Please Help Me With My Yeast Question

[maltedhopalong]

Hi All,

Was gonna post this in K&K as I'm only a K&K brewer for now (time concerns and the fact that I'm happy with what I've been brewing so far). But I think technically this is brewing with raw ingredients and you guys are SOOOO much smarter anyway...

On Sunday I chopped up 750grams of Ginger root (actually I chucked it in a food processor and mulched the hell out of it), then I chopped up two lemons and squeezed one. then I poured all that into a big pot of boiling water and added a tube of ginger stuff (it was for cooking and it said 1tsp = 1tsp fresh chopped ginger, so I decided to add that too) and a sprinkling of chilli. Then I boiled all that for half an hour and then strained it out and smooshed the pulp to squeeze the juices otu of it.

Then I poured the strained juices into my fermenter and added 500g of light malt extract (you know from a can?) and a packet of Brew Enhancer 2. Finally I added a bit of Bundaberg Ginger Beer Cordial and filled it up with water.

I stirred it all, waited and waited and added some ice blocks and waited some more, until it cooled down to about 28 degrees celcius and pitched one packet of champagne yeast.



Now it's sitting there (smelling delicious) but not fermenting much. I took the lid off and there's a TINY bit of action, and the airlock is bubbling probably once every 10 minutes.

What's going on? have I forgotten something? should I have added nutrient? is this how champagne yeast works? What temp should I have it at?

Very confused....

 

[Brooksy]

Give the fermenter a good shake to stir things up a bit.

May have shocked the yeast with that starting temp.

With those specialty yeast you must be really temperature wise. Lowering the temp quickly after adding the yeast can also shock it.

 

[maltedhopalong]

a good shake? should I just get in there with my big spoon and give it a stir?

 

[Brooksy]

I wouldn't even take the lid off mate. You brew is sealed so just give it a shake to stir things up.

Stirring it is ok, but why risk infection if you don't have to......

Risk management.

 

[maltedhopalong]

Cool, thanks, I'll try that. Does it hurt to add another packet of yeast? I was just thinking for $1, it might be worth it...

 

[Brooksy]

I wouldn't waste the yeast. Hang on to it for a few hours at least.

See how the agitation goes first. Give the brew until tomorrow to see what happens.

 

[drsmurto]

I'm with kegdrainer on this one. Be patient, give the fermenter a swirl and wait a few days. I use champagne yeast for my GBs and find its a slow fermentation. 2kg of sugar in 15L took nearly 3 weeks to get down to 1.000 without adding yeast nutrient. i pitched at 26degC (ish) and fermented at 22-24.

Cheers
DrSmurto

 

[FazerPete]

I use champagne yeast for my GBs and find its a slow fermentation.

I find GBs to be slow fermenters no matter what yeast you use so you have to be patient. I'm in favour of a swirl around as well as turning the temp up a couple of degrees for the last few days.

 

[maltedhopalong]

Alright, thanks for that. Hopefully I return home tonight to find it bubbling nicely.

I'm noticing a yeast deposit occuring at the bottom of the fermenter, now with k&k brews, the homebrew guy said stir everything up (there wasn't much sediment anyway) as the ginger beer won't form a head. Would this be the case in this instance as well?

 

[Brooksy]

The only time I 'stir up' (agitate really) my brews is when they are slow to start.

I have no idea what your homebrew guy is on about.

If you bottle straight off the cake as I do, then as little agitation as possible after krausen because of the nasties left on the side of the fermenter.

 

[Cortez The Killer]

I'm noticing a yeast deposit occuring at the bottom of the fermenter

That's a good indication that it's going along ok

I'd leave it be for a couple of days

You'll turn up one day and it'll be going on like donkey kong

Cheers

 

[maltedhopalong]

Cool, thanks for that.

Yeah, I've had this discussion with other AHB users before. I don't know WHY he told me to stir it up but he did! But only when brewing ciders/ginger beers from kit and kilo.

Dunno why he said it, but when doing k&k i do stir up before bottling (as there is very little sediment anyway).

 

[Steve Lacey]

You didn't mention the volume or gravity, so it is hard to know if you should be expecting a strong fermentation or not. But assuming close to normal gravity, only 500 g of malt for nutrients suggests to me that might also be a reason for the slow ferment. Not much you could or should do about it except give it time.

 

[albrews]

Hi All,

Was gonna post this in K&K as I'm only a K&K brewer for now (time concerns and the fact that I'm happy with what I've been brewing so far). But I think technically this is brewing with raw ingredients and you guys are SOOOO much smarter anyway...

On Sunday I chopped up 750grams of Ginger root (actually I chucked it in a food processor and mulched the hell out of it), then I chopped up two lemons and squeezed one. then I poured all that into a big pot of boiling water and added a tube of ginger stuff (it was for cooking and it said 1tsp = 1tsp fresh chopped ginger, so I decided to add that too) and a sprinkling of chilli. Then I boiled all that for half an hour and then strained it out and smooshed the pulp to squeeze the juices otu of it.

Then I poured the strained juices into my fermenter and added 500g of light malt extract (you know from a can?) and a packet of Brew Enhancer 2. Finally I added a bit of Bundaberg Ginger Beer Cordial and filled it up with water.

I stirred it all, waited and waited and added some ice blocks and waited some more, until it cooled down to about 28 degrees celcius and pitched one packet of champagne yeast.
Now it's sitting there (smelling delicious) but not fermenting much. I took the lid off and there's a TINY bit of action, and the airlock is bubbling probably once every 10 minutes.

What's going on? have I forgotten something? should I have added nutrient? is this how champagne yeast works? What temp should I have it at?

Very confused....

hi,
what volume are you brewing? what alc /vol do you expect, or what was the o.g.?

the yeast should multiply and gassing should increase.

cheers

 

[maltedhopalong]

volume - 23L
fermentables - 1kg Brewing Enhancer 2 + 500g Malt + sugars in the lemon/ginger
alc/vol expected - 5%???
og - 1030

 

[albrews]

volume - 23L
fermentables - 1kg Brewing Enhancer 2 + 500g Malt + sugars in the lemon/ginger
alc/vol expected - 5%???
og - 1030

hi, you could increase the fermentables to around 3kg to achieve around 5% or where am i wrong.?

cheers, alan

 

[maltedhopalong]

By my calcs, 1kg of brew enhancer will ferment out to around 4.5 - 5.5% abv in a 23L brew. So add the 500g malt and the cordial and there should be more than enough fermentables

 

[0M39A]

Cool, thanks for that.

Yeah, I've had this discussion with other AHB users before. I don't know WHY he told me to stir it up but he did! But only when brewing ciders/ginger beers from kit and kilo.

Dunno why he said it, but when doing k&k i do stir up before bottling (as there is very little sediment anyway).

The reason behind this (so i was told a while ago, not sure if its true or not) is because ginger beer is so thin, that the yeast needs rousing up every now and again, otherwise it will floc to the bottom of the carboy and not eat the remaining sugars.

 

[albrews]

By my calcs, 1kg of brew enhancer will ferment out to around 4.5 - 5.5% abv in a 23L brew. So add the 500g malt and the cordial and there should be more than enough fermentables

hi,
i don't mean to be nasty, but could you show the calcs, since by my calcs you will achieve around 2.5%.

compare with kk beer. approx 3 kg of malt made up to 23 l produces og 1047 and alc/vol of 4.7%.

cheers , alan

 

[PostModern]

Did the ginger beer concentrate have preservatives in it? That could slow down a yeast, too. In any event, this is not an AG thread. I'll move it to Common Ground, eh?