Re-pitching Yeast

Id pitch a pack of US-05 and see what happens. You likely wont over pitch if the other yeast decides to wake up.

 

Hope everyone had a great Christmas! So patience was virtue for me this morning. Still no airlock bubbles but when I peeled the lid back, I found a thick layer of foam forming on surface (looks like it's just started and has all
Most covered the entire surface at this point. I'm assuming that's good. I guess my next question is, since this was slower to start than expected how long should I wait (or what should I be looking for) before transferring to the secondary? I'm assuming that since it was slow to start it might be slow to finish as well?

 

What style of beer is it? Chances are you don't need to move it to secondary at all. If you are going to do a secondary, you're looking for gravity that's at the expected final gravity or a little above before you rack to secondary. (i.e. attenuation is finished or almost finished.) If you are not going to do a secondary, you're looking for gravity that has not changed between two gravity readings 2-3 days apart, is in the ballpark of the expected final gravity, and the absence of off-flavors before you bottle.

 

Awesome! That's very helpful - thanks! It's an IPA.

 

I assume you'll be dry hopping? Many people do that in the primary, adding the hops just as attenuation is finishing up.

 

I actually had not planned to but have now been asked that question by the beer shop guy and yourself... so maybe I should. If I were to do a secondary would it be more appropriate to add then?

 

If I were going to do a secondary, I'd add the hops at the same time as racking to secondary. Personally, I dry hop in the keg, but if I were still bottling, I would still dry hop in primary.

 

Cool - thanks, man! I really appreciate your taking the time to help. I guess I have to decide wether or not to do the secondary then go from there with the dry hopping. Will go to the shop today to get some more hops!

 

May not be super accurate, but I imagine you can get within .005 of your FG using the refract and this correction calculator: http://seanterrill.com/2012/01/06/refractometer-calculator/ This will at least give you some idea of what kind of action you need to take, if any.

 

I tried this once, but didn't have any luck. The simple sugars are probably already consumed, so you need LOTS of healthy yeast (and you don't want to aerate at this point). Making a lighter 5 ga brew is really the best bet, and use the full cake!

You could also consider Brett. It'll chew away at the residual sugars for a few months, dry it out, and REALLY add some Belgian flavour!