Trub removal on 1st all grain brew

[CTolino]

My friends and I are a week into our first all grain brew on our 15 gal setup, and our fermentation has slowed to a crawl, most likely due to the lower temperature where our fermenter is. The temp remains between 60-63 degrees farenheit. We plan on letting it sit for another week, because we are currently 1% below our project abv of 6.7%. I was wondering if I should empty the trub out of the bottom of the conical now, or after the next sunday, and let it clear up a bit for another week after. That would put us at 3 weeks in the fermenter.

Any suggestions?

 

[ThreeSheetsBrewing]

Let it ride.

 

[aslander]

I'd bump up the temp and ride it out as well.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Home Brew mobile app

 

[CTolino]

The temp bump might be difficult. It's in the winery I work at, and the temp stays at 60-63

 

[BeerLoverHere]

Let it ride.

Yep, don't mess with it. You can let your beer sit on your yeast cake for a couple of months. Some will disagree with that, but I prefer to not disturb the beer if you don't have to. There are lots of different arguments on this forum on that topic.

Bumping up the temp 5-10 degrees to allow the yeast to finish would be the best thing you could do like aslander said. I do this on all my beers to clean up fermentation, but I can carry my 6.5 gallon carboy to another room in my house.

Sounds like you should get a very nice flavor in your brew. I prefer all of my beers to ferment low 60s as it best fits the flavor profile that I prefer. This is probably one of the most important things a new brewer does not realize. Congrats to making the jump to all-grain!

Your efficiency in your brewing could be lower than what is expected or you mashed at too high of a temperature. That could be why your alcohol level is a little lower than expected. By any chance, did you take an original gravity reading?

Another possible solution would be to perhaps pitch a different yeast to clean up what is left with cooler temps, like the Wyeast 2112 California Lager (temps 58-68 for fermentation). I've not done this so I can't comment, just trying to brainstorm for you and see what anyone else thinks!

 

[C-Rider]

Yea, it ain't broke so don't try to fix it. If you're not in a rush let it sit for 3-4 weeks and the yeast will do it's thing.

 

[tektonjp]

One other variable: how did you measure the gravity? Did you account for the now present alcohol, that is, did you correct for it? It may already be finished.

 

[RmikeVT]

Yeast Strain? Mash Temp? How much Yeast?

All those are important. 60-63 shouldn't give most ale yeast any trouble, especially if that is ambient temp, as the ferm temp is probably 5-10 degrees higher. I hope you pitched enough yeast into the 15g high gravity batch and mashed relatively low to get the attenuation you are hoping for.

 

[CTolino]

The OG I measured was 1.060 with the hydrometer. We used Wyeast American Ale yeast, and our mash temp was 160F. I was thinking about pitching a lager yeast, but wasn't sure if it would produces opposing flavors to the ale yeast.

 

[rlmiller10]

The OG I measured was 1.060 with the hydrometer. We used Wyeast American Ale yeast, and our mash temp was 160F. I was thinking about pitching a lager yeast, but wasn't sure if it would produces opposing flavors to the ale yeast.

If you mashed at 160 you will have a lot of unfermentables. As such you can expect a higher FG and lower ABV when it finishes. Depending on beer style 148 to 156 is a normal mash range.

 

[poptotwoboys]

From the WYEAST web site:


WYEAST STRAIN: 1056 | American Ale™

Very clean, crisp flavor characteristics with low fruitiness and mild ester production. A very versatile yeast for styles that desire dominant malt and hop character. This strain makes a wonderful “House” strain. Mild citrus notes develop with cooler 60-66°F (15-19ºC) fermentations. Normally requires filtration for bright beers.

Origin:
Flocculation: Medium-Low
Attenuation: 73-77%
Temperature Range: 60-72F, 15-22C
Alcohol Tolerance: 11% ABV


You are in the proper temp range. Personally I would let it ride. Once you do something to change up the constant by adding variables, it will be harder to brew it again. When it turns out to be an excellent beer you may want to repeat it.

 

[CTolino]

I was using beer smith for my recipe building, and was what I used for my mash temp. I just double checked and it was 158 that we mashed at. Our warehouse temp is on the high end for lager and low end for an ale yeast. I was thinking about wrapping it in a blanket to warm it up a degree or two.

I'm going to check the final gravity Friday or Saturday and make a decision to keg it or let it ride

 

[rlmiller10]

Hummm wonder if it is how you have Beer Smith set up. In all the recipes I have set up in Beer Smith the highest recommended mash temp has been 156 for porters and stouts were I wanted a high final gravity.

All the books and online I have seen said 156 or so for max

 

[CTolino]

Yeah, Im not really sure why it had the mash temp at 158. I have beer smith setup for my brew setup. So it auto calculates what my HLT temp should be, but i can't see why it would give that a the temp for the mash.

 

[BeerLoverHere]

You are going to get much less alcohol in your finished product when you mash that high @ 158. That is your problem! You've got some extra weight in your beer from some unfermentable sugars like rlmiller10 said. The yeast can't eat those sugars to make alcohol. Here is a good link that I like to use from time to time to freshen up on my knowledge on mash temps.

http://www.homebrewkorea.com/?p=346

 

[CTolino]

I think I'm going to let the Beer sit another week. I just added an ounce of Citra to the fermenter. I just picked up a kegerator. Pretty sweet two tap unit with CO2 for $200