Switched yeast?

[radecki]

Hello everybody....

Still a green member and a pretty fresh brewer, but loving the hobby and beer.

I have pretty quickly upgraded from brewing half batches and ended up using what was available, a propane burner and a 60 quart pot. Which just made sense to do double batches, so i decided to pitch one with ale yeast and the other with lager yeast to see how things would turn out and what would be different.

The latest batch was my first all grain attempt and i went with the BIAB method. Everything went well with only a few minor hiccups which may be expected trying new things and new setups.

Thing is, while i decided to re-hydrate my yeast, US-05 and S-23, i did not do a very good job of keeping track of which was which. Even though i am pretty sure i pitched the right yeast into the right carboy, there is a chance it got switched.
I keep the ale batches in an area that tends to stay in the 17 to 20 Celsius range. I have the lager batches in the basement cellar which is at a steady 16 Celsius.
Now, both batches started off about the same... good fermentation started and some krausen started to develop on both and bubbling was really nice. However, the lager batch is still going well and krausen grew a bit more and is holding up, the ale batch however krausen is gone and fermentation seems very slow to almost stalled.
The first double batch i used lager yeast in i had in buckets, so i cant really compare to how things looked, but im not sure any more if i actually mixed the yeasts up or if my ale fermentation actually stalled.


This is what the "lager" batch looks like now

and this is what the "ale" batch looks like

I hope someone with more experience and knowledge is able to help me out...
Maybe someone can tell the difference based on the behaviour of the fermentation and the yeast if i did in fact switch the yeast. Or maybe let me know if its in fact stalled and if i should persue pitching it again or something...

Sorry about the long post, just wanted to get all the details i think are important out to help with the diagnosis.

Thanks in advance for any and all help...


Radek.

 

[kaconga]

Take a gravity reading and that will help you determine if the "ale" batch is stalled or done. Typically my lagers will ferment longer than my ales but have smaller krausen. However, no two krausens are exactly the same. So take a couple samples and some readings. I bet it will be easy to tell once you taste them.


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[radecki]

It has only been a week since i pitched the yeast, and the krausen has fallen on the "ale" batch within 4 days.
I will take a reading two days in a row just to see what is going on.
Its just that up until now i have seen more activity in the first week.
Maybe the temperatures coming down a bit are changing how things ferment more than i expected.

Next project is a fermentation chamber to have more control over that.

 

[kaconga]

Us-05 is a beast at warmer temps. If the beer wasn't above 1.060 og then it definitely could have gone through primary fermentation in 4 days.


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[radecki]

I used US-05 in most of my brews so far and they usually lasted longer than this.
The gravity was a little lower than i was looking for at 044, but not much lower than some of my previous batches. Also with the lower temps i thought it might have been active for longer. Maybe its just not as active as it used to be.

Ill take some readings in the next couple days to see whats going on.

As to my other cunandrum...
Any way to tell the difference between lager and ale brew in the carboy?
Krausen or yeast settlement?
I think i know which is which, but i cant be absolutely sure.

 

[kaconga]

Not really, lagers can behave like ales at ale temps and ales can ferment into the lager range sometimes. So you can't really tell just by looking.

 

[OhCrap]

Isn't s-23 a bottom fermenting yeast? I've used it a couple of times and very little krausen on top with a lot more stuff on the bottom. Take a hydrometer reading to check if it's stalled but it looks to me like they're mixed up. I'm sure more experienced Brewers will help out. Just my .02c

 

[radecki]

Ok....
so i just checked the gravity on the ale batch....
i am very surprised to say that its at 003....
i have never seen a beer go down that low, even after its full 2 or 3 weeks of fermenting.
Beer has a very faint wine smell and flavor to it, but tastes fine overall.

basement batch is still bubbling slowly, but this one i imagine is rather finished.