Messages

16

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Attenuation and Infection

« on: June 27, 2012, 01:40:48 PM »

Would a point drop or more in the bottle cause it to foam over or constitute an infection?

17

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Attenuation and Infection

« on: June 27, 2012, 12:37:03 PM »

Have you ever taken a foamy bottle and de-gassed it and taken a gravity reading on that? just curious to see if the gravity has dropped any more.

Yeah i actually did that on the first two and they had droped about one point. But one of the newer batches read the same as when i bottled.

18

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Attenuation and Infection

« on: June 27, 2012, 12:20:21 PM »

Im pretty sure i didnt over carb. at bottling i had 5 gal of beer. I always way out my priming sugar. I only used 2.9oz of priming sugar for this pale ale at 74'F bottling time.

19

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Attenuation and Infection

« on: June 27, 2012, 10:48:56 AM »

I disagree on infection causing the low FG.

Even the *accidental* strains of brett take quite awhile to achieve super-attenuation (fermentation of normally unfermentable sugars). How long does it take to get to your FG?

155F isn't THAT high of a mash temp. If you aren't using any crystal malts, I wouldn't be surprised to see a FG in the 1.008-1.009 range. This is especially true if your mash temp falls a few degrees during the mash, it takes awhile for you to lauter, or if your mash thermometer is off.

I would check out the thermometer first. Then, think about mashing a bit higher. To get in the 1.015 range for my English Pale, I mash at 158-162 (depending on target starting gravity, amount of crystal, etc.).

My recipe is as follows for a 5.5 gal batch after boil

OG:1.054
FG:1.007
Maris Otter 10lbs 10oz
Victory 1lb 10oz
C10L 1lb
Cali Yeast pitch at 70deg. Fermentation started in less than 12 hours. Fermented between 70-72'F. Hit 1.017 (tasted amazing) in 4 days and hit 1.007 (tasted estery and too dry with no malt flavor) in 6 days.
My previous batches fermented down to about the same, but by big issue is that the bottles foam over. Not aggressively but slowly. They only foam if i open them warm, but if i serve them cold there is no foaming. I bottle at about two weeks usually but always take a 3 day gravity reading to see if the gravity fluctuates.

20

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Attenuation and Infection

« on: June 26, 2012, 06:26:14 PM »

Im getting rid of all my bucket fermentors, and i just got new hoses acouple weeks ago that i used on one of the batches. I just put those hoses in pbw, which im going to let sit till saturdays brew session. I hope all this works cause im getting to breaking point with this infection.

21

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Attenuation and Infection

« on: June 26, 2012, 12:14:13 PM »

Maybe Brett maybe bacteria.

Is a Brett infection harder to clean than some other infections? I've never used Brett in my beer, didn't realize it would be that easy to pick up naturally.

22

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Attenuation and Infection

« on: June 26, 2012, 10:17:03 AM »

I am getting some new buckets, the other ones i had used i have had for a year an a half and havent always cleaned them only sanitized. Whats the standard contact time for PBW? Is the hour that i had my quipment in contact with PBW not enough to fully do its job?

23

Yeast and Fermentation / Attenuation and Infection

« on: June 26, 2012, 09:50:41 AM »

My past couple beers have been finishing below 1.009 even though the i have mashed them at temperatures as high as 155. I am just curious if this can possible be in an infection in my plastic fermentors. Their are no off flavors besides the beer having no complementary residual sugar and my bottles foaming as i open them (takes about a minute for bottle to foam over, though i have carbed my bottles correclty with the right amount of sugar. I have used pbw on my equipment, letting it soak for an hour in hot water, is this long enough? 

INFO
Mash Temps: 152-155
Fermentation Temps 70-73F
PBW and Star San used: an hour or so with each
Bottles are new: star sanned those
Yeasts Used: WLP001 and WLP060

24

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: Ester Development in the Bottle

« on: June 19, 2012, 12:20:46 PM »

I would say the flavor is most reminiscent of light pears and maybe bananna. I do remember accidently aerating my wort prior to pitching at about 80'F-82'F, would that be high enough to cause oxidation? Every other part of fermentation and transfer was handled with care

25

Yeast and Fermentation / Ester Development in the Bottle

« on: June 19, 2012, 10:14:25 AM »

I brewed a Pale Ale a couple weeks ago using White Labs American Ale Blend Yeast, which fermented relatively high letting it loose into the mid 70's. At the time of bottling, the beer was great with beautiful crisp full bodied finish. After about a week into bottle conditioning, i cracked one to check on the status and noticed a full flavor change from crisp and clean flavors to the development of light esters changing the beer completely. My question to you gentlemen, is in your experience are esters easily noticed after fermentation is over or do they become more prominate as they are conditioned, say in a bottle or keg?

26

Yeast and Fermentation / Re: WLP060 American Ale Yeast Blend

« on: June 12, 2012, 10:25:06 PM »

Now brew is down to 1.008 with thia yeast, seems definitely more like a lager now

27

Yeast and Fermentation / WLP060 American Ale Yeast Blend

« on: June 10, 2012, 02:20:19 PM »

Has anyone tried out this yeast from White Labs? I've used it twice now but still not sure how i like the results. Both were american style pale ales and the yeast seemed to obliterate through the sugar having an attenuation of 83% finishin around 1.009. Both beers i mashed in at 153 and fermented at 72. I was hoping the FG would fall around 1.013 with no such luck. Just looking for peoples experiences

28

All Grain Brewing / Re: Terra Alba, kinda like gypsum?

« on: May 25, 2012, 11:29:34 AM »

You guys rock, i really really do appreciate all the help. Great forum and thanks for putting up with my questions

29

All Grain Brewing / Re: Terra Alba, kinda like gypsum?

« on: May 25, 2012, 05:42:02 AM »

Doesnt that seem kind of high? It seems alot different then the normal gypsum at 61 ppm, and now it would seem like the sulur would be through the roof

30

All Grain Brewing / Re: Terra Alba, kinda like gypsum?

« on: May 24, 2012, 10:34:58 PM »

So my buddy says they use .63 ounces for every 10 gallons to raise the calcium ppm by 163. Is that about the same as 61.5grams per 1 gallon?