Slow Fermentation

[ThoricourtBrewing]

Hello,

I'm a newby and just brewed my fifth batch. I moved on to 5 gallon batches after only brewing 2.5 gallon batches before--I've had good results and it's a lot of work so might as well go with 5 gallon batches.

Anyways, I just brewed a Belgian Saison. Did a hydro reading prior to pitching the yeast; it was 1.062 which was right on target. Pitched the yeast at 65F. The yeast is Wyeast Saison and I made a one liter starter 48 hours prior to pitching. I took another hydro reading after one week in primary, and the SG is still 1.040. There is still a little activity in the air lock--it bubbles every minute or so. I figure I'll let it go and check it after being in primary for 2 weeks, to see if the gravity goes down.

In previous batches, fermentation seemed to be almost entirely complete in the first week. Any idea why the gravity is so high after one week? Should I be worrying? I mashed as some fairly high temps because I wanted a lot of dextrins, but 1.040 after one week seems a little high.

Any advice?

Thanks,
Dan

 

[scinerd3000]

ths yeast tends to do better a bit warmer and its also a bit of a slow fermenter. Unless you mashed at mashout temps i doubt your going to have an fg of 1.040. WHat temp is your beer currently fermenting at? When i did mine i wanted it around 80+ since its a farmhouse ale and back in the day was done in unregulated barns.

 

[ThoricourtBrewing]

I'm fermenting at about 65F now; any hotter and my wife will kill me... I guess I can let it go for another week or so and see what happens. There's still steady activity judging from the airlock so I guess I just need to be patient???

 

[ThoricourtBrewing]

Okay, I bumped up the fermentation temp to about 70F. Airlock activitiy has since increased. This is day 10 in primary--when would be a good time to take another hydro reading? How long is "normal" in primary, considering I'm going to condition this one a few weeks in secondary prior to bottling?

 

[BierMuncher]

Okay, I bumped up the fermentation temp to about 70F. Airlock activitiy has since increased. This is day 10 in primary--when would be a good time to take another hydro reading? How long is "normal" in primary, considering I'm going to condition this one a few weeks in secondary prior to bottling?

No such thing as normal. I've had beers that reached terminal gravity in just over 24 hours. Others can take weeks.

Belgian yeast is notorious for inconsistent, start, stop and go fermentations. Give your fermenter a slight rocking to wash that yeast cake off the walls of the fermenter back into solution.

Saison yeast also likes it warmer so give it more time at the 70 degree range.

Just figure on another two-three weeks in the primary and get on to your next batch to help you "ignore" this one.

 

[ThoricourtBrewing]

Thanks for the advice. I'll let you know how this one turns out. Thanks again.
Dan

 

[ThoricourtBrewing]

Moved this one into secondary finally. It's down to 1015 and I'm thinking it might drop some more. It smells and tastes superb--by far my best batch to date!! I can't wait to try this one when it's finished!!