How to proceed? 2nd pitch or not?

Discussion in 'Homebrewing' started by Chetanzi42, Sep 3, 2021.

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  1. Chetanzi42

    Chetanzi42 Initiate (0) Sep 3, 2021

    I am brewing a high abv beer. Extract brewing. All gravity measurements with a hydrometer.

    My SG 1.120
    Recipe goal SG was 1.130
    So I was a bit low to start.

    Pitched 2 packs of us05 safeale.

    10 days into ferm - 1.040
    13 days into ferm (today) - 1.036
    Recipe goal FG is 1.030

    Today I also added some bourbon soaked oak chips after I took the sample and pretty much all of the head krausen seems to be gone at this point.

    My question... Am I good to just let it go another week or so to meld with the oak and bourbon and hope the FG drops another .006 or should I pitch more us05 ale yeast?

    Could pitching this late hurt the flavor or take the fg too low? I also read that high ABV brews can kill the yeast prematurely, so do I needto repitch to get more yeast active now to support bottle conditioning?
     
  2. riptorn

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

    A four point drop over three days wouldn’t give me confidence that it’s done fermenting. However, the US-05 might be finished/kaput due to the ABV. Assuming your gravity readings are accurate and corrected for temperature, your beer was at 11% ABV before the added bourbon and reached the published alcohol tolerance for US-05, which Fermentis says is 9-11%.

    Given the tolerance of US-05, adding more at this point might be fruitless or (worse) stressful on the newly pitched US-05. It might help to add a different yeast with a higher alcohol tolerance, like Nottingham (14%) and let it ferment out, or add some LalBrew CBC-1 at bottling.

    Bear in mind that my comments are supported only by what I’ve read and not by practice.
    Hopefully someone with more knowledge/experience with this can lend some insight.
     
    JrGtr, PapaGoose03 and MrOH like this.
  3. GormBrewhouse

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

    I’ll ask what the recipe is.
    What temperature are you fermenting at. Often I will ramp up the temp to 73-77 just to see if the yeast can do a little more. Does not always work, but often it does.

    When I am making a big beer I have found, at times, that it can take 3 weeks in the primary before it’s truly finished.

    I will transfer to a secondary fermenter when using wood, nibs, coconut fruit or any other extra ingredients just because it’s a old method, which I still like. Others may say it’s not required, but I like it and it works.

    Ripper is on point with the extra yeast at bottling. I’ve used that yeast a lot when the brew is 11 abv or higher with good results.

    Good luck.
     
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