Prioritising Brewfridge For Mead Vs Dunkelweisen

[Dazza_devil]

We start all the old yeast in flasks, stirrer not required but beneficial. At the LHBS the owner ends up using all the old yeast on his own brews. I wouldn't stress the yeast. If there are no supplies on hand to make starter wort, sacrifice some of the existing wort. If a flask or flask and stirrer are not handy, boiled wort into a juice bottle (I use 2L apple from a huge collection left over from cider making) will easily make a micro sized no chill cube. Cools fast under refrigeration and can be used to pitch the pack contents into to build a larger number of yeast cells to pitch. We've all been in situations that call for creativity and thinking on the go.

Cheers,
Brewer Pete

+1, good thinking Pete.
I guess you could even dilute the existing wort a tad with cooled boiled water to make a lesser gravity starter.
3-4 hours and a starter could be @ high krausen

 

[moovet]

Shame I didn't wait a bit longer Pete as that makes good sense.

The date on the yeast was Feb 10 so fairly recent. In the end I did pitch it and the smack pack had ruptured but it certainly didnt look like it had been activated. Smelt yeasty but not intensely though like some starters I have made from dry yeast. Hope I may see some action in the airlock tomorrow but may call John and get another one on Monday.

Alternatively I do have a Wyeast 3068 Weisteph Weisse and could pitch that if no action tomorrow.

I have put the Mead out of the fridge in the garage and wrapped it in a thick towel. It seems fairly constant about 19-20 at the oment and is still bubbling well.

Cheers,


Moovet

 

[Dazza_devil]

I reckon it will be OK, there would have to be some viable yeast there you would think. Could take a little while to properly get going though, 24 hours or more maybe.
What temp did you pitch and what temp have you got your ferment set for?
Perhaps you could make a starter from your 3068 to check it's viability, it'll be there for your next brew if not for this one.

 

[moovet]

I reckon it will be OK, there would have to be some viable yeast there you would think. Could take a little while to properly get going though, 24 hours or more maybe.
What temp did you pitch and what temp have you got your ferment set for?
Perhaps you could make a starter from your 3068 to check it's viability, it'll be there for your next brew if not for this one.

Fingers crossed but I dont think it was a good signthe smackpack didn't work. Both it and the 3068 were posted overnight so I hope that didn't deteriorate it.

I pitched a bit warmer at 21 per manufacturers recommendations and a preference for bananas to cloves.

Still a newbie to this but wrote out step by step instructions the night before. Wasn't prepared for the yeast not working out. Disappointed things didn't go as planned. Pretty much spent the whole day waiting on the yeast to activate.

M

 

[Dazza_devil]

I'm relatively new to smack packs but what I do is take them out of the fridge the night before I'm gonna use them. In the morning I smack the pack and when it begins to swell I start to prepare a 1 litre starter wort then go about business as I have stated previously.
I get my smack packs from Ross at Craftbrewer and I'm pretty impressed with the results. I get them sent Express with 2 ice packs minimum and they arrive in Tasmania from Brisbane in top notch condition within 24 hrs or so. Unless your packs were left in direct sun I reckon they should have been OK.
It's always a learning experience I've found and I still think your Unkle Dunkle is gonna turn out well. It will be interesting to see how it turns out at the higher temp. Remember to take notes and let us know how it turns out. Perhaps post in the recipe discussion thread.

 

[moovet]

I'm relatively new to smack packs but what I do is take them out of the fridge the night before I'm gonna use them. In the morning I smack the pack and when it begins to swell I start to prepare a 1 litre starter wort then go about business as I have stated previously.
I get my smack packs from Ross at Craftbrewer and I'm pretty impressed with the results. I get them sent Express with 2 ice packs minimum and they arrive in Tasmania from Brisbane in top notch condition within 24 hrs or so. Unless your packs were left in direct sun I reckon they should have been OK.
It's always a learning experience I've found and I still think your Unkle