PrimaFacie
Member
TL;DR: OG - 1.072, "F"G - 1.030 (after a cold snap and successful attempt to re-pitch new yeast). Tastes delicious and strong preference to get this into bottles. What are my options?
Several weeks ago I brewed a winter warmer for my very pregnant wife to enjoy postpartum in February. Brew day went well, temps were all correct, and we followed the recipe below to a tee. We hit our OG at 1.072.
We usually ferment in my garage in San Francisco, where in mid-December the temps were perfect: ~60*F at night, ~64*F during the day. Then while I was away for the holidays we had a "cold" snap in SF - the garage got to below 50*F for several days in a row and the yeast clearly went to sleep.
On first reading we were at 1.034, and several days later at a second reading we were at the same.
We attempted to rouse the yeast with some very light stirring and bringing the fermenter inside where it was about 64*F. No luck. I had some Safale-05 on hand and built up a starter over a couple of days and pitched it. I'd read that the best method was racking onto a recent yeast cake, but brewing another batch wasn't an option at that moment, so this was the most we could do.
It appeared to work. We had airlock activity by the next morning and that lasted for over a week, and then slowed to some infrequent bubbling. After two weeks we checked the gravity and were at 1.030. A few days later, still at 1.030. I racked onto the dry hops last weekend and there was no visible yeast in suspension.
I would strongly prefer to get this into bottles. It tastes great at this point, so I'm not bothered with the current gravity.
Options I've come up with so far: (1) bottle condition and risk it; (2) keg it and use a counter-pressure filler to bottle (would I need to add anything to kill off any potential zombie yeast?); (3) drink it uncarbed straight from the bucket (not preferred but could be good at a party).
Thoughts on the best approach here?
Here's the recipe for reference:
11# -- Maris Otter
1.25# -- C90
1# -- Munich (10L)
1# -- CaraAroma
.75# -- Biscuit
.5# -- Chocolate
60 min mash @ 154*F
Hop Schedule
FWH -- Chinook -- 1 oz.
60 -- Willamette -- 1 oz.
30 -- Hallertau -- 1 oz.
Flameout -- EKG -- 1 oz.
Dry Hop 14 days -- EKG -- 2 oz.
Dry Hop 14 days -- Cascade -- 2 oz.
Safale - 04 - English Ale
Ferment @ 65*F
Several weeks ago I brewed a winter warmer for my very pregnant wife to enjoy postpartum in February. Brew day went well, temps were all correct, and we followed the recipe below to a tee. We hit our OG at 1.072.
We usually ferment in my garage in San Francisco, where in mid-December the temps were perfect: ~60*F at night, ~64*F during the day. Then while I was away for the holidays we had a "cold" snap in SF - the garage got to below 50*F for several days in a row and the yeast clearly went to sleep.
On first reading we were at 1.034, and several days later at a second reading we were at the same.
We attempted to rouse the yeast with some very light stirring and bringing the fermenter inside where it was about 64*F. No luck. I had some Safale-05 on hand and built up a starter over a couple of days and pitched it. I'd read that the best method was racking onto a recent yeast cake, but brewing another batch wasn't an option at that moment, so this was the most we could do.
It appeared to work. We had airlock activity by the next morning and that lasted for over a week, and then slowed to some infrequent bubbling. After two weeks we checked the gravity and were at 1.030. A few days later, still at 1.030. I racked onto the dry hops last weekend and there was no visible yeast in suspension.
I would strongly prefer to get this into bottles. It tastes great at this point, so I'm not bothered with the current gravity.
Options I've come up with so far: (1) bottle condition and risk it; (2) keg it and use a counter-pressure filler to bottle (would I need to add anything to kill off any potential zombie yeast?); (3) drink it uncarbed straight from the bucket (not preferred but could be good at a party).
Thoughts on the best approach here?
Here's the recipe for reference:
11# -- Maris Otter
1.25# -- C90
1# -- Munich (10L)
1# -- CaraAroma
.75# -- Biscuit
.5# -- Chocolate
60 min mash @ 154*F
Hop Schedule
FWH -- Chinook -- 1 oz.
60 -- Willamette -- 1 oz.
30 -- Hallertau -- 1 oz.
Flameout -- EKG -- 1 oz.
Dry Hop 14 days -- EKG -- 2 oz.
Dry Hop 14 days -- Cascade -- 2 oz.
Safale - 04 - English Ale
Ferment @ 65*F
