S-04 two days

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mewithstewpid

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First time using s-04. Love it so far.

Brewed a stout 1.072 on Sunday. Two days later I noticed the krausen had fallen. I took a reading for the hell of it and it was 1.025!!!!! The sample tasted like a stout too (with a bunch of hop debris of course!). Aiming for a three day ferment!,

Anyone else have insanely fast ferments with s04????
 
Yup that's my go to when I need to make beer fast. Still helps to let it sit for a while though.
 
I used it in a pub for awhile, carbing via spundig, I was able to flip beers in as little as 7 days in a pinch. I preferred 14, but I could do it sooner. I have rushed it at home and gone as little as 10 days brew to glass. Not the ideal by any stretch of course. Anyway, yes SO4 in my experience ferments out quick.

I brewed a 1.061 red ale saturday. It's done. Will let it sit until Friday or Saturday, crash, fine with gelatin maybe Sunday or Monday, keg Wednesday and have it on tap by the weekend. At least, that's the plan :D
 
S-04 is my favorite yeast where most would use WLP001. I like it in stouts and IPAs as well as bitters. Anyhow I've taken plenty of beers from grain to glass in 7-9 days. I have a special bitter I did in 8 days very recently. I did a stout in about a week from 1.068, and an IPA in 10 days. It clears so well and leaves such a compact yeast cake. Plus it adds just a touch of flavor I appreciate more than a very neutral yeast like 001/US05.
 
Using it for the first time and love it so far. I brewed BM's Centennial Blonde on Sunday, pitched rehydrated S-04. Had activity within 6 hours. Checked it yesterday (day 2) and it is DONE! Holy crap this stuff work FAST!
 
I am glad to find this post because I used it for the first time 2 weeks ago and thought the same thing. I went from 1.054 to 1.018 in 48 hours and thought something was wrong. The krausen was also very small compared to other yeasts which was great to not need a blowoff in my 6 gallon better bottle.
 
Interesting to hear this from everyone. I am going to be pitching S-04 for the first time this morning in a brown ale.
What temp ranges have you been fermenting in? I am especially curious after hearing about the quick ferments.
I will likely have mine around 62F
 
I've used it in the 60-68 range (depending on time of year) and always have great results! I almost always use S-04 or S-05 exlusively.
 
temp in my house is 62-64.

also, the krausen on mine was very small. I, too, rigged a blowoff b/c of the vigorous activity, but didnt need it at all.
 
I've had terrific results with S04 in a few stouts. I had done some of the same recipes with Notty and greatly prefer the S04 in them.
 
mewithstewpid said:
remember any of the FG's?

Last one went from 1.063 to 1.016. I didn't record the fermentation temp but I think I just threw that in my basement around 66-68F and I primary at least 3 weeks.
 
Well, I pitched my first S-04 today and have fermentation already 4.5 hours in. I decided to find a room upstairs to keep the fermenter in for a while since it will be 66-67F instead of the 62F in the basement (62F after putting a brew belt on it). Look forward to seeing how the S-04 tastes.
 
I've done a number of 4-5 day primaries with grain to glass in 6-8 days. English ale yeasts tend to cooperate with a fast turnover. Sometimes you even don't want it to clean up all the way because you want some diacetyl left behind. Just part of the style.
 
FWIW, when determining tank capacity for a commercial brewery, the standard is to assume a 14 day flip on ales, 28 on lagers. Pretty much the only time you are going to see greater than a 14day flip on an ale is if it is a big beer like a barley wine or imp stout, or if there is something like extended aging on oak, souring/fruit etc. in the case of some specialty beers.

When I worked at Bell's '89-'90, beers did about a 4 or 5 day turn around from brew to bottle, then a week or so in the bottle (bottle conditioning) before release for labeling and distribution. With the assumption of approximately 1 week to get from the brewery to the customer this meant the beers were 2 weeks conditioning in the bottle and three brew to glass.
 
What were your fermentation temperatures using S-04? I've only used it once, and at an ambient temp of ~66, I got far too many esters.
 
What were your fermentation temperatures using S-04? I've only used it once, and at an ambient temp of ~66, I got far too many esters.

That's odd... commercially I kept it at 65 for a relatively clean beer, still ale, with appropriate characteristics, but relatively clean... Even at 70-72 as I have had in my house it wasn't extreme at all.. What is your touchstone as far as ale yeast go?
 
Here's some S-04 getting rowdy on my cream stout that I made a while back...

