Hello all,
I've currently got a Zombie Dust clone in primary using S-04 yeast. I took a sample at 7 days when I dry hopped and it had attenuated down to 1.013, which is lower than predicted and surely pretty much done. Unfortunately the sample had a definite butterscotch hit and slick mouth-feel that I understand is likely diacetyl. Having read around the subject it seems likely that this is all my fault from giving the yeast a stressful time on the first day of fermentation. I pitched at 22C and then misjudged how cold it would get overnight and found the fermenter temp at 12-13C the next morning. Anyway, that's beer under the bridge. What to do?
Standard wisdom is just to leave it on the yeast and maybe raise temps a little, which I am doing. However, I also read that diacetyl cleanup may be limited if the yeast has dropped out. As my S-04 has flocculated like buggery as it's meant to I've formulated a backup plan, which is to krausen with some US-05 I've harvested from a previous brew. The question is when to give up on the S-04 cleaning up itself? 10 days? 14 days?
It might seem a non-question. If I can krausen then why not just go ahead? Well, I think the krausening has risks that are better avoided if the S-04 can do the job itself:
* Further fermentation will negate some of the dry hopping and that's pretty much 25% of the brew cost.
* Minor risk of the US-05 introducing its own off-flavours (it was used to brew a hoppy brown ale).
* It's always another opportunity for infection.
So, any opinions on when I should take my next sample and the decision to make the krausen brew (or opinions on why I shouldn't krausen or should do something different)?
Cheers
I've currently got a Zombie Dust clone in primary using S-04 yeast. I took a sample at 7 days when I dry hopped and it had attenuated down to 1.013, which is lower than predicted and surely pretty much done. Unfortunately the sample had a definite butterscotch hit and slick mouth-feel that I understand is likely diacetyl. Having read around the subject it seems likely that this is all my fault from giving the yeast a stressful time on the first day of fermentation. I pitched at 22C and then misjudged how cold it would get overnight and found the fermenter temp at 12-13C the next morning. Anyway, that's beer under the bridge. What to do?
Standard wisdom is just to leave it on the yeast and maybe raise temps a little, which I am doing. However, I also read that diacetyl cleanup may be limited if the yeast has dropped out. As my S-04 has flocculated like buggery as it's meant to I've formulated a backup plan, which is to krausen with some US-05 I've harvested from a previous brew. The question is when to give up on the S-04 cleaning up itself? 10 days? 14 days?
It might seem a non-question. If I can krausen then why not just go ahead? Well, I think the krausening has risks that are better avoided if the S-04 can do the job itself:
* Further fermentation will negate some of the dry hopping and that's pretty much 25% of the brew cost.
* Minor risk of the US-05 introducing its own off-flavours (it was used to brew a hoppy brown ale).
* It's always another opportunity for infection.
So, any opinions on when I should take my next sample and the decision to make the krausen brew (or opinions on why I shouldn't krausen or should do something different)?
Cheers
