Wyeast 3944, bit slow

[AidanMatthews]

Hey guys ive got a hoegaarden clone down and first use of liquid yeast.

Im using wyeast belgian wheat 3944.

Concerned that after 6 days the gravity is only down to 1033

Yesterday i bought a heater pad to get it to 22-24*c
It has spent 5 days at 18*c.

OG was 1047
FG aim is 1012 or lower.

Its still bubblig and currently 23*c, should it stil, be ok to get down to 1010-1012

[hirns]

Liquid yeasts are always a lot slower to get started in my experience unless a starter is made up before hand. It sounds like you've added the smack pack directly to the fermentor which will generally create a lag time. Additionally like lager yeasts, some yeasts are naturally slow and steady fermentors, unlike some of the kit yeasts like Cooper's. I don't think you've got anything to worry about, I leave all my brews from two to three weeks before I keg.

Cheers

Hirns

[Bum]

I've never used that specific yeast but in my limited use of belgian wheat yeasts you'll want to get the temp back down asap unless you like pretty aggressive esters in your beer.

Slow and steady wins the race.

[SuperBroo]

Hey Bum,
Every time I've used a liquid yeast they have been slower to start, and I have noticed that the Kolsch Yeast (1007 I think) takes ages to finish fermentation, no problems though.

[AidanMatthews]

yeah for the style i want a need a few fruity esthers comming through in my beer.

this is why i let it ferment for a long period at 18*C and trying to finish it off for a few days at 22*C

problem is i realised i aint finishing anything its still got a long way to go since its 1033

Ill let it drop down a bit but absolute max 22*C
20 - 22*C is what im aiming for but the heat pad is hard to keep a constant, i had to turn it off this morning
as it was edging above 24*.

anyone have any suggestion in using heatpad to attempt to get constant 22*C

im thinking electric timer to turn heat pad on every 2-3 hrs for 1hr run time. during the night and leave it off during the day.

[Planner]

im thinking electric timer to turn heat pad on every 2-3 hrs for 1hr run time. during the night and leave it off during the day.

AM

When I use my heatpad, thats exactly what I do. It's plugged into a timer (one of the manual ones) and I adjust the "on" time as required. I think it's currently set for 45min on, 2hr15min off (night time only). This keeps 20l at about 16-18 in my shed with winter ambient temps of -2 to 16ish.

Planner

[Bum]

I have my heatpad in a dead fridge (well, it isn't turned on anyway). The pad does not sit under the fermenter - just in there heating the air rather than the beer directly. I have the heat pad plugged into a fridgemate which regulates the ambient temp in the fridge rather than the temp of the wort itself. Once you work out the difference (2C for my gear and usual yeasts) it is just set and forget.

[rotten]

How long does it turn off for bum? Could you theoretically leave it in a fridge, not under fermenter, and leave it on all the time? or just at night maybe? I'm intrigued.
Cheers

[AidanMatthews]

when sitting directly under the fermenter i think its heating it roughly 6 - 7*C above Ambient

I could always move the fermenter to a colder room or get a manual timer thing, which i think is easier

ohh and definiatly turn it off during the day lol

[Bum]

How long does it turn off for bum? Could you theoretically leave it in a fridge, not under fermenter, and leave it on all the time? or just at night maybe? I'm intrigued.
Cheers

It is off most of the time. Once it is up to temp in there it only needs to go on when it drops by a couple degrees (which takes a while in a fridge that has a large thermal mass sitting inside it). Hardly on at all, I'd say.

No, you couldn't leave it on all the time - it would get hot as buggery. Never done it but I don't think it'd have much trouble getting up around 30C especially when the fermenter is roaring away too.

[rotten]

Thanks guys, sorry for de-railing post for a minute. I didn't have a plate till recently and found it was just too hot for 19-20 ltr brews. If I could use it out in shed inside a fridge that's a whole different story. Hey bum, how is fridge mate different to a tempmate? is it wasy (cheap) to set up?
Cheers

[Bum]

Basically the same thing - only the tempmate has the ability to run a fridge and a heating device at the same time while the fridgemate can do either cooling or heating but only one at a time. I personally didn't see the point (or need) in running heating and cooling at once and it is working out for me in my environment (which is the key point, I suppose). I imagine the fridgemate would be slightly easier to wire up but not by a great deal - the tempmate would probably just be more of the same.

Uh, not that I know because I used a licensed electrician to wire mine up. *Ahem*

[AidanMatthews]

Well i came home after having the heat pad off all day and internal temp being approx 18*c and the beer is
22*c.
This surprised me a fair bit, its almost like once it warmed up in fermenter the yeast stored a fair bit of that heat.

I gave the heat pad 30min running time and turned it off and ill check temps tomorrow morning