1106111842.jpg


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I bought a buddy down to check it out right as the first airlock breach occurred... I was very happy that I had decided to buy the blowoff tube a couple days earlier.

That was @ 67° F, btw.
 
mewithstewpid said:
First time using s-04. Love it so far.

Brewed a stout 1.072 on Sunday.

You used 1 packet?

I'm brewing a Founders Breakfast stout clone on Sat. (OG 1.079) & will be using dry yeast (S-05) for the first time. Mr Malty is calling for something like 3.3 packets. Does this sound right?
 
You used 1 packet?

I'm brewing a Founders Breakfast stout clone on Sat. (OG 1.079) & will be using dry yeast (S-05) for the first time. Mr Malty is calling for something like 3.3 packets. Does this sound right?

Yes, the 3.3 packets Mr. Malty calls for are the 5 g packets. Also listed under that is 1.4 packets for the 11 g packets. I believe 11 g packets are the standard. What size packet are you using? 5g or 11g?

http://www.mrmalty.com/calc/calc.html
 
You used 1 packet?

I'm brewing a Founders Breakfast stout clone on Sat. (OG 1.079) & will be using dry yeast (S-05) for the first time. Mr Malty is calling for something like 3.3 packets. Does this sound right?

1 11.5g packet rehydrated for like 1 hr while i was boiling the wort.
 
Well, I pitched my first S-04 today and have fermentation already 4.5 hours in. I decided to find a room upstairs to keep the fermenter in for a while since it will be 66-67F instead of the 62F in the basement (62F after putting a brew belt on it). Look forward to seeing how the S-04 tastes.

After 4 days I have hit my final gravity! I might have already been there after 3 days, but didn't measure yesterday. I like the nutty flavor my brownale had, and I'm excited to bottle and see how the S-04 tastes.
 
mine seems to be stuck at 1.024. i gently stirred up some of the yeast on saturday to see if i could get it down to 1.02 but nothing happened. but man was that yeast compact. it was like stirring thru mud
 
Yeah, s04 drops like a rock. Part of why it's a nice yeast to work with. I'd take a tase, and if it tastes good, and not too sweet, then just roll with it. You'd have to add some new yeast at high krausen or more sugar to get the yeast going again, but if it already tastes good, I wouldn't mess with it. s04 is not as high of an attenuator as s05, which might explain your higher than expected FG.
 
yeah im not too worried. it tastes awesome, nice a roasty and chocolaty without astringency, so im happy with my stout. dont want bottle bombs again but i think ill be ok it wont be carbed up too much anyways.
 
From your OG, I doubt it would start to ferment again like crazy in bottles. You've probably about maxed out that yeast strain. Give it another week if you're worried, but you're probably all set.
 
From your OG, I doubt it would start to ferment again like crazy in bottles. You've probably about maxed out that yeast strain. Give it another week if you're worried, but you're probably all set.

thanks! i am going to wait til this saturday then rack onto 10lb blueberries for another week, so that might get something going again anyways.
 
Pitched this in a mild on Saturday night around 11pm and it had fallen out by Monday morning 3am. The airlock sounded like a damn popcorn machine, bubbles every second and furious turbulence in the carboy. Still bubbling but only maybe 1 every 4 seconds. Never seen anything like it.
 
I am very happy with this yeast. 4 days to FG, I let it sit for another 9 days, and after 4 days in the bottle, I have a good amount of carbonation and the yeast just packed down to the bottom of the bottle and hardly moved when poured (much better than 05). The brown ale was crystal clear and loved the flavor. With only whirlfloc I am surprised how clear this beer turned out.
 
I've stopped using any kind of in-the-boil clarifying agent with London Ale III after dozens batches of super-clear beers without it.

The yeast flocculates so well that it just isn't necessary. I'm sure S-04 is the same way.
 
Good point Poley on the clarifiers. I'm not used to yeast dropping so clear, I guess I could try my next S-04 batch without the whirlfloc. Glad I washed (rinsed) my yeast from this batch, I now have 3 little bottles of yeast I can propagate and use again.
 
Just used it for the first time, and I am amazed. I used it in a blonde ale that I usually brew with American Ale yeast, but had a pack of s-04 just dry pitched it. 1.047-1.011 in 4 days at 64f. The beer is outstanding a month later after carbing in the keg for two weeks. Super clean and crisp, just like the liquid versions of Whitbread (WLP 007/Wyeast 1098) at a 1/3 of the price and no starter!
 
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