US 05 yeast

[jslive4now]

Hey new brewer and I'm using 05 for the first time.. Pitched rehydrated in a Pumpkin Spice Ale. Pitched at 70° but over night it dropped down to about 61.. I'm right at about 24 hours and I'm not getting the vigorous bubbling I'm accustomed to.. Maybe a bubble or two every min.. I'm slowly bringing the temp up and in currently at about 65/66..

Thoughts?? I took a peak and no Krausen to speak of just very little foam..

 

[flars]

Don't let the wort go below 65°F, or above 68°F for the least estery flavors.

 

[paperairplane]

05 is a tank - relax don't worry etc - keep it around 65 for a week then bring it up a little to clean up for another 2 weeks. It's about the cleanest, easiest yeast you can use.

 

[Queequeg]

I don't like us-05. Everything I brew will it has a very subtle astringency even though I ferment within the temp range. It eventually aged out in one beer but I can still notice it but I know what I'm looking for.

 

[Conan]

It got a little colder than 05 likes but only slowed fermentation when you expected it to be the most vigorous...which is why there's little krausen. It's fine, just watch those temps as best you can. Kyle

 

[unionrdr]

Mid-60's is a good temp range for clean beers with US-05. Giving it time to clean up by-products of fermentation & settle out clear or slightly misty gives cleaner flavor to me.

 

[bobeer]

I just made a brown with some washed us05... I didn't make a starter I just decanted the washed yeast and dumped it in. It took almost 3 days to get going but then it finished in about 4 days.

I think you're fine. Don't use bubble activity to gauge fermentation- take gravity readings. I've had one 10 gallon beer in two 5 gallon fermentors and used the same yeast. I got two very different beers. One went crazy and the other never bubbled. The one that went crazy finished at 1.010 and was cloudy, the one that didn't do much of anything finished at 1.006 and was clear as day. I have no idea why they were different but they were... So don't worry too much about that activity it could still be fermenting without you knowing.

 

[jslive4now]

I appreciate a the replies!!! .

 

[fosaisu]

You'll be fine! I've fermented with US-05 at wort temps as low as 60° F and things fermented out just fine, though I tend to shoot for 64° now. If you have the equipment to pull it off, I've also found that slowly ramping the wort temp up to 70°, starting on day 7 and going up ~ 1°/day, has improved my attenuation.

Sounds like you're on this, but note that everyone in the thread is discussing wort temp, not the ambient air temp (durring fermentation, the wort can be up to 5°+ hotter than the surrounding air because the yeast kicks out heat when it's active). If you're talking ambient air temp, then 60° is just about perfect, and 65°+ is going to lead to wort that's hotter than you want during those first few days of fermentation.

Oh, and US-05 is a fantastic yeast, my go-to for Pale Ales and IPAs but plenty of other uses as well.

 

[jfk69]

05 is a beast in my experience. It's a very clean yeast and has done very well for me, hell I bet over half my ales use it (or wlp001/wyeast 1056). I hold it at 65 for the first 4-5 days, and then ramp it up a degree or two a day over the next week. I don't always get airlock activity, but sticking my head down in the ferment freezer will cause water eyes and passing out if you breathe, so I know it's working lol. I avoid using it below 64 degrees because I've heard of some unwanted peachy esters if it's used at lower temperatures, but I haven't experienced that yet. I'm sure you'll be fine.

 

[frazier]

My last experience with US05 was that it started slow, had minimal kraeusen, and finished with 85% attenuation. I'll take that any time!

 

[jslive4now]

You'll be fine! I've fermented with US-05 at wort temps as low as 60° F and things fermented out just fine, though I tend to shoot for 64° now. If you have the equipment to pull it off, I've also found that slowly ramping the wort temp up to 70°, starting on day 7 and going up ~ 1°/day, has improved my attenuation.

Sounds like you're on this, but note that everyone in the thread is discussing wort temp, not the ambient air temp (durring fermentation, the wort can be up to 5°+ hotter than the surrounding air because the yeast kicks out heat when it's active). If you're talking ambient air temp, then 60° is just about perfect, and 65°+ is going to lead to wort that's hotter than you want during those first few days of fermentation.

Oh, and US-05 is a fantastic yeast, my go-to for Pale Ales and IPAs but plenty of other uses as well.

