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Author Topic: Overly vigorous fermentation at low temps  (Read 2446 times)

Offline gws

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Overly vigorous fermentation at low temps
« on: November 05, 2018, 10:10:45 am »
Brewed an IPA on Saturday with an OG of 1.068. Chilled to 85 with my immersion cooler then stuck it in an ice-bath while I went to early-vote. The voting line was insane and by the time I got home the wort was 58 degrees. I hit it with 60 seconds of pure O2 and pitched ~300bn cells of Wy1056, the following day I had a 'kraucano' disaster all over the basement (the fiancee was impressed), so I switched out the airlock for tubing into sanitizer.

The basement ambient temp is steady at 60 degrees and the carboy fermometer indicates 64. Today that thing is still going nuts and belching copious krausen and CO2 into my bowl of sanitizer. The wort itself looks like some sort of trippy high-speed lava lamp, with s*** bubbling all over the place.

What I don't understand is why this is going so crazy as I'm fermenting below the recommended range, and I've used this yeast at 72 degrees before with no issue. The only thing I've changed is the addition of pure O2 and using a stir plate on my starters for 36 hours before chilling, decanting and pitching.

I know it's rare, but did I perhaps overoxygenate/overpitch? All the other threads I've read concerning over-vigorous fermentations have been due to temps that were too high, and if anything mine were/are too low.

Cheers,
g

Edit: typos
« Last Edit: November 05, 2018, 10:24:49 am by gws »
“Kilgore Trout once wrote a short story which was a dialogue between two pieces of yeast. They were discussing the possible purposes of life as they ate sugar and suffocated in their own excrement. Because of their limited intelligence, they never came close to guessing that they were making champagne.”
- Kurt Vonnegut


Offline RC

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Re: Overly vigorous fermentation at low temps
« Reply #1 on: November 05, 2018, 10:34:06 am »
The only thing I've changed is the addition of pure O2 and using a stir plate on my starters for 36 hours before chilling, decanting and pitching.

Those are two big changes to your process, ones that should only make the yeast "happier." If the yeast were fresh to begin with, an explosive fermentation can result. Your process is similar to mine and I occasionally get these kinds of fermentations with 1056. The beer has always turned out fine.

Your pitch rate is fine, if it was a 5-6 gal batch. You perhaps don't need a full minute of O2--assuming your starter allowed air ingress, the yeast would already have fortified their cell membranes. But within reason, a little more O2 before pitching won't hurt.

Offline denny

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Re: Overly vigorous fermentation at low temps
« Reply #2 on: November 05, 2018, 03:47:35 pm »
Recommended range is a kinda tricky thing.  They pick that range for what will make it easiest on the homebrewer, not what the absolute limits are or what temp will make the best beer.  Experienced homebrewers can and do ignore that range.
Life begins at 60.....1.060, that is!

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Offline gws

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Re: Overly vigorous fermentation at low temps
« Reply #3 on: November 06, 2018, 05:43:09 am »
The only thing I've changed is the addition of pure O2 and using a stir plate on my starters for 36 hours before chilling, decanting and pitching.

Those are two big changes to your process, ones that should only make the yeast "happier." If the yeast were fresh to begin with, an explosive fermentation can result. Your process is similar to mine and I occasionally get these kinds of fermentations with 1056. The beer has always turned out fine.

Your pitch rate is fine, if it was a 5-6 gal batch. You perhaps don't need a full minute of O2--assuming your starter allowed air ingress, the yeast would already have fortified their cell membranes. But within reason, a little more O2 before pitching won't hurt.

Yes, 5 gallons. I got home from work last night and literally had a yeast cake in the bottom of my sanitizer tub with the blow-off. This yeast is crawling out of the carboy like some sort of tan monster. I'm hoping this will still turn out OK. In my limited experience brewing, subtlety seems to be key, and this fermentation is anything but subtle.
“Kilgore Trout once wrote a short story which was a dialogue between two pieces of yeast. They were discussing the possible purposes of life as they ate sugar and suffocated in their own excrement. Because of their limited intelligence, they never came close to guessing that they were making champagne.”
- Kurt Vonnegut


Offline Robert

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Re: Overly vigorous fermentation at low temps
« Reply #4 on: November 06, 2018, 05:43:22 am »
Wouldn't call that overly vigorous. Sounds like you achieved perfectly normal fermentation with that yeast.  Seen this? https://youtu.be/xClXKMhcFr0  Whatever you're doing,  keep doing it.
Rob Stein
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I'd rather have questions I can't answer than answers I can't question.

