Have I Pushed My Yeast Too Far?

[O'Henry]

Yesterday I pitched about a cup of solid slurry (harvested 10/10) of Ringwood ale into 12.5L of 24.8P (1.102SG) wort. It fired overnight and had an approx. 1 inch krausen when I got up.

My question is, will this beer push this yeast too far? The OG was meant to be 21.5-22P but I boiled off too much and realised too late. It is second generation yeast.

The specs for the yeast are 68%-72% attenuation with an alc tolerance of 10%. I fear that I will not reach the gravity I want before the yeast gives up. Mashed at 64.5C then rose slowly over 75 mins to 73C.

I will be keeping a close eye on the temp and rousing twice daily from day 4.

Edit: I suppose what I am after is if anyone has pushed this yeast hard, and how far have you got it to go.

 

[jbirbeck]

[quote name='O'Henry' post='694994' date='Oct 22 2010, 01:55 PM']Yesterday I pitched about a cup of solid slurry (harvested 10/10) of Ringwood ale into 12.5L of 24.8P (1.102SG) wort. It fired overnight and had an approx. 1 inch krausen when I got up.

My question is, will this beer push this yeast too far? The OG was meant to be 21.5-22P but I boiled off too much and realised too late. It is second generation yeast.

The specs for the yeast are 68%-72% attenuation with an alc tolerance of 10%. I fear that I will not reach the gravity I want before the yeast gives up. Mashed at 64.5C then rose slowly over 75 mins to 73C.

I will be keeping a close eye on the temp and rousing twice daily from day 4.[/quote]

Immediate answer is if you have to ask the question then yeah you've pushed too far, but she may be alright...you might have overpitched.

If you boiled too much why wouldn't you water it down a touch?

 

[O'Henry]

I know I overpitched. Not really sure by how much. Def did though. I was brewing on a friends gear and estimated the kettle volume. It was wrong. Thought I had 36L but only had about 29L... Also, didn't take a reading of the OG until pitching time, as there was nothing left but trub in the kettle.

 

[jbirbeck]

cooled boiled water would sort the alc tolerance by knocking the gravity down a touch to where you wanted it to be...otherwise let her ride and see where it finishes.

 

[Kai]

O Henry,

I'd start rousing immediately, at least once daily. Don't be afraid to shake that sucker right up good.

I wouldn't worry about overpitching, I think you've probably got just the right amount in there to see it through. Let us know how it goes.

 

[beerdrinkingbob]

if it doesn't get there, I have used champagne yeast twice, always gets it nice and low and has no real taste, two days and she's done :icon_cheers:

 

[Kai]

Onslow!

 

[raven19]

cooled boiled water would sort the alc tolerance by knocking the gravity down a touch to where you wanted it to be...otherwise let her ride and see where it finishes.

+1 to the above, and also regular rousing.

I am glad to read you are brewing again mate!

 

[O'Henry]

Yeah, I have brewed it up the last few months. Soon it will be too hot for my towel and fan trick. Got this one holding steady at 22C though.

Currently trucking along well. Roused last night and again just now. Krausen has grown to 4 inches. When people are saying rouse, I am just giving it a good rocking back and forth. Not going Bribie-style with the massive scoop and thrashing it about in there. Will test gravity using a refrac tomorrow night.

Kai: I chatted to my team leader and he said the yeast was about the right amount also. It's almost like we work for the same company...

Edit: Will ride it out and see how it goes. I have another cube of it, much fuller, around 17-18l. If this fails will work hard on the next one. Thinking of using fresh 1272 slurry.

 

[beerdrinkingbob]

Onslow!

Thought he is the best example of what too much beer can do to a man :icon_drunk:

 

[O'Henry]

Update: Just checked the gravity using a refractometer (as there is not much of this beer and I have no hydro tube) and it gave me a reading of 15.6P. This adjusted to 9.25P. So already it seems to have smashed through it. Has alc flavour, good bitterness, but still quite sweet. Nice esters and hop flavour though. Still going strong with a thick krausen so I am hopeful.

According to beersmith it is already 9% alc, so it could go past 10%. Well, I am hoping for it to. Final grav of 6P would be nice.

 

[beerbog]

Onslow!

Ha Ha, nice....... :beerbang:

 

[Kai]

[quote name='O'Henry' post='695723' date='Oct 25 2010, 12:12 AM']Update: Just checked the gravity using a refractometer (as there is not much of this beer and I have no hydro tube) and it gave me a reading of 15.6P. This adjusted to 9.25P. So already it seems to have smashed through it. Has alc flavour, good bitterness, but still quite sweet. Nice esters and hop flavour though. Still going strong with a thick krausen so I am hopeful.

According to beersmith it is already 9% alc, so it could go past 10%. Well, I am hoping for it to. Final grav of 6P would be nice.[/quote]

Now's when it the ferment will start hitting the skids. Sounds like that sucker's going well though.

 

[O'Henry]

So, it has really dropped off this arvo. Temp dropped, krausen thinned. I put the heat belt on for 20 mins then put a jumper on it. Gave it a rouse too. Hopefully it has another day or two of slow ferment left in it. Will check gravity on equipment at uni on wednesday or thursday.

 

[O'Henry]

Tested a sample from Tuesday night at uni and it was 7.5P. I am pretty sure it has stopped now, but will leave it another week to check. 7.5P isn't bad, 10% abv with 70% attenuation. Still holding out for 6.5 though...

 

[O'Henry]

Tested today it came in at 6.2P, which is 75% attenuation for 10.7% abv. Pretty happy with how it went. Alc is fairly present in the flavour, but that will mellow with time. Nice ester profile with malt def present. A success!

Next question: do I reseed with yeast at bottling?

 

[O'Henry]

So, I have cracked one of these now and it was delicious. Tested at work and came in @ 11.05% abv which was 75.5% Apparent Attenuation (25.11 -> 6.15P after bottle conditioning). Pretty happy with it. IBU was a bit low, but can't be helped, was tasty none the less.