BackAlleyBrewingCo
Well-Known Member
Hi all,
Brewed my second batch of beer, a Wit (AG, based on Brewing Classic Styles' "Wittebrew" recipe,) about 11 days ago and was expecting it to be a bit further along than it is. My mash wasn't very efficient, my OG was 1.043 where the recipe's target was 1.049, so I added 1 lb of boiled (and cooled) honey to the primary about an hour after I had pitched the yeast to bring it up to 1.049.
The brew had quite a bit of activity for a few days, with a strong krausen starting within 12 hours, and fair amount of blow-off. Things settled down on day 4, so I replaced the blow off tube with an airlock, which has been bubbling steadily ever since. Fermentation temp was kept steady at 66* for a week, and has been raised gradually to 71* over the past couple of days. There is about 1/2 inch of white foam on top of the beer that hasn't really diminished since it showed up. Also, the top (inside) of the carboy is caked with yeast.
Yesterday I took a gravity reading and pulled a 1.029, which struck me as extremely high considering the activity I have been seeing. The sample tasted about right, but (expectedly) sweet with a hint of sour apple, which tells me that the fermentation is on track and probably just moving along very slowly. I've stirred the beer to try to get the yeast more active, but I'm wondering if it's possible that I lost too much yeast to blowoff and caking inside the carboy, and if I should pitch more (Wyeast 3944,) or if I'm better off leaving things alone. To add to my impatience, I've got a shindig coming up in about 10 days and I'd like to have this beer ready by then.
More details for those who care:
The recipe I used (5 gal) had about 5.5 lbs of Pilsener malt, and 5 lbs of flaked wheat. I mashed at 122* for 20 minutes, upped the temp to 152* over 20 minutes, then mashed for another 40 before lautering. I did a single batch sparge to get my target pre-boil volume. I noticed when I dumped the spent grain that I had some clumping of wheat, which no doubt contributed to the poor OG.
Thanks for the help!
ToledoDave
Brewed my second batch of beer, a Wit (AG, based on Brewing Classic Styles' "Wittebrew" recipe,) about 11 days ago and was expecting it to be a bit further along than it is. My mash wasn't very efficient, my OG was 1.043 where the recipe's target was 1.049, so I added 1 lb of boiled (and cooled) honey to the primary about an hour after I had pitched the yeast to bring it up to 1.049.
The brew had quite a bit of activity for a few days, with a strong krausen starting within 12 hours, and fair amount of blow-off. Things settled down on day 4, so I replaced the blow off tube with an airlock, which has been bubbling steadily ever since. Fermentation temp was kept steady at 66* for a week, and has been raised gradually to 71* over the past couple of days. There is about 1/2 inch of white foam on top of the beer that hasn't really diminished since it showed up. Also, the top (inside) of the carboy is caked with yeast.
Yesterday I took a gravity reading and pulled a 1.029, which struck me as extremely high considering the activity I have been seeing. The sample tasted about right, but (expectedly) sweet with a hint of sour apple, which tells me that the fermentation is on track and probably just moving along very slowly. I've stirred the beer to try to get the yeast more active, but I'm wondering if it's possible that I lost too much yeast to blowoff and caking inside the carboy, and if I should pitch more (Wyeast 3944,) or if I'm better off leaving things alone. To add to my impatience, I've got a shindig coming up in about 10 days and I'd like to have this beer ready by then.
More details for those who care:
The recipe I used (5 gal) had about 5.5 lbs of Pilsener malt, and 5 lbs of flaked wheat. I mashed at 122* for 20 minutes, upped the temp to 152* over 20 minutes, then mashed for another 40 before lautering. I did a single batch sparge to get my target pre-boil volume. I noticed when I dumped the spent grain that I had some clumping of wheat, which no doubt contributed to the poor OG.
Thanks for the help!
ToledoDave