andre the giant
Well-Known Member
So I'm brewing a Strong Spiced English Ale. I got a Smackpack of London ESB yeast and smacked it. Over the next two days, it swelled up, but not as much as most smackpacks I've used. I made a starter and pitched it in. The starter showed sluggish activity for two days. I put off brewing an extra day waiting on the yeast, and it still seemed sluggish. Finally I went ahead, brewed the beer and pitched the yeast. The fermentation has been about as sluggish as the starter was. A thin krausen formed, then dissappeared. The starting Gravity was 1.070. At about 1 week, airlock activity stopped. I took a gravity reading and it read 1.050. 1-2 weeks later the gravity is still around 1.048. The beer smelled a bit funky, and I was getting worried. So I pitched more yeast. Now a layer of Krausen is starting to form and airlock activity is moderate. What's up with my yeast?
I'm going to proceed like there's nothing wrong with the batch, and hope it's drinkable when I reach bottling time. I'd hate to think that this 5 gallons of relatively high gravity brew is going to become dumperbrau, but all that time without active yeast and the funky smell are making me think that it may have a infection.
I'm going to proceed like there's nothing wrong with the batch, and hope it's drinkable when I reach bottling time. I'd hate to think that this 5 gallons of relatively high gravity brew is going to become dumperbrau, but all that time without active yeast and the funky smell are making me think that it may have a infection.