bad idea to move the carboy at this point while its fermenting? I'd rather leave it where it is... I currently have 3 towles wrapped around it. Is there anything else I can do to warm it up at this point without moving it? I'm open to suggestions.

 

[rl1373]

I'd have to agree with broadbill, I just submerge (3/4 of the way) my fermenters in a large rubbermaid container filled with water and a fish tank heater. Make sure the temperature on the heater is adjustable. I can adjust mine from 64 degrees up to 80 degrees and it does a great job holding temp. I think I have maybe 20 dollars invested in it.