Hi guys,here is the question.I brewed an IPA 0.25 kg Dark Munich 0.25 kg Caramel 40 L 0.50 kg Wheat 5.00 kg Pilsner SG 1.065 Really wanted to try Giga Vermont yeast golden pitch( you can pitch one pack for 5 gallons) it has double sell count., but 72 hours no activity, no foam building, nothing.I didn?t have any yeast around, luckily my friend had some 05 slurry about 150 ml, so I pitched that fermentation started in about 18 hours.I have temperature controlled setup so it?s always steady.It was fermenting for about a week and stuck on 1.020. Question is can I pitch some more Safale 05 to see if it will ferment to desire 1010 or just leave it like it is, keg it and that?s it. I never had before experience to repitch the yeast many times. Please share your throats. Thank you for your time.
I would expect a properly rehydrated, non-expired pack of US-05 to attenuate more than this, probably to between 1.010 and 1.015. I think many homebrewers would say that for a 5 gallon, 1.065 batch, rehydration won't make a diffence, but that could depend on the age of the yeast (that's speculation). I am not familiar with the GigaYeast product, but it is especially easy to say in hindsight that a starter may have helped. I have some concerns that a liquid yeast product from the US might not travel so well to Japan, so yeast health might have been compromised from the start. What was the temperature schedule of your mash? This can impact fermentability of the wort as well.
Thank you for the quick reply, the mashing was done at 67 Celsius.I might swirl the fermenter a bit and rise the temperature from 18.5 to 20 and live it for a week.Im afraid pitching more yeast will give more off flavor then it will help, but it just my thoat.I never had an experience pitching yeast many times.
Perhaps you might want to make a little starter with the new yeast and use some (maybe 25-50%) of the starter wort be the beer. Rationale is to expose yeast to a less potent alcohol and lower pH environment before pitching. To prevent shock. Just a thought, maybe others can chime in.
@Cobby76 I personally always taste my hydrometer samples as part of my QC process. Did you taste your latest sample? How did the beer taste to you? Did you think it was too sweet? Cheers!
Thank you for the suggestions , yeah the beer tastes a little sweet. I don’t have a liquid yeast around, so maybe I will different yeas instead of 05 I will rehydrate one pack of Lallemand Windsor ale yeast and pitch that? What do u think? Cheers.
If you are looking for a yeast to 'optimize' the final gravity then US-05 is the 'better' option vs. Windsor. I enjoy Windsor in certain beer styles (e.g., English Bitter Ale, Robust Porter) since that yeast is not highly attenuating. If you are truly looking for a yeast to further attenuate your beer then US-05 is the preferred option. If the beer is not too sweet the other option is to not add additional yeast. Best of luck with your personal decision here. Cheers!
I agree that, with a temp increase, giving the beer some time before pitching more yeast is a solid option. I would also give the fermenter a gentile swirl and raise the temp a bit more than 20c. You could go 23-24 without worry.
Thanx guys, how long should I keep the high temperature?Four days enough?If no gravity changes then pitch rehydrated 05 pack right?
When adding yeast to batch that has fermented or is close to finishing, I have always made a small starter to get the yeast active in a healthy environment. If you pitch directly into the fermenter you will have limited success. The beer in the fermenter is a somewhat hostile environment to the yeast due to the alcohol. They could die before they accomplish the work you need them to do, so your best chance is to add a healthy amount. At least that's my simplistic microbiological explanation. I have had success with this approach to help clean up diacetyl, but I have never tried it to lower gravity. I don't think the risk of off flavors from this is very high, provided you don't let the beer sit on the yeast for a long time and that when you package the beer, you don't suck up yeast sediment. But these are things that you should always be seeking to avoid. I'm just mentioning them because you probably will have more yeast sediment than usual.
I'd think after one day you'd have a hint that something is happening again. Two days at most before your next decision.
This would be my suggestion also. You're sitting on 6% alcohol now, tough for those little dehydrated guys to adapt. Consider making a small starter wort (1.040, 1L'ish) and pitch the US-05 and let it grab hold. Then pour off about ⅔ of this (wouldn't add the entire packet) and add the remainder. Alternatively pitch only a fraction of a packet of US-05 into 300ml'ish of wort. Either way will cost you a packet of yeast as I've never been able to save an opened packet. Another option is to do nothing and call this an American Strong Ale. This eliminates any problems from sanitation, oxygenation, and questionable attenuation.
Thanx guys, very helpful.For the moment I will hold a higher temperature till tomorrow and take hydrometer reading let’s see how is it. Will post the results.
Having very recently said this I find myself in a somewhat similar situation. My old ale stopped at 1.022. It's been there for a week. This is not entirely surprising as it received a co-pitch of 3 expired packets of US05 (rehydrated) and 2nd generation Windsor yeast (seemed a generous amount, but I'm not a very experienced repitcher, and WIndsor is low-attenuating). So I got 75% attenuation out of this, not bad. The next step is to pitch some Brett C. This was always part of the plan, but I was hoping the gravity would be a little lower when I pitched it. So, following my own advice, I'll make a 1-L starter of the Brett. I plan to add the starter to a Better Bottle or glass carboy and then rack the ale on top. Getting it off the old yeast, because I think the Brett will need some time to work on this. I don't have a ton of Brett experience, but this all seems reasonable. Right?
