Is My Beer Ruined?

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by VikeMan, Sep 24, 2014.

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  1. skivtjerry

    skivtjerry Pooh-Bah (1,865) Mar 10, 2006 Vermont
    Pooh-Bah

    Same here; underpitching doesn't seem to affect final gravity, just how long it takes to get there (and of course the flavor at times).
     
    #21 skivtjerry, Sep 25, 2014
  2. skivtjerry

    skivtjerry Pooh-Bah (1,865) Mar 10, 2006 Vermont
    Pooh-Bah

    Did you chill to below 100F before pitching the yeast?:wink:
     
    #22 skivtjerry, Sep 25, 2014
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  3. VikeMan

    VikeMan Grand Pooh-Bah (3,067) Jul 12, 2009 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah

    Yeah. Just got home. Call it 48-ish hours in. Nice Krausen, bubbling away at an (in absolute terms) irrelevant number of bubbles per second. My guess is that it kicked in some time in the early afternoon. Say... 40+ish hours from pitch.

    I do appreciate all the concern/advice. I fully expected the yeast would reach critical mass and fermentation (attenuation) would take off. My purpose in posting was to remark on the long lag from underpitching. We shall see what wrath (if any) has been wrought, in terms of attenuation and in flavor.
     
    #23 VikeMan, Sep 25, 2014
  4. VikeMan

    VikeMan Grand Pooh-Bah (3,067) Jul 12, 2009 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah

    Great question! :slight_smile:
     
    #24 VikeMan, Sep 25, 2014
  5. pweis909

    pweis909 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,250) Aug 13, 2005 Wisconsin
    Pooh-Bah

    I recommend adding Champagne yeast.
     
    #25 pweis909, Sep 25, 2014
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  6. VikeMan

    VikeMan Grand Pooh-Bah (3,067) Jul 12, 2009 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah

    You're killing me! I don't have any champagne yeast. Would baker's yeast from the grocery store work?
     
    #26 VikeMan, Sep 25, 2014
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  7. VikeMan

    VikeMan Grand Pooh-Bah (3,067) Jul 12, 2009 Pennsylvania
    Pooh-Bah

    Oh man. Re-reading, I think you were sporting the sarcasm font. If so, well done. If not...
    Doh! Kidding. I know, but thanks. :slight_smile:
     
    #27 VikeMan, Sep 25, 2014
  8. JohnSnowNW

    JohnSnowNW Initiate (0) Feb 6, 2013 Minnesota

    Look, you're going to be fine.

    I have it on good authority that Wyeast packs have loads more yeast than the manufacturer specifies, and if you're using Mr. Malty calculations for yeast die-off rates...they are entirely conservative.
     
    #28 JohnSnowNW, Sep 25, 2014
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  9. pweis909

    pweis909 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,250) Aug 13, 2005 Wisconsin
    Pooh-Bah

    Maybe. If it doesn't come out like an English mild, you might be able to pass it off as a Belgian.
     
    #29 pweis909, Sep 25, 2014
  10. HerbMeowing

    HerbMeowing Maven (1,295) Nov 10, 2010 Virginia
    Trader

    BrewCipher FTW!
     
    #30 HerbMeowing, Sep 25, 2014
  11. Ilanko

    Ilanko Initiate (0) Aug 3, 2012 New York

    No It's not, you know what you do.
     
    #31 Ilanko, Sep 25, 2014
  12. nozferatu46

    nozferatu46 Initiate (0) Mar 24, 2008 Indiana

    Raise the temperature to 72 degrees, and play it Justin Bieber's "Baby" nonstop. English yeast have terrible taste in music.

    My wife almost left me the last time I made an ESB...
     
    #32 nozferatu46, Sep 25, 2014
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  13. bgjohnston

    bgjohnston Initiate (0) Jan 14, 2009 Connecticut

    I had a similar problem with a historical recipe that called for a very high FG (1.044) and tried under-pitching as a method for attempting to finish it that high. OG was 1.104, so under-pitching was not hard to do.

    I still finished 10 points lower than the target FG, but would love to hear how close you ultimately finish on your attempt.

    I let it sit for a long time on that yeast, keeping it cool (around 60°F), and re-yeasted when I finally bottled, as I was pretty sure the original pitch completely crapped out after 8 weeks.
     
    #33 bgjohnston, Sep 25, 2014
    VikeMan likes this.
  14. telejunkie

    telejunkie Savant (1,107) Sep 14, 2007 Vermont

    haha...i have a friend who is very lax with his homebrew...he has been known to try to pass off bad homebrew as "Belgian". I just have to roll my eyes...
     
    #34 telejunkie, Sep 25, 2014
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  15. pweis909

    pweis909 Grand Pooh-Bah (3,250) Aug 13, 2005 Wisconsin
    Pooh-Bah

    I figured the attenuation ranges to be based around some experimental wort - never considered that they might vary that wort according to style.
     
    #35 pweis909, Sep 25, 2014
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