OG = 1.110! Double-check me, please.

[Johntodd]

This is my second brew. My OG was calc'd to be 1.109, so it's close enough, I guess. BUT, please help me here:

I knew I'd need a lot of yeast, so I pitched it on the cake of the previous hi-gravity batch (5-gallons), which was OG 1.095, AND added in the cake from a 1-gallon batch of an OG 1.049 batch.

The yeast is DanStar Nottingham, and the ferments from the previous batches were so vigorous they both required blowoff tubes.

The beers were kegged this morning and the cakes only sat two hours before being put into this latest (1.110) batch. Temps are good.

So, am I right in thinking that this will work?

Thanks!
-Johntodd

 

[beskone]

Probably fine, although re-pitching on yeast that already chewed through a big beer could lead to lazy / stressed yeasties and possibly some off flavors or a stalled fermentation.

 

[Johntodd]

Uh-oh.

 

[lumpher]

When i pitch a big beer onto a yeast cake, it's from a beer around 1.045-1.050. I wouldn't pitch onto 1 from that big, either. That being said, it's no wonder you needed a blowoff! Probably the most vigorous dry yeast, with that pitching rate? It won't be fermenting very long.

 

[zippybasher]

You'll be fine. Think about it this way, you added a 1gallon starter. They are healthy as can be.

Watch your temps! its probably going to go gangbustsers and could get warm from the ferment!

 

[Johntodd]

THanks guys!

...and WOW! I already see bubbles out the end of the tube! I've got some StarSan-water in a 1-gallon jug for the tubes.

 

[Jim311]

You're getting ready to have a volcano when that Notty takes off.

 

[Johntodd]

That sucker is starting to boil!

I fear I may have broken physics again. The space-time continuum is about to go kablooie.

Someone call Dr. Who and put him on standby!

 

[BobOki]

SHE'S GONNA BLOW CAPTN!
Please take a small vid or at least pictures of that bad boy, should work great for a "this is what a blowoff is" type of deal.

 

[Johntodd]

LOL! I can't, it's in the "junk room" and SWMBO would kill me if I let the outside world see all that.

But I woke this morning to find StarSan foam up-and-out of the gallon jug. Vigorous, and I expect it to get "vigorouser" as the day goes on!

 

[BobOki]

Keep your pimp hand strong my friend.
<joke> And remember, if she gives you crap introduce her to the alphabet and dot her eye! </joke>

 

[shortyz]

watch your temps, those violent fermentations give off a boatload of heat.

 

[Johntodd]

OK, so it's going along nicely. I'm about to remove the blowoff tube and do a standard airlock arrangement.

After this batch finishes, I intend to brew and pitch on the cake of this current batch.

Seems something lighter would be in order? Give me some recommends on the OG range for the next batch. I'll have 10 gallons in the keg when I brew this next batch, so I'll be full. Meaning, this next brew day will be for a beer that will sit in the fermenter for a while before kegging.

In order to avoid stressing the yeast further, what would you recommend I brew next in terms of OG? I do extract-only for now.


Thanks!
-Johntodd

 

[kh54s10]

In the first case it was probably good to use the cake and the extra 1 gallon of the lower gravity batch. But for future batches, (they should be from lower gravity batches for pitching on the cake) if you are doing the same size brew, pitching on the entire yeast cake is really too much yeast. 1/3 - 1/2 of the cake is plenty.

Mrmalty has a section for calculating how much "yeast slurry" to use.

http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html

 

[Johntodd]

(they should be from lower gravity batches for pitching on the cake)

The word "from" confuses me. Might I understand that you mean it without "from":

(they should be lower gravity batches for pitching on the cake)

Your thoughts?
-Johntodd

 

[urg8rb8]

Why does everyone say that Nottingham is always very vigorous? I used three packets of Nottingham in a 1.140 OG Barleywine and it wasn't vigorous at all... And it had no problems taking it down to 1.030 FG.

 

[kh54s10]

The word "from" confuses me. Might I understand that you mean it without "from":

(they should be lower gravity batches for pitching on the cake)

Your thoughts?
-Johntodd

No high gravity brews will stress they yeast and high alcohol levels might even kill off a lot of the yeast cells. So, if you want to pitch on the cake it is best to brew a lower gravity batch and use that yeast to do a higher gravity brew.

Many will retire the yeast after brewing a high gravity batch.

 

[Johntodd]

Oh my! We're in a time loop again!


My fault. My apologies.

 

[Johntodd]

If anyone out there is still interested...

Oh Good Lordie! I just took another SG reading, and it's zero.998!

So we have a calculated ABV of 14.7%. I took a tiny sniff of it and passed out!

You think it's done yet? I'm ready to keg it because, hey, enough is enough!

It'll go into a keg straight into a 38F fridge under gas. Surely the yeast will stop in there, right?

Thanks!
-Johntodd

 

[theseeker4]

If anyone out there is still interested...

Oh Good Lordie! I just took another SG reading, and it's zero.998!

So we have a calculated ABV of 14.7%. I took a tiny sniff of it and passed out!

You think it's done yet? I'm ready to keg it because, hey, enough is enough!

It'll go into a keg straight into a 38F fridge under gas. Surely the yeast will stop in there, right?

Thanks!
-Johntodd

This definitely seems off. What did you use to measure the gravity? If a hydrometer, did you check it against pure water recently? There is no way the yeast should attenuate a beer to that number FG, no matter how healthy and how much you added.

 

[Johntodd]

OK, I'll try a recheck tomorrow. I've already got it kegged and in the fridge.

I'm an old winemaker, actually, and these are my first beers. I've seen wine yeast take the SG way down like that, but IDK about beer yeast.

I can tell you this, there is a definite alcohol bite in this beer! It's definitely a very high ABV.

Thanks!
-Johntodd

 

[Johntodd]

If anyone is still interested...

We drank some of this last night. That is, I think we did. Can't really remember last night!

It is very much an ale, and has a clove overtone that will probably mellow out a bit. Carb was good. Pour was good.

ABV is very high! This seems like it is in wine territory! I'm calling it "Colt 47"!

Thanks!
-Johntodd