This past weekend my buddy and I brewed 2 batches of the same beer. The batches were brewed one after the other (same day), identical recipes and the yeast was pitched at the same time (end of the brew day). The only difference is that we forgot to add the whirlfloc tablets to the first batch. As expected, right away batch #1 was significantly cloudier in the fermenter than batch #2. The odd thing is that the 2 fermentations look completely different. Below are 2 photos, first photo=batch #1 (no whirlfloc) and second is batch #2 (with whirlfloc). Batch #2 looks normal to me, a foamy krausen. Batch #1 is different looking, it is not as foamy and the yeast on top seems to have almost dried up. Any ideas on why there are so different? Some info on the beer: yeast=US-05 both batches hit with pure O2 OG=1.052 Thanks.
My initial reaction is that for some reason Batch #1 just hasn’t started as quickly as Batch#2. Since these are two batches brewed separately I would not necessarily state that the difference in the robustness of the fermentation start is solely due to the whirlfloc/no whirlfloc situation. I would be willing to bet that that with just some more time (10 hours?) the two batches will look more alike than not alike. Please report back on how the two batches progress. Cheers!
I wouldn't worry about it.. It's probably that when cooling you managed to get more shit in the fermenter, and the yeast is pushing and pulling that heavier particular and break material around in the fermenter. Causing less krausen and that spotty rafty junk. That, or something didn't take as fast.. The first batch looks to be a bit behind, like it's starting to krausen.
They are both past high krausen. The yeast was pitched saturday night, so about 5 days in. I will take gravity readings of both.
You are a more careful reader than I; I ‘missed’ the 5 days part. Batch #1 is winding down faster than Batch #2. Cheers to you!
Too much protein has passed through your fermentation in Batch 1, chilling this beer will help you to cold crash some haze but I think it is not going to be enough . You need to get rid of that protein turbidity otherwise chill haze is going to diminish substantially beer shelf life.You can use Silica Gel or Polyclar plus gelatin as fining agents to try to solve this problem
I plan to hit batch 1 with gelatin since we missed the irish moss. Not worried about shelf life, they will be drank quickly!!
“Not worried about shelf life, they will be drank quickly!!” In that case the addition of gelatin is very much optional. Are you bothered by the appearance of a slightly cloudy beer? If so, then add gelatin. If not, then just bottle and enjoy. The presence of haze (chill haze) really does not impact beer flavor. Cheers!
I do not see a problem with either of those pictures. They could be the same fermenter on different days IMO, which they actually are in a sense if I am reading this post correctly.
