Re-pitch?

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by pants678, Sep 6, 2019.

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  1. pants678

    pants678 Maven (1,374) Jan 26, 2009 California
    Trader

    Consiglieres,

    A Belgian of mine's been at 1.035 for a week or so, wondering if I should re-pitch and if so how much? Info...

    80% Pilsner
    12% Dark Candi Sugar
    4% Special B
    4% Wheat
    Yeast: Wyeast 3787
    OG: 1.080

    I've got ~2 gallons in 2 single gallon "carboys." They've been plenty warm in a third floor east LA apartment (above 80°F), I've tried rousing the yeast w/ the poker end of a sanitized metal thermometer. So, I've got this extra smack pack sitting here...
     
  2. pweis909

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

    It might help, but it is an uphill battle, given that it is a harsh, alcoholic environment. I have had some success with repitches using a starter, in which the yeast were clearly active.
     
  3. pants678

    pants678 Maven (1,374) Jan 26, 2009 California
    Trader

    Shit I did not think of environment, you're right. Worth bumping temp to 90+ before trying to pitch?
     
  4. pweis909

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

    Risk vs. reward is too great, IMO, so no, I would not bring the temp that high.
     
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  5. GormBrewhouse

    GormBrewhouse Pooh-Bah (2,111) Jun 24, 2015 Vermont
    Pooh-Bah

    +1 to @pweis909 . Not familiar with that yeast but 90 would b too high for me. It won't hurt a thing to leave it for another week. U may find after more time the yeast has chewed it down a bit more.
     
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  6. riptorn

    riptorn Pooh-Bah (1,776) Apr 26, 2018 Georgia
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Plugging your grain bill into a recipe builder (Brewcipher) returns a predicted post-boil OG of ~ 1.050 and a predicted FG of ~ 1.010..
    Did you use a refractometer for the gravity readings? Many threads about folks having unexpectedly off original/final gravity readings are because they used a refractometer without using a calculator to adjust the readings.

    (Hopefully someone will let me know if my calc's are off. If they are, there's something I need to adjust in my brewhouse parameters.)
     
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  7. pants678

    pants678 Maven (1,374) Jan 26, 2009 California
    Trader

    OG was with a hydrometer, further readings have been with a refractometer. Pardon my ignorance, what are the calculations I need to do with the refractometer?
     
  8. riptorn

    riptorn Pooh-Bah (1,776) Apr 26, 2018 Georgia
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Judging from past threads it's possible you'll find that your beer is done, or at least more so than you thought.

    There are several online calculators. A web search for “refractometer calculator” will get many hits on the first page.
    I don’t use a refractometer (yet) but someone will likely chime in if you have questions about how to use a calculator.
     
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  9. VikeMan

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

    The best standalone calculator is Sean Terril's...
    http://seanterrill.com/2012/01/06/refractometer-calculator/
    The same model is in BrewCipher.
     
  10. VikeMan

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

    I'm curious about how you got the 1.050 OG. @pants678 didn't specify grain amounts, only percentages.

    (Refractometer observation is spot on, though.)
     
  11. riptorn

    riptorn Pooh-Bah (1,776) Apr 26, 2018 Georgia
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    A.A.A.D.D.
    I started with a grain bill of X weight and 2 gallons to the fermentor/s, then manipulated with Scale!.....and the basic thought that percentages would be constant irrespective of weight, which affects wort fermentability, didn't even cross my mind. I (probably) won't make that mistake/assumption again.

    Speaking of Scale! in BC.....can "Undo" be made functional for that? Or is it functional already and there's something amiss with my copy?
     
  12. VikeMan

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

    Since @pants678 said his OG was 1.080, the easy way to do this would be to enter his grain percentages as if they are pounds, then enter 1.080 in the target OG, and hit Scale.

    Possibly, with some trickery. Running any macro in excel erases the undo list. I'll look into it, but it probably wouldn't make it into the next version, which hopefully will be out within a month or so. In the meantime, maybe "save file" just before running the macro so you don't lose anything if you don't like the result? Or re-run the macro with the "old" OG? Since proportions are preserved, that would work.
     
  13. riptorn

    riptorn Pooh-Bah (1,776) Apr 26, 2018 Georgia
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    That, coupled with an amended "comment", sounds like a suitable option.
     
  14. pants678

    pants678 Maven (1,374) Jan 26, 2009 California
    Trader

    Thanks for the links to the calculator and how to use it. It appears my Belgian beer has finished.
     
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