Bloody Us-05 Not Attenuating... Again

[staggalee]

Have you tested that hydrometer against another one?

stagga.

 

[Leigh]

As others have said Neill, no need to make a starter for dry yeast, I just rehydrate.

Sometimes I've noticed US-05 take off quickly in the first few days, and then tail off to reach full attenuation over 2-3 weeks...I have enough fermenters at the moment to leave most brews in the primary for at least 3 weeks so this doesn't worry me in the slightest.

 

[rackemup]

maybe the hydrometer is not measuring correctly? i seem to remember a thread about cheap hydrometers tending to have the measure paper inside moving around?

i have two hydrometers, one that was made in france and has a triple scale and just so happens to read +6 in water, and a 2 dollar aquarium hydrometer that takes perfect readings every time, go figure?

 

[drsmurto]

Neil

How long do your normally allow your beer to sit in primary at ferment temp?

Am probably overlooking a few things but i find that most yeasts start out fast and then taper off.

All my beers have a 2 week minimum primary ferment.

On the odd occasion i have got a stuck ferment i have found that the simple act of racking to another fermenter/cube etc kick starts the yeast and the job gets finished.

Cheers
DrSmurto

 

[Neill]

i only made a starter for this because the last few us05 brews i made did the same thing - i thought i might have been underpitching. The hydrometer is fine, been using it for years with no issues and the values match beersmith spot on. Maybe i just need to leave it for longer as suggested? Though last time i tried that it was still at 1020 4 weeks later!

 

[jonocarroll]

Maybe i just need to leave it for longer as suggested? Though last time i tried that it was still at 1020 4 weeks later!

As said, rouse it, then leave it. Since swirling doesn't seem to be doing the job, try racking to another fermenter.

 

[brendo]

i only made a starter for this because the last few us05 brews i made did the same thing - i thought i might have been underpitching. The hydrometer is fine, been using it for years with no issues and the values match beersmith spot on. Maybe i just need to leave it for longer as suggested? Though last time i tried that it was still at 1020 4 weeks later!

Hey Neil,

I would give Smurto's suggestion a go... transferring the beer from one fermentor to another tends to rouse the yeast up a bit and kick it back along to finish off. Alternatively, you could always try and get the yeast back into suspension with a sanitised spoon - just remember you aren't aiming to aerate the beer, so be gentle.

Cheers,

Brendo

 

[Tony]

Tony. Can I join your 'Defender of the Pride' group? Is it on facebook?

tdh

:icon_offtopic: are we talking POR here? I'd be in that.

No...... not on facebook but i will see what i can do

I was a happy man when Rossco stocked POR flowers again recently

Back to the US-05

 

[newguy]

The only times I've had issues with stuck fermentations were when my wort wasn't oxygenated very well. Dried yeast doesn't need as much oxygen as liquid yeast so that fits with your observations. How do you aerate your wort or have you bothered?

 

[katzke]

Well just going to update my when is a wit not a wit thread or close to that. My final gravity was 1.006 or 7 so US-05 works. It could be you have a bad lot with the extra shipping time to OZ. I have found that it works well for me but I have not done a tone of brews with it.

It could also be some other problem that came up at the same time.

 

[Neill]

i aerate when filling the fermenter, i use one of those foaming tap heads. I usually have to fill it half way, then wait 5 mins before filling the rest up because it foams so heavily. So yeah, aeration is never a problem B)

Think i'll stick with the notto from now on. Don't have multiple fermenters so can't afford to wait 3 weeks for a brew to finish. At least the notto will tear apart a brew in less than a week! :beerbang: :beerbang: :beerbang:

 

[Screwtop]

The yeast started and fermented ...... nothing wrong with it! The yeast stopped at 1.020 why........... that is the question. Throw in 10g of rehydrated Nottingham. If it only goes a couple of points lower then it was the wort as Nott will usually beat 05 by a whisker. If the wort ferments to a good attenuation then you will know whether it's the yeast or the wort then you can look for why. Wort composition too dextrinous, non fermentables yeast age or storage/transport issues.

Prepackaged US-05 have a use by date on the pack!


Screwy

 

[blackbock]

Not very helpful to the original question but I always find US05 tends to overattenuate rather than underattenuate. Going from the information provided I would guess that the most likely explanation is stale yeast. Try to find another supplier and try again. US05 is a good attenuating, clean yeast. It is not my favourite, but it should definitely drop past 1.020

 

[flattop]

I have noticed in the past 2 different packages of US-05, one is the genuine OEM yeast with the company's stamp and the other is a foil packet different size and shape of which the particulars escape me now but i wonder if it's not bought in bulk and repackaged.
Not saying there is anything wrong with that, if it's all US-05 it's all good but i would wonder about shelf life and storage methods
US-05 is my most used yeast and in the right conditions it's unusual not to fire hard and clean.