Help needed

damian44 · Post by **damian44** » Sunday Oct 07, 2007 7:38 am

Well its definatly time to panic now. I put this down last night

Morgans 1.7 Dockside Stout
1.5kg milk stout improver
Goldings hops normal
Muntons Gold yeast
15ml liquorice extract
Simmered roast Barley

Unfortunatly the wort was to hot, and i had to wait 4 hours for it to cool down. I left lid ajar for part of that time to let heat escape. Any way when temps reached 23 degrees i pitched Muntons Gold yeast which is best at 18-21 degrees. Unfortunatly there is no foam on top of wort after 12 hours, it just looks like yeast is sitting ontop. Should i.....

1. PANIC?
2. Stir in yeast?
3. Remove old yeast and buy somemore?
4. Cry for my Momma?

Any advice appreciated. All the HBS seem to be closed on Sunday. Doh!Thanks.

Im now drinking my 1st brew (coopers Lager) and am most impressed.

Cheers Damo

KEG · Post by **KEG** » Sunday Oct 07, 2007 8:08 am

6: RELAX!

it's only been 12 hours. you will NOT have done the yeast any harm pitching at 23c. just do something else for the next 36 hours. If it's not going by then, pitch another yeast.

damian44 · Post by **damian44** » Sunday Oct 07, 2007 8:19 am

Thats good news. I forgot to take gravity reading before pitching yeast, is it ok to measure gravity now? Thanks again.

Cheers Damo

Chris · Post by **Chris** » Sunday Oct 07, 2007 9:01 am

You could take a reading now. The yeast won't have done too much yet. Even so, it won't be nearly as accurate, but will give you an idea.

And as KEG mentioned, RELAX. And you've already taken Charlie P's advice and had a homebrew.

damian44 · Post by **damian44** » Monday Oct 08, 2007 8:19 am

Great news its bubbling and foaming away. Well i learnt a couple more valuable lessons there like keep cold water in fridge to get wort at right temps prior to pitching yeast and give yeast a couple of days to get going and not to be a pillow bitter. Thanks again.

Cheers Damo

KEG · Post by **KEG** » Monday Oct 08, 2007 8:32 am

good work

Chris · Post by **Chris** » Monday Oct 08, 2007 8:42 am

A pillow bitter? Is that like an english bitter? What sort of hops did you use?

warra48 · Post by **warra48** » Monday Oct 08, 2007 9:52 am

Chris wrote:A pillow bitter? Is that like an english bitter? What sort of hops did you use?

It's a specially brewed beer, served in Darlinghurst and Newtown around Mardi Gras time. Hops are Purple Gaylena.

KEG · Post by **KEG** » Monday Oct 08, 2007 10:27 am

damian44 · Post by **damian44** » Monday Oct 08, 2007 10:59 pm

I was wondering if i washed my bottles out during the week and wraped the top of the bottles in cling wrap, would they be ready for bottling in 4 or 5 days time? Thanks.

Cheers Damo

Chris · Post by **Chris** » Tuesday Oct 09, 2007 7:53 am

That'll work. Some people use aluminium foil, as you can reuse it.

Kevnlis · Post by **Kevnlis** » Tuesday Oct 09, 2007 7:56 am

I would suggest letting them air dry first so you do not trap moisture inside the bottle, if using cling wrap.

damian44 · Post by **damian44** » Sunday Oct 14, 2007 8:51 am

This is a story of the boy who cried wolf. I was passing the ESB shop in Peakhurst and decided to get 4 3kg cans because you recieve a free liquid yeast if you purchase 4.
Last Monday i put down a..

CPA can 1.7kg
half a kg of liquid malt
light booster
12g Cluster
and i used the California V Ale Yeast WLP051 (liquid) i got when i purchased the 4 ESB cans. The best before date was Nov-13-07. All the temps were good, the wort was right temp and i took the yeast out of the fridge a couple of hours before using it.

After 2 days no sign of fermentation, the block from ESB said to give it a good stir. But this didnt help. So after 4 days i pitched second Coopers yeast and its been 2 days and no foam.

The gravity before pitching yeast was 1040 it droped to 1020 and hasnt changed over last couple of days. The wort smells nice and looks good.

Should i pitch 3rd yeast as i have a Morgans ale yeast in the fridge? Or give up and cruise Oxford street? The worts been sitting in fermenter for 6 days what affect will this have on finished product if i ever get it to ferment? Thanks again.

Cheers Damo

Kevnlis · Post by **Kevnlis** » Sunday Oct 14, 2007 8:54 am

But you dropped from 1.040 to 1.020 in 6 days? Sounds like it is doing fine to me! Depending on the temperature and the yeast strain there may be little or no real krausen.

damian44 · Post by **damian44** » Sunday Oct 14, 2007 9:38 am

I told the guy from ESB my gravity droped from 1040 to 1030, he said their should be krausen and to pitch second yeast. Its only ever had a few bubbles on top and no action in the air lock but there is some gunk around half the ring at the top of the wort and condensation on the lid. I also told the guy when i tap container hold hydrometer lots of bubbles rise up is this a sign its fermenting? No use keeping liquid yeast for other brews now i also added Coopers yeast. Thanks

Cheers Damo

Kevnlis · Post by **Kevnlis** » Sunday Oct 14, 2007 9:51 am

If the guy at the HBS told you that then he should supply a new liquid yeast. He just screwed you out of a perfectly good yeast which I assume you had planned on reusing before you pitched the almighty Coopers dry yeast which has no doubt chewed right through it!

damian44 · Post by **damian44** » Monday Oct 15, 2007 6:12 pm

I rang the guy from the HBS today and he said that although the two yeasts are in the fermenter i can still reuse the yeast. He thought it would be better than the dry yeast that came with the other 3 cans i purchased. I think he said that the original yeast (California V Ale Yeast WLP051) was a cross too, now ill have 3 differant yeasts. OMG. The yeast produced absolutly no krausen at all and zero movement in air lock. Another good lesson i guess. Thanks.

Cheers Damo

KEG · Post by **KEG** » Monday Oct 15, 2007 6:15 pm

he's wrong, sorry... some of the yeasts may be cross-strains, but you will have changed the profile significantly by adding the dry yeast. it won't be the same at all... the dry yeast is fairly hardy and vigorous, and will likely out-perform and out-number the liquid yeast.

Pale_Ale · Post by **Pale_Ale** » Monday Oct 15, 2007 10:13 pm

damian44 wrote:I rang the guy from the HBS today and he said that although the two yeasts are in the fermenter i can still reuse the yeast. He thought it would be better than the dry yeast that came with the other 3 cans i purchased. I think he said that the original yeast (California V Ale Yeast WLP051) was a cross too, now ill have 3 differant yeasts. OMG. The yeast produced absolutly no krausen at all and zero movement in air lock. Another good lesson i guess. Thanks.

Cheers Damo

That is very poor advice IMO. You have no idea what combination of yeasts make up the numbers in your trub therefore you have too many variables to make a reliable beer that you could replicate. Ensuring consistency is the foundation of beer improvement.

My advice would be to give the liquids another crack, but get your advice from somewhere else (like an independent forum!) before doing anything!

Chris · Post by **Chris** » Tuesday Oct 16, 2007 10:01 am

Chalk up another good piece of advice from an HB store...