Whats wrong with fermentation?

[jcs401]

Brewed a European Pilsner last night and it's been fermenting for about 12hrs. I looked at it in the swamp cooler and there seems to be little to no fermentation in the airlock. I brewed this extract kit after it's been in a cabinet for about 3 month, used dry yeast, wondering if I should dump it already or wait??

 

[aiptasia]

Wait. Airlock bubbling isn't a very accurate indicator of activity in the wort. The first phase of yeast growth involves very little CO2 production as the yeasts are in rapid growth mode to take advantage of the malt sugar food source. Right now, the yeast is consuming oxygen in the wort and multiplying rapidly. It can take as long as 72 hours or more for the yeast to really get going. When they do, they'll: Eat sugar, pee alcohol and fart out CO2. This is when you'll see your bubbler begin to kick in.

Right now, wait. If you don't see airlock activity after three or four days, you can pitch another packet of yeast in the beer. Check the expiration dates on your yeasts.

 

[jcs401]

I knew it was an older kit but figured what the hell might as well try brewing! I'll give it a few days and see. If not, just gives me another excuse with the wife to brew more .

 

[hautlle]

Are you fermenting in a bucket or a carboy? If you're in a bucket, the lid may not seal completely leaving you with no airlock activity but a beer that's fermenting fine. Gravity readings are the only way to be sure.

 

[jcs401]

It's in a carboy, my initial gravity was suppose to be 1.045 and after boiling and cooled wort was 1.043 so not to far off. Just not sure if the yeast was still good after 3 months of sitting in a cabinet. The airlock is bubbling but not a vigorous fermentation like I was hoping for. Should I pitch more yeast?

 

[eastoak]

Brewed a European Pilsner last night and it's been fermenting for about 12hrs. I looked at it in the swamp cooler and there seems to be little to no fermentation in the airlock. I brewed this extract kit after it's been in a cabinet for about 3 month, used dry yeast, wondering if I should dump it already or wait??

how cold does your swamp cooler get?

 

[RM-MN]

It's in a carboy, my initial gravity was suppose to be 1.045 and after boiling and cooled wort was 1.043 so not to far off. Just not sure if the yeast was still good after 3 months of sitting in a cabinet. The airlock is bubbling but not a vigorous fermentation like I was hoping for. Should I pitch more yeast?

I look forward to a slow ferment because its the violent ferments that give the off flavors. If my airlock ever bubbles more than a small bubble per second I worry.

 

[jcs401]

The thermometer on my glass carboy says 60 degrees.

 

[eastoak]

a lager at 60 degrees is probably at the very highest limit for most lager yeasts.

 

[jcs401]

Here is what fermentation is looking like after 4 days. Very slow bubbles in airlock but looks to be fermenting?? What's your thoughts???

 

[brycelarson]

you're in good shape - take a deep breath, walk away and give it time.

 

[PDX_T]

can you get the temp down to 50F? It's lager yeast, right?

 

[jcs401]

this is the yeast.

 

[i4ourgot]

Everything looks fine. Don't forget your D rest and then drop your temps for the actual lagering part.

 

[jcs401]

Can you explain that better?

 

[brycelarson]

Can you explain that better?

he's suggesting a dicetyl rest then dropping temps. Dicetyl is made when the yeast reproduce - it's the chemical they use in artificial butter flavorings. After a majority (70-80%) of fermentation is complete people often raise the temperture to something like 72 degrees for a few days to give the yeast a chance to eat up the Dicetyl. You want to get it gone from lager styles.

Then you drop the temp to lagering temps (I go down to about 38 degrees) for lagering - where you leave it for a long time to really clear and clean up. If you skip the Dicetyl rest and go right down to lagering temps the yeast may not be able to clean things up all the way.

 

[eastoak]

View attachment 168533this is the yeast.

this is not a lager yeast so you will probably be more ok with your temps than if you had used a true lager yeast. kolsch yeast do make a very clean flavored beer so i maybe they are including this yeast for new brewers to make "lager like" beer? just a guess.

 

[eastoak]

Everything looks fine. Don't forget your D rest and then drop your temps for the actual lagering part.

a diacetyl rest is needed if diacetyl is detected otherwise you don't have to do it, it won't hurt if you do raise the temps though. the K-97 yeast is not known for producing diacetyl.

