Stuck fermentation?

[Anna]

Hi guys! Another problem today:

My current brew is a CPA with:

Can Coopers PA
Can Morgans LME (1.5 kg)
250 gm Dextrose
20 gm POR pellets (steeped 5 mins, added to fermenter without straining)
1 satchet S-04 yeast, pitched at 26 deg.
Brought temp. down to 20 deg. overnight
To 22L
OG was 1.054.

It has been fermenting for 5 days but only bubbled for 2 days, temp. between 18-20 deg. SG now is 1.02, but it looks like all activity has stopped. I'm a bit worried that fermentation may have stuck. I haven't used this yeast before, so I don't know what its usual pattern is. I hope I didn't kill the yeast by pitching too hot.

Should I pitch another yeast or just give it another week? Anna

[drsmurto]

26C isn't too hot and since you brought the temp down to 20C overnight you are fine as the first 12 hours or so is when the yeast is multiplying, not fermenting. I pitch yeast at 24-26 quite regularly - the fermenting fridge pulls the temp down to ferment temp overnight easily. Lagers being the exception to the rule (for me) where i wait until the next day and pitch at ferment temp.

S-04 doesn't attenuate as much as the coopers kit yeast you have used in the past. You will find the FG will be higher than normal but 1.020 is a tad high. I would expect it to get to 1.016 at least.

Leave it another week keeping the temp at 18C minimum.

[Anna]

thanks Doc! That puts my mind at ease!

[earle]

From craftbrewer website for S-04

Description:

Properties:
A well-known, commercial English ale yeast, selected for its fast fermentation character and its ability to form a very compact sediment at the end of the fermentation, helping to improve beer clarity. This yeast is recommended for the production of a large range of ale beers and is specially well adapted to cask-conditioned ales and fermentation in cylindro-conical tanks. Sedimentation: high. Final gravity: medium.

Pitching Instructions:
Re-hydrate the dry yeast into yeast cream in a stirred vessel prior to pitching. Sprinkle the dry yeast in 10 times its own weight of sterile water or wort at 27C ± 3C. Once the expected weight of dry yeast is reconstituted into cream by this method (this takes about 15 to 30 minutes), maintain a gentle stirring for another 30 minutes. Then pitch the resultant cream into the fermentation vessel.
Alternatively, pitch dry yeast directly in the fermentation vessel providing the temperature of the wort is above 20C. Progressively sprinkle the dry yeast into the wort ensuring the yeast covers all the surface of wort available in order to avoid clumps. Leave for 30 minutes and then mix the wort e.g. using aeration.

Recommended fermentation temperature: 15C – 24C.

According to this you won't have killed the yeast by pitching at 26C. Final gravity is supposed to be medium which means you won't get an FG as low as some other yeasts. What temp is your hydrometer calibrated to, could this be affecting your readings?

Just out of curiosty, do you find this brew a bit sweet, I remember you made a comment about that in a thread on pubs etc around Nambucca/Macksville. I found that when I went with a kit and 1.5kg malt I needed a hop boil to add bitterness to get that balance right. The bittereness of most kits is designed to work with sugar or dextrose.

Cheers

[Anna]

Thanks for your research Earle. Looks like everything is fine according to that, so I'll give it another week.

Just looked up that previous post of mine you refer to: I was / still am having trouble with the Coopers PA kits tasting sickly sweet/weird (see my thread "Yucky Brews") and that's why I am experimenting with the Morgans LME instead of my usual BE2, and the S-04 instead of the usual kit yeast, just to see if I can get any closer to Coopers PA on tap (which I LOVE!). I also added the steeped POR to try to get a similar flavour (not to add bitterness, as I don't mind a sweeter, maltier beer, just not the bubble-gummy, band-aid taste like my last two brews). HOWEVER, on tasting the test last night it is pretty damn bitter anyway at the moment! (And, of course, nothing whatsoever like commercial CPA... ) Anna

[drsmurto]

You'll never get close to commercial CPA without using the real Coopers yeast from a bottle of CPA.

The kit yeast isn't the same and S-04 is even further away.

[Anna]

Bugger! I had a feeling you'd pick me up on that Doc. Remember how you gave me instructions on how to harvest the yeast from a CPA bottle? Been too lazy I'm afraid - and a bit worried I'll make a mess of it. Just have to bite the bullet I guess.... Anna

[drsmurto]

Its soooo easy Anna. Just make sure your sanitation regime is up to scratch.

Might be time to ditch the bleach in favour of a no-rinse sanitiser. Makes life much simpler.

[warra48]

Its soooo easy Anna. Just make sure your sanitation regime is up to scratch.

Might be time to ditch the bleach in favour of a no-rinse sanitiser. Makes life much simpler.

Culturing yeast is very easy. Even a klutz like myself can do it!

And I back the call for a no-rinse sanitiser. It's economical, and really easy to use.

[billybushcook]

I'd be willing to bet that you could simply hurl the slurry from 3 freshly drank Coopers Largies into a wort & it would work fine??????
(provided they were drank from a glass & not contaminated with back wash??)

Mick.

[warra48]

I'd be willing to bet that you could simply hurl the slurry from 3 freshly drank Coopers Largies into a wort & it would work fine??????
(provided they were drank from a glass & not contaminated with back wash??)

Mick.

Well, you could, but you'd be underpitching and stressing the yeast. It wouldn't give the result you would wish for.

[muppet]

where can i find info on culturing yeast? I am a big fan of CPA and would love to learn this....

[wrighty]

Muppet at the top of this forum there are stickys .
These have been written by experienced brewers on certain subjects thers one specificaly on yeast starters.
Step by step intro by Dr Smurto read this . Then maybe read them all great info on all matter of brewing subjects.

Mmm time for a nice cool pale ale.
Happy brewing