Pressure fermenting and went 20 hours with no pressure

[JDZ]

So I made a cream ale yesterday and decided to try and pressure ferment S-04 to see how clean I could it. Long story short I used an unproven keg and didn't pressurize it after transfering, assuming it would pressurize from the fermentation. It was leaking around the lid and by the time I checked it 20 hours late it was a fully active fermentation with no pressure. Temp was 69F. Im planning to hold it at 70F.

My question is how much esters do you think it would produce in that time. Has anyone had any experiences like this and did you notice a difference? Also how does S-04 usually turn out with pressure?

 

[wdavis2003]

It is common practice to leave the spunding valve wide open for the first 24 hours to produce esters. I do it regularly. It might not be as clean as you were looking for but I'm sure it'll be good.

Oh and I'm not a fan of Ale yeast under pressure. Tried it once, won't do it again. But, I've no experience with S-04 under pressure

 

[fluketamer]

i think you will be fine. more often than not i wait 24 hours at room temp (72 ish) before dropping the temp of my ferments to optimal temps. i find this cuts the lag time trememdouosly and doesnt seem to give me much unwanted ester production. i find hi temps during really active fermentation usually after 24 - 48 hours (when the airlock is singing) is where i can get off flavors.

when i pressure ferment i also dont put on the spunding valve til really active fermentation. usually after 36 to 48 hours.

this goes for pretty much both my ales and lagers.

 

[JDZ]

It is common practice to leave the spunding valve wide open for the first 24 hours to produce esters. I do it regularly. It might not be as clean as you were looking for but I'm sure it'll be good.

Oh and I'm not a fan of Ale yeast under pressure. Tried it once, won't do it again. But, I've no experience with S-04 under pressure

I did not know that thanks. I'm fairly new to pressure fermenting.

I've read that about ale yeasts.Blow off smells pretty good. Like S-04 but more delicate. Hopefully turns out good.

 

[JDZ]

i think you will be fine. more often than not i wait 24 hours at room temp (72 ish) before dropping the temp of my ferments to optimal temps. i find this cuts the lag time trememdouosly and doesnt seem to give me much unwanted ester production. i find hi temps during really active fermentation usually after 24 - 48 hours (when the airlock is singing) is where i can get off flavors.

when i pressure ferment i also dont put on the spunding valve til really active fermentation. usually after 36 to 48 hours.

this goes for pretty much both my ales and lagers.

Thanks. Have you used S-04 under pressure?

 

[wdavis2003]

I did not know that thanks. I'm fairly new to pressure fermenting.

I've read that about ale yeasts.Blow off smells pretty good. Like S-04 but more delicate. Hopefully turns out good.

24-48 hours wide open should give you an estery profile if you ever want it.

You will make some damn good beer pressure fermenting. Even the carbonation seems better due to spunding. Looks great. Taste great.

 

[Ramjet]

I've only pressure fermented lagers. I use a blowoff tube for the first day or to two then put on the spending valve. I preset my spending Valve to 12 psi. I am going to try pressure fermenting an Ale at 2 or 3 psi

 

[IslandLizard]

As a side note for your method, many corny kegs will generally not pressurize themselves during fermentation unless you know it has a positive seal at 0 psi.

The reason is that the small amount of CO2 produced per second tends to leak out. So it's best strategy to pre-pressurize the keg with say 6-10 psi, so pressure can build up further. Then let it start spunding at whatever pressure you have chosen. And double/triple/... check that it is indeed spunding properly at that set pressure.
Keep in mind, spunding valves can get clogged with over-exuberant krausen, especially when headspace is relatively small, such as in tall, narrow kegs, that are "overfilled."

 

[JDZ]

As a side note for your method, many corny kegs will generally not pressurize themselves during fermentation unless you know it has a positive seal at 0 psi.

The reason is that the small amount of CO2 produced per second tends to leak out. So it's best strategy to pre-pressurize the keg with say 6-10 psi, so pressure can build up further. Then let it start spunding at whatever pressure you have chosen. And double/triple/... check that it is indeed spunding properly at that set pressure.
Keep in mind, spunding valves can get clogged with over-exuberant krausen, especially when headspace is relatively small, such as in tall, narrow kegs, that are "overfilled."

A lesson I learned the hard way. I have only done two lagers with pressure and pre pressurized both times. I ended up putting a bit of keg lube on the seal and it pressurized.

I wanted a fairly clean ale but needed it done fast. Hence the S-04 with pressure. My spunding valve was set at 12psi. I actually raised temp to 70 using a heat belt. Activity had pretty much died down by end of third day as I couldn't hear any blow off.

Probably won't be as clean as I was hoping for. Will take a gravity reading today and see what I have. Usually I use US-05 for this recipe but looking for an alternative that is more versatile so I can buy a brick of yeast.