atkinsonr
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- 14/10/08
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Hi all.
My fermentation doesn't seem to have begun and I'm looking for advice. Here's what I did:
Monday
--------
On Monday I brewed my first BIAB using my new 50L kettle from Beerbelly. I heated 36L of water to 78C and pitched about 5.5kg of grain into the grain bag.
Unfortunately the grain didn't cool the hot water nearly enough, and when things settled down I was still at 76C.
After 15 minutes of frantic wafting and stirring, the temp eventually came down to 67. Fearing that I'd denatured the enzymes, I went back to the computer and reformulated the recipe for an additional 1.2 KG of base malt, which I immediately added to the grain bag.
I figured this addition would ensure some enzymes are available for the conversion.
I mashed for 60 minutes from the second grain addition, and held 67C without any intervention.
The rest of the brew day was uneventful and I finished up with 20L of great looking / smelling wort which I no-chilled.
Thursday
----------
By Thursday the wort had no-chilled itself down to pitching temp, so in the morning I put the cube into my fermentation fridge to bring it down to 18.5C.
In the evening, after work, I took a Wyeast 1275 (Thames Ale) from my fridge, warmed it in my hands and then smacked it.
After about 3-4 hours the smackpack had puffed a little, but it was late in the evening so I decided to pitch.
I sanitised a fermenter, and carefully but vigourously poured the wort from the cube into the fermenter. This is my first no-chill and I figured that the wort looked plenty aerated with a good 8 inches of foam on the top.
I took an OG, 1057, which hit the recipe on the nail.
I pitched the (partially swelled) Wyeast 1275, and went to bed.
Sunday (3 days after pitching)
--------
Had a look in the brew fridge this morning and all is not good. There is a small (about 1cm) yeast cake on the bottom of the fermenter, but no visible signs of fermentation on the top. No Krausen and no signs that yeast have sniffed the surface of this wort. (I use gladwrap rather than a lid, so it's easy to see)
It looks like the yeast have multiplied since pitching, but they have decided to sleep rather than chomp sugars.
Gravity is still 1057 which confirms that no alcohol has been produced.
Analysis
---------
I'm a bit puzzled. Dispite the mix up at mashing time, I would have thought that even if I totally ballsed up the mash, there would be some sugars for the yeast to get into.
Having read a few threads on this forum since, I'm now kicking myself for not making a starter.
The fact that the yeast have indeed multiplied (and then floculated) indicates to me that they are viable. However - clearly I don't know enough to know what to do next!
I do have some other yeast at home which I could use to do a repitch, but only S04 might be useful.
Please advise!@!!!
Thank you!
My fermentation doesn't seem to have begun and I'm looking for advice. Here's what I did:
Monday
--------
On Monday I brewed my first BIAB using my new 50L kettle from Beerbelly. I heated 36L of water to 78C and pitched about 5.5kg of grain into the grain bag.
Unfortunately the grain didn't cool the hot water nearly enough, and when things settled down I was still at 76C.
After 15 minutes of frantic wafting and stirring, the temp eventually came down to 67. Fearing that I'd denatured the enzymes, I went back to the computer and reformulated the recipe for an additional 1.2 KG of base malt, which I immediately added to the grain bag.
I figured this addition would ensure some enzymes are available for the conversion.
I mashed for 60 minutes from the second grain addition, and held 67C without any intervention.
The rest of the brew day was uneventful and I finished up with 20L of great looking / smelling wort which I no-chilled.
Thursday
----------
By Thursday the wort had no-chilled itself down to pitching temp, so in the morning I put the cube into my fermentation fridge to bring it down to 18.5C.
In the evening, after work, I took a Wyeast 1275 (Thames Ale) from my fridge, warmed it in my hands and then smacked it.
After about 3-4 hours the smackpack had puffed a little, but it was late in the evening so I decided to pitch.
I sanitised a fermenter, and carefully but vigourously poured the wort from the cube into the fermenter. This is my first no-chill and I figured that the wort looked plenty aerated with a good 8 inches of foam on the top.
I took an OG, 1057, which hit the recipe on the nail.
I pitched the (partially swelled) Wyeast 1275, and went to bed.
Sunday (3 days after pitching)
--------
Had a look in the brew fridge this morning and all is not good. There is a small (about 1cm) yeast cake on the bottom of the fermenter, but no visible signs of fermentation on the top. No Krausen and no signs that yeast have sniffed the surface of this wort. (I use gladwrap rather than a lid, so it's easy to see)
It looks like the yeast have multiplied since pitching, but they have decided to sleep rather than chomp sugars.
Gravity is still 1057 which confirms that no alcohol has been produced.
Analysis
---------
I'm a bit puzzled. Dispite the mix up at mashing time, I would have thought that even if I totally ballsed up the mash, there would be some sugars for the yeast to get into.
Having read a few threads on this forum since, I'm now kicking myself for not making a starter.
The fact that the yeast have indeed multiplied (and then floculated) indicates to me that they are viable. However - clearly I don't know enough to know what to do next!
I do have some other yeast at home which I could use to do a repitch, but only S04 might be useful.
Please advise!@!!!
Thank you!