 

[jcs401]

So Sunday (1/5) will be two weeks in the primary fermenting. I will take a gravity reading probably Friday Or so and another Sunday. If they are the same I should be able to transfer over to secondary for some dry hopping for about another week and then keg it correct? I'm still a bit confused on the cold crashing process to get any off flavors to go away if it is found as I've never done that. When should I and how do I go about doing it like the last few threads read??

 

[eastoak]

So Sunday (1/5) will be two weeks in the primary fermenting. I will take a gravity reading probably Friday Or so and another Sunday. If they are the same I should be able to transfer over to secondary for some dry hopping for about another week and then keg it correct? I'm still a bit confused on the cold crashing process to get any off flavors to go away if it is found as I've never done that. When should I and how do I go about doing it like the last few threads read??

i'm not sure that a kolsch needs to be dry hopped, no harm in doing though if that's what you want. if it was my beer i would leave it on the yeast until it's finished fermenting, cold crash then keg. put it on the gas at whatever psi is appropriate for the temperature and let it sit in there for a couple of weeks. if by off flavors you mean diacetyl you should be able to taste that pretty readily in a hydrometer sample.

 

[PDX_T]

dry hopping isn't to style for a kolsch. To cold crash, bring the beer down to 33 degrees for at least 3 days.

 

[jcs401]

What us meant by diacetyl rest? What does that mean and how do I get rid of any diacetyl flavors that may come up?

 

[PDX_T]

Diacetyl is a chemical compound that yeast make during fermentation. It has a flavor and aroma of movie theater buttered popcorn. Diacetyl is added to fake butter flavoring.

Yeast will take up diacetyl at the end of fermentation. A diacetyl rest is simply leaving the beer alone for 3 days after fermentation has stopped so that the yeast continue to metabolize. Typically on the homebrew scale, you can raise the beer's temperature 5-10 degrees to speed the process and ensure it is completed. This is more critical with lager strains than ale strains, because of the low ferment temp.

A typical procedure is to raise the temperature to 60F for lagers or 70F for ales once the fermentation is about 75% done, or when the gravity drops to below 1.020. Checking gravity daily, the diacetyl rest is usually complete when the same gravity is measured for 3 consecutive days.

You can test for diacetyl by pulling a sample, microwaving it for about 30-60 seconds to get the temp up to 140F, then cooling it back down. What this will do is produce diacetyl from any of the precursor compounds found in the unfinished beer.

Your heated sample should taste no different than a regular sample. If it does, your beer needs a couple more days at least.

One caveat here is that some people, in fact many people, are not sensitive to diacetyl. It's possible that you won't perceive a strong off flavor. It has also been described as producing a "slick" or oily mouthfeel.

 

[ChuBru]

Airlock= vent
hydrometer= fermentation or no fermentation

 

[jcs401]

Ok so after 2weeks of fermenting about 64 degrees, there is still a lot of croisen on the top of the primary. Not just a line of it but a good half inch of it STILL hasn't ceased much. Should I be worried? Is it ok to take a sample to get hydrometer reading??

 

[eastoak]

Ok so after 2weeks of fermenting about 64 degrees, there is still a lot of croisen on the top of the primary. Not just a line of it but a good half inch of it STILL hasn't ceased much. Should I be worried? Is it ok to take a sample to get hydrometer reading??

krausen sometimes just sticks around, take a gravity sample.

 

[jcs401]

Starting gravity was 1.044 and now been at 1.011 for 2 days. It has a slight diacetyl flavor. Any way to mild it out before transferring to secondary to dry hop? It's not much but has a slight sweet taste?

 

[RM-MN]

Warm it up for a few days. Yeast do best fermenting at the cool end of their range to avoid the production of esters and fusel alcohol at the early part of the ferment but do the best job of cleaning up the intermediate products when warmed a bit. Try keeping it in the low 70's as a diacetyl rest. You can leave this beer in the primary for that part as you want a lot of yeast to aid in the cleanup but to speed things along you can do the dry hop in the primary too at the same time.

 

[jcs401]

So get it up to around 70-72 for a couple days and then cold crash it?

 

[PDX_T]

I wouldn't cold crash before transferring onto dry hops. Just my style. I keep it simple. Not a lot of info available on cold vs. warm. If you don't have to transfer to get your hops in the fermenter, I wouldn't bother with the transfer at all.