Is My Beer Ruined?

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

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  1. VikeMan

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

    Just kidding. I finally brewed the Pope AK on Monday. One of the things I did to try to hit the crazy high FG (given the ingredients/process in the recipe) was to not make a starter. So I pitched a 6-week old pack of Wyeast 1275 directly into the wort, and did not oxygenate with pure O2... splashing only. Wort is at 66F. Here we are, about 36 hours later, and there's nothing (visible) happening. This is the longest lag time I've ever experienced first-hand. I realize that n=1, but it does make me wonder how many of the "Is My Beer Ruined" posts are due to underpitching.
     
    #1 VikeMan, Sep 24, 2014
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  2. ipas-for-life

    ipas-for-life Savant (1,041) Feb 28, 2012 Virginia

    If you are not getting any bubbles in the airlock then yes your beer is ruined. I suggest you read http://www.howtobrew.com/ first.

    I cant wait for January the official month of Is my beer ruined?/I'm not getting any bubbles in my airlock threads.
     
    #2 ipas-for-life, Sep 24, 2014
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  3. premierpro

    premierpro Savant (1,060) Mar 21, 2009 Michigan

    I frequently under pitch. If your yeast strain is not highly flocculent it's still going to finish out. Please report back with your recipe along with O.G. and F.G. . Take care.
     
    #3 premierpro, Sep 24, 2014
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  4. Tebuken

    Tebuken Initiate (0) Jun 6, 2009 Argentina

    I don´t understand Mick, why do you want to get high FG underpitching a beer?. You could mash high, or use carapils or something else.
     
    #4 Tebuken, Sep 24, 2014
  5. VikeMan

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

    It's because it's a historic recipe (not my own), and the recipe's expected results don't match the ingedients/processes specified. I'm trying to remain as true to the original recipe as possible.
     
    #5 VikeMan, Sep 24, 2014
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  6. Tebuken

    Tebuken Initiate (0) Jun 6, 2009 Argentina

    Please, can you describe it?
     
    #6 Tebuken, Sep 24, 2014
  7. VikeMan

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

    #7 VikeMan, Sep 24, 2014
  8. Tebuken

    Tebuken Initiate (0) Jun 6, 2009 Argentina

    Sorry, I am running in circles but I can not find any recipe, just the historical explanation of this beer type.
     
    #8 Tebuken, Sep 24, 2014
  9. VikeMan

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

    #9 VikeMan, Sep 24, 2014
  10. Tebuken

    Tebuken Initiate (0) Jun 6, 2009 Argentina

    Recipe calls for attenuation 74.47 % , this number is in the range of Wyeast 1275 attenuation, so you didn´t need to underpitch
     
    #10 Tebuken, Sep 24, 2014
  11. VikeMan

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

    There's a lot more to attenuation than just the yeast strain characteristics. Mash temperature, mash length, and the basic fermentabilty of the grains/fermentables are also big factors. And with this recipe, all three of those factors would lead to very high attenuation. Ignoring mash parameters for a minute, just look at the proportion of invert sugar!

    By the way, the published attenuation ranges for yeast strains are at times fairly misleading. Every yeast strain can attenuate more than the stated range and less than the stated range. It depends on the other factors. I think some of those published ranges make an assumption about the style(s) that would most likely be brewed with the strains. Much more useful (and incorporated into BrewCipher) is Greg Doss's data on controlled attenuation experiments for all (or most of) the Wyeast strains.
     
    #11 VikeMan, Sep 24, 2014
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  12. Tebuken

    Tebuken Initiate (0) Jun 6, 2009 Argentina

    Wow ! 17 % of invert sugar, that´s a lot. Now I understand that you need to fight against attenuation.
     
    #12 Tebuken, Sep 24, 2014
  13. Tebuken

    Tebuken Initiate (0) Jun 6, 2009 Argentina

    I can not understand very well how this sugar plays its role in this beer.
     
    #13 Tebuken, Sep 24, 2014
  14. Tebuken

    Tebuken Initiate (0) Jun 6, 2009 Argentina

    #14 Tebuken, Sep 24, 2014
  15. jae

    jae Initiate (0) Feb 21, 2010 Washington

    Heh.
     
    #15 jae, Sep 24, 2014
  16. Naugled

    Naugled Pooh-Bah (1,944) Sep 25, 2007 New York
    Pooh-Bah

    Any action yet?
     
    #16 Naugled, Sep 24, 2014
  17. telejunkie

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

    the packet of 1318 i picked up from my lhbs for the AK brew (the only english strain they had available) ended up taking 4 days on a stir plate before I saw any activity. Tasted the wort before pitching and it tasting fine. Best of luck vikeman!
     
    #17 telejunkie, Sep 24, 2014
  18. Tebuken

    Tebuken Initiate (0) Jun 6, 2009 Argentina

    Maybe a little shaking?
     
    #18 Tebuken, Sep 24, 2014
  19. minderbender

    minderbender Initiate (0) Jan 18, 2009 New York

    It looks like this recipe uses pale malt - that has to be mashed, it can't be steeped. Maybe that's your problem. But don't worry! If you can steep specialty grains in 155° water, then you are basically already mashing.
     
    #19 minderbender, Sep 24, 2014
    utahbeerdude likes this.
  20. VikeMan

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

    Doh! Kidding. I know, but thanks.
     
    #20 VikeMan, Sep 25, 2014
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