Stalled Fermentation - Smack pack insufficient?

I agree that rousing and perhaps getting the temperature up since primary fermentation is over to get the yeast busy again. Adding additional yeast to your existing 5.5% beer may prove risky and not give the result you wanted in the first place.

 

If you decide to pitch the US04, rehydrate it first. I would recommend not aerating the beer, maybe just a gentle stir. Practice good sanitation techniques.

 

Rousing the 1968 and raising the temp to 70F might work. Pitching rehydrated s04 might work.

Pitching rehydated or even non rehydrated s04 into 600ml of 1.050 starter wort, letting it ferment for two days and pitching all 600ml will work.

 

If you like a brilliantly clear beer at the expense of potential diacetyl and premature flocculation than this is your yeast.
I've used it a lot in the past, but there are other low/medium attenuators I like better (and S-04 isn't one of them)...IMHO

 

Yup, because of its reputation of floccultaing too early I stopped using 1968.

Cheers!

 

I like wy1275, wy1469 and wy1028 for ESB. In descending order.

 

My preferred yeast strains for making Bitter Ales (ESB) are Wyeast 1469 and Danstar Windsor.

A word of 'caution' on 1469 is that this yeast consistently attenuates highly for my beers. My last Bitter Ale was OG = 1.050 and FG = 1.008 and that was with 1 lb. of Simpsons Med. Crystal Malt. I really like this yeast despite its highly attenuating nature.

Cheers!

P.S. I have tasted another homebrewer's Bitter Ale which was brewed with WLP006 (Bedford British) and that beer was quite tasty. Maybe I will have to give this strain a try someday?

http://www.whitelabs.com/yeast/wlp006-bedford-british

 

LOL. I have a split batch going at home right now. 1968 in one, S-04 in the other. Both strains have done well by me in the past. Different strokes... and whatnot.

 

Do you take any specific steps to keep the 1968 from potentially flocculating too early?

Cheers!

 

I use 1968 quite a bit also. Never had any attenuation problems. I've had batches attenuate slightly more or less than expected, but no more so than with other strains.

 

Not intentionally. I've just used a healthy starter or re-pitched from a yeast cake in the past. Though as I sit here thinking about it? Every time I've used it it's been in just 5 gal in a bucket or carboy, not in my larger fermentors (1/2 bbl keg or 27 gal conicals). That's significant because my method of "temperature control" for buckets (unless it's a lager) is to move them around my house. So, if I want to start them 'cool', they go in the basement after pitching - then I move them upstairs for a diacetyl rest and to make sure they finish up before racking. It's not particularly precise (at all) compared to putting them out in the fridge with temp controller, but sometimes I have other things going in the fridges and it works well enough for ale strains that aren't hugely temp-sensitive. Perhaps moving them up the stairs *might* rouse the yeast a bit to help keep it going, and the temp increase probably doesn't hurt either.

Funny. Some things I'm *really* meticulous about. English ales? Not so much at all - and yet each of the 1st place ribbons I've won were awarded to... English-style ales fermented w/ S-04 or 1968! Go figure.

 

I don't know for a fact that was absolutely required but I would suggest the combination of movement and increase in fermentation temperature was likely beneficial here.

Maybe British style beers are your 'sweet spot'. There is so many things that go into brewing from recipe formulation to overall process control (and process decision making) that it is extremely difficult to pinpoint what each 'thing' does. Brewing is indeed a holistic endeavor IMO.

Congratulations on your 1st place ribbons by the way. I entered a number of BJCP competitions in my early brewing days (the 90's) and while I have won a number of ribbons it was never for 1st place.

Cheers!

 

You may be right, although from the time I've spent watching 1968 (and, frankly, marveling at how quickly it goes from powdery & uniformly distributed to whirling egg drop soup while on the stir plate to DENSE pancake on the bottom almost immediately when the stirring stops) - two things are evident to me:

1. Once that pancake forms on the bottom, it takes a deliberate shaking motion to rouse and/or break it up. Whenever I'm moving a fermentor *post-fermentation*, I tend to be as careful as possible to avoid anything close to that level of agitation - so I'd be surprised if there was any significant re-suspension of yeast.

2. It's fun to watch the way 1968 works. It rarely seems to have quite the same 'vigor' of some other strains, but it'll keep sending up those little globs of yeast from the bottom for days, riding little CO2 rockets to the top before trailing back down and repeating the process. I know it's not unique, but the pace seems different.

My current batch should be just about done by now, but I broke my hydrometer last wednesday - so won't know until I can pick up a new one.

 

This is why I consider 1968 to be the magic kegged beer event yeast. I can transport fresh kegs, which have been crashed, but not re-racked, to an event and not have to worry about re-suspending yeast.

 

I ferment in a bucket so there is no 'show' for me.

Cheers!