Hi all, so last week my friend and I brewed a continually hopped IPA, and pulled a little too much of the dregs up when I cooled it. Anyway I put the beer away to ferment last week and the recipe calls for 10 days of primary and 10 days of secondary, but when I went down yesterday and looked at the beer it was not bubbling very actively. there was some of that sludge at the top, but not as much as usual. I timed it and the air lock bubbles about once every minute and a half, and I'm talking about a small bubble. this is MUCH less than other brews I've done, so I was worried that the yeast may have dropped out with the dregs My question is, should I throw in some additional yeast when I rack into the secondary? maybe even throw in some additional honey? any thoughts??
Fermentation is coming to its end, that´s the only reason why bubbles are at a low rate(considering you have a steady fermentation temperature).Take a gravity read before adding anything else to know if your beer is near your target FG number.
Got it, and if it isn't would you add something like honey and some additional yeast to keep this going?
Adding sugars wont lower the gravity further it will just make more to ferment in addition to what is already there.
It is important to know what this beer OG was, what yeast did you use and what fermentation temperature are you fermenting at.According the number of your actual gravity you will decide what to do. When exactly did you pitch this beer?
Would it be a good idea to rack earlier than the recipe says, given the fact that it isn't very active? and my hopes were to add the honey and yeast and that would get the yeast active with all of the simple sugars you get in honey, and then they would continue to do their job on the converted sugar from the grain itself. your thoughts?
we pitched one week ago. at 825pm est monday last week we are fermenting at about 63ish degrees california ale yeast
Your fermentation temp. is a bit low.Rise it to 68 - 70 to finish the job http://www.whitelabs.com/yeast/wlp001-california-ale-yeast?s=homebrew
understood. I will do that tonight and get back to everyone. I'll also raise the temp a bit and hopefully get this going
No. Prematurely racking your beer off the yeast cake will just increase your chances of the fermentation stalling out. If the yeast is stalling out, adding more sugar is not a good idea, it will most likely not get fully fermented (increased residual sugar = sweeter beer). Instead, just take a gravity reading and check where fermentation is currently at. Leave the beer on the cake until gravity is stable for 3+ days. Just because a recipe says it should be done in x days doesn't mean yours will be done in x days (relative differences in yeast pitching rates, efficiency, etc. may result in variable fermentation times). Also, raising the temp a touch won't hurt.
Hello everyone. I hope all is well. So here is the initial gravity reading, and the one we just took: Initial: 1.030 now: 1.010 So we realize we didnt pull enough starch's from the mash, so we're going to try it again and get a higher original gravity. We're planning on letting it sit for a day or so more, and we'll rack into the secondary. what do you think?
That's only 67% apparent attenuation, which is pretty low for an IPA with Cali Yeast. I suspect it's not done yet. I'd recommend taking another reading in 2-3 days.