Offline gws

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Re: Overly vigorous fermentation at low temps
« Reply #5 on: November 06, 2018, 08:36:30 am »
Wouldn't call that overly vigorous. Sounds like you achieved perfectly normal fermentation with that yeast.  Seen this? https://youtu.be/xClXKMhcFr0  Whatever you're doing,  keep doing it.

Holy cow...that's a lot of krausen. OK, thanks guys. I'll abide and you know, have a homebrew.
“Kilgore Trout once wrote a short story which was a dialogue between two pieces of yeast. They were discussing the possible purposes of life as they ate sugar and suffocated in their own excrement. Because of their limited intelligence, they never came close to guessing that they were making champagne.”
- Kurt Vonnegut


Offline charlie

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Re: Overly vigorous fermentation at low temps
« Reply #6 on: November 08, 2018, 07:43:27 pm »
I believe WY-1056 is roughly equivalent to WLP-001, and I get that sort of behavior with 001 at starting gravities of 1.058 and up. It is sometimes necessary to reduce the temp to 55F to get it under control!

I'm using WLP-007 more and more these days, and it's very mild mannered (and highly flocculent) while somehow fermenting faster than 001.

Charlie
Yes officer, I know that I smell like beer. I'm not drinking it, I'm wearing it!

Offline MNWayne

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Re: Overly vigorous fermentation at low temps
« Reply #7 on: November 08, 2018, 10:43:10 pm »
I always ferment my 5 gal of wort in a 6 gal carboy so the yeast has some "elbow room". That way I don't lose to much to over-achieving yeast.
Far better to dare mighty things....

Offline charlie

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Re: Overly vigorous fermentation at low temps
« Reply #8 on: November 12, 2018, 08:12:31 pm »
I always ferment my 5 gal of wort in a 6 gal carboy so the yeast has some "elbow room". That way I don't lose to much to over-achieving yeast.

I use 7.5 gallon fermentors for my 5 gallon batches, and sometimes 2.5 gallons of headspace isn't enough. So I use blowout tubes, particularly if the OG is over 1.055.

I have a fermentation chamber that's good down to about 45 F. But when the OG is over 1.060 it takes all I can give it to control the fermentation.

Charlie
Yes officer, I know that I smell like beer. I'm not drinking it, I'm wearing it!

Offline Robert

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Re: Overly vigorous fermentation at low temps
« Reply #9 on: November 12, 2018, 08:28:52 pm »
I'm now fermenting in a 10 gallon corny, with about 6 gallons of wort.  Since my "airlock" is a QD on the gas post to a tube into a jar of Star San,  blowoff is not an option.   My last batch was with another full-on top fermenter,  WY1318.  The "bathtub ring" suggested I had almost 2.5 gallons of kräusen at peak.  And I once thought I might have more headspace than I really needed; couldn't do with much less!  (And this was a mere 12°P beer.)
« Last Edit: November 12, 2018, 08:32:46 pm by Robert »
Rob Stein
Akron, Ohio

I'd rather have questions I can't answer than answers I can't question.

Offline charlie

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Re: Overly vigorous fermentation at low temps
« Reply #10 on: November 13, 2018, 05:46:06 pm »
I'm now fermenting in a 10 gallon corny, with about 6 gallons of wort.

Where in the world did you find a 10 gal Corny keg? I wasn't aware that there was such a thing!

Charlie
Yes officer, I know that I smell like beer. I'm not drinking it, I'm wearing it!

Offline Robert

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Re: Overly vigorous fermentation at low temps
« Reply #11 on: November 13, 2018, 06:44:42 pm »
I'm now fermenting in a 10 gallon corny, with about 6 gallons of wort.

Where in the world did you find a 10 gal Corny keg? I wasn't aware that there was such a thing!

Charlie
I was made aware of them by Denny's talking them up here on the forum.  I have finally found my ideal fermenter.  Made in Pennsylvania,  not some sketchy Chinese or Indian stuff.   These guys provide good customer service too:

https://www.chicompany.net/beer-store/ball-pin-lock-kegs-parts/ball-lock-kegs/10-gallon-ball-lock-keg-new

Heres mine in action:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lboBCxGxDgcGVqTAhb9hz_gCKD-P5kcV/view?usp=drivesdk
Rob Stein
Akron, Ohio

I'd rather have questions I can't answer than answers I can't question.