Anyway of knowing what your actual wort temp is?? I ferment in a plastic fermimter...

 

[frazier]

Get a thermo-strip from your LHBS or supplier of choice. Attach it below the wort-line of your carboy, but above the water level of your swamp chiller (if you use one). Mentally take into account that it will read a little low, you'll be fine.

 

[jslive4now]

Get a thermo-strip from your LHBS or supplier of choice. Attach it below the wort-line of your carboy, but above the water level of your swamp chiller (if you use one). Mentally take into account that it will read a little low, you'll be fine.

Thanks Frazier!!
I already have one on the bucket. I also use a digital thermometer that I attached directly to the side as well and I insulate it with a thick piece of towel and tape it to the bucket . I ferment in "Cool Brewing" bag that uses frozen 2 liter bottles to bring temps down... So a thermo-Strip is relatively wort temp??? More or less??

 

[fosaisu]

Thanks Frazier!!
I already have one on the bucket. I also use a digital thermometer that I attached directly to the side as well and I insulate it with a thick piece of towel and tape it to the bucket . I ferment in "Cool Brewing" bag that uses frozen 2 liter bottles to bring temps down... So a thermo-Strip is relatively wort temp??? More or less??

Yep -- I can't remember where but I've read on HBT about experiments showing that during fermentation the exterior of the bucket and the temp at the core are pretty close, so a thermostrip (or thermometer attached as you suggest) should tell you all you need to know.

 

[unionrdr]

I checked the temps on my strip thermometers with my All-Temp laser thermometer & they were different by only about 3/10's of a degree. Close enough to monitor internal temps of primary.

 

[frazier]

I checked the temps on my strip thermometers with my All-Temp laser thermometer & they were different by only about 3/10's of a degree. Close enough to monitor internal temps of primary.

Science FTW, baby!!

 

[kh54s10]

I use US05 a lot. I rehydrate then ferment at 64-65 degrees. I often need the blow off tube that I always use to start. I get no off flavors and it is almost always started by the next morning 12 - 18 hours later.

I personally would worry (a little) if one took 3 days to get started as I have never had any go near that long.

It is one of my favorite yeasts.

 

[chezhed]

I use lots of US05 also. I start at 18C (sorry, I work in Mexico ) and after a week start moving it up 1/2 degree C every 2 days till I get to 20C. I tend to then let it sit for a week or more to settle.

"One went crazy and the other never bubbled. The one that went crazy finished at 1.010 and was cloudy, the one that didn't do much of anything finished at 1.006 and was clear as day. I have no idea why they were different but they were..." I have had this happen with packs of the same lot poured in identical fermenters with identical volumes from the same boil and kept in identical chambers....beats me....never could figure it ou.

 

[Rev2010]

I too have found in my experience using US-05 that it starts slow (24 hours or so) and when it does get going along there's no huge krausen cake on top like with most other yeasts. My US-05's usually maintain a layer of bubbly foam on top. Funny thing is though, I still do get 2-3 inches of crud ring as if the krausen did rise up. Perhaps it rises and falls within a short period of time, like while I'm at work, and just haven't caught it.

There are a bunch of threads lately about US-05 and these types of reports. Don't worry about it, you should be fine. I read one comment in a thread that I think summed it up the best. The guy said he likes US-05 as it "chews through your wort without all the fireworks". I think is a fairly accurate description.


Rev.

 

[RachmaelBenApplebaum]

Recently did a cream ale with it, though I've used it alot, and finally used my empty keg fridge for fermentation temp control, prior to that I was just using high-heat yeasts in the summer here. I ran it around 59-60 for the first two days, let it ramp up to mid 60's for a few days, and then let it eventually make it to 70 when it was no longer fermenting, then cold-crashed, added gelatin, and now it sits for a week or so of cold-stabilization before I keg. f.g. was .999 when I checked, though it was just my homebrewing hydrometer, not the fancy ones I get to use at work. Still get the job done. Sample was dry and crisp with a little grainy backbone, in other words exactly what I wanted and wayyy more than fully attenuated. The important factor with US05 is to not let it get warm at all (over70). I let one batch go in the 80's and it had this very off-putting ester quality that was NOT enjoyable, but that was many years ago and I was in the spirit of experimentation then.