Fermenting with US05 and T58 - How cold is too cold?

[Cman]

And the Keg King heat belts have arrived. Put one in the fridge and will gradually step the temp up to 18 - 20 degrees.

Just 'dry hopped' the porter with 50ml of bourbon infused with 3 vanilla beans.

Hopefully it should attenuate ok now. Pretty impatient keen to see how it turns out.

 

[Cman]

Ok, so I will definitely have to agree that 15 - 16 degrees is too cold as my beers look like they may have stalled at 1.019 for the US05 porter (OG1.062) and 1.018 for the T58 Belgian (OG 1.064).

I know this is maybe a bit OT, but rather than starting a new thread, to me these gravities seem borderline but a few points too high, is that right?

Just gave both a gentle tip over to try and re-suspend a bit of yeast. I'm at about day 16 of the ferment. Would giving it a few more days, hoping, and maybe giving them a light swirl each day be the right idea? Maybe think about pitching half a pack of re-hydrated US05 into each in a few days if I don't drop a few more points?

I bottle so I'm a bit wary of bombs.

 

[Lord Raja Goomba I]

Better idea would be to bring the beers up to 19-20 degrees and give the fermenters some yeast rousing movement (which is what you're firstly doing anyways). If it's stalled, then this will help knock the last few points off. If you chuck in new yeast, into the same cold, high alcohol environment, they may end up doing the same as your existing yeasties.

When I ferment US05 cold, I rouse the yeast.

It may not have stalled - the mash temp for your porter and belgian may be responsible for it.

Don't forget also that yeasts may stall when they get to 70% attenuation (which yours have) through other factors.

Having said that, it appears as though on face value, it's probably cold.

 

[Cman]

Ok so not sure what to do with these brews. Recipes were


Blonde:

------------
Amt Name Type # %/IBU
0.25 kg Caramunich Malt (110.3 EBC) Grain 1 5.7 %
0.50 kg Light Dry Extract (15.8 EBC) Dry Extract 2 11.5 %
0.65 kg Pale Liquid Extract (15.8 EBC) Extract 3 14.9 %
45.00 g Hallertau [4.80 %] - Boil 60.0 min Hop 4 25.5 IBUs
0.60 kg Candi Sugar, Clear [Boil for 15 min](1.0 Sugar 5 13.8 %
1.0 pkg SafBrew Specialty Ale (DCL/Fermentis #T- Yeast 6 -
2.35 kg Pale Liquid Extract (15.8 EBC) Extract 7 54.0 %


Porter:
------------

Amt Name Type # %/IBU
0.70 kg Munich Malt (17.7 EBC) Grain 1 12.9 %
0.35 kg Chocolate Malt (689.5 EBC) Grain 2 6.5 %
0.30 kg Caramel/Crystal Malt - 20L (39.4 EBC) Grain 3 5.5 %
0.07 kg Roasted Barley (591.0 EBC) Grain 4 1.3 %
0.50 kg Pale Liquid Extract (15.8 EBC) Extract 5 9.2 %
35.00 g East Kent Goldings (EKG) [5.80 %] - Boil Hop 6 32.4 IBUs
20.00 g Fuggle [4.20 %] - Boil 15.0 min Hop 7 6.6 IBUs
190.00 g Cocoa Powder (Boil 0.0 mins) Other 8 -
1.0 pkg Safale American (DCL/Fermentis #US-05) Yeast 9 -
3.50 kg Pale Liquid Extract (15.8 EBC) Extract 10 64.6 %
3.00 Items Vanilla Pods (Secondary 7.0 days) Other 11 -


Belgian was extract with steeped grains.

Porter I did a 1 hour mini mash with the Munich and Crystal and separately cold steeped the Roast Barley and Chocolate Malt. Vanilla beans soaked in 50ml of bourbon added at around the 14 day mark.

Both were pitched at around 18-20 degrees and a fairly stable temp maintained over the first few days of fermentation, but the temp then dropped to 15-16 as fermentation slowed.

I put a heat belt in my fermentation fridge about 5 days ago to gradually warm up to 20 degrees and have given the fermenting cubes a bit of light agitation to try and rouse the yeast (getting frustrated I just gave both a gentle tip completely upside down).

But they really haven't moved and are still sitting at about 1018 (blonde) and 1019 (porter).

These gravities are still a little high aren't they? Or would adding shit stuff like cocoa and bourbon to the porter prevent it getting down much further? Am I asking for bottle bombs if I bottle these? Should I try doing a starter with a pack of US05 and feed half to each brew?

 

[Cman]

Hey guys

So I know I've wandered a bit off topic from my original question about ferment temps, but these gravities really haven't moved for a week or so. Just wondering if people think it's safe to bottle (I would crack a bottle every week or so to check for gushers)?

Cheers

 

[hwall95]

Hey mate,

I'm in a similar situation to you, I have a 1.064 porter I put down around 2 and half weeks and so far it's stalled at 1.019 for last week despite being heated to 18 degrees. Have been giving it a gentle swirl every now and then but hasn't done much.. Will probably bottle in a week if it still hasn't moved at all

 

[Cman]

Yeah I bottled mine today. Both tasting pretty nice so should hopefully turn out ok as long as they don't explode. I'm just gonna make sure to check a stubby of each in a few days and generally try to keep an eye on the carbonation levels.