WLP004 Irish Ale Yeast question

[hotcarl5150]

Trying to figure out if I have an issue or not with my Irish Red Ale. My OG was 1.055 and I pitched on 2/15/14 at about 75 degrees after a pretty decent aeration. I got my first activity within 8 hours and by the next morning (2/16/14) it was bubbling pretty good with a decent krausen. By the following morning the krausen was gone and the bubbling had subsided to a burble about every 20-30 seconds, and that level of activity has continued for the last two to three days. Just looking to see if this is normal or if I have cause for concern. Thanks much!

 

[Wynne-R]

WLP004 is a beast, a very hardy yeast. I reused it for many generations in a wide variety of temperatures.

Check it with a hydrometer, I think you’ll find that you’re done. In a well sealed fermentor a few bubbles don’t mean much.

 

[LLBeanJ]

Agreed. WLP004 is a solid performer. I, too, have an Irish red in the fermentor. Today is day 10, and I just took a reading to confirm that it is finished... OG was 1.053 and it is now at 1.011. I'll be kegging it on Friday. Like the OP, mine took off pretty strongly, but by the 3rd day, the krausen had begun to drop and active fermentation was pretty much over.

Give it another week and check the gravity.

 

[hotcarl5150]

Thanks for the replies, guys. I appreciate the insight very much. I guess I'll just let the hydrometer tell the story in a few more days. Cheers!

 

[bedman]

My experience with 004 is that it starts quick and vigorous and doesn't take long to ferment out. Both my Irish Red and Stout were done no problem in 7 days. Let your hydrometer do its thing. I did a 1 L starter for both fyi.

 

[hotcarl5150]

One follow up question: is it ok to let the beer sit on the trub for another week, or should I consider racking to secondary for one more week?

 

[LLBeanJ]

It's perfectly fine to let it sit where it is.

 

[Wynne-R]

In my experience, with WLP004 you have to go to secondary to get it to clear. You can watch it, there is a very sharp line as it clears from the top down.

I cold crashed a primary and when it warmed back up it un-flocculated. Weird.

 

[LLBeanJ]

Interesting. I've never had any issues with it clearing using primary only. But, I keg my brews, so 2 weeks in primary, then into the keg and eventually into the keg fridge, where it takes a couple of weeks to clear up once it's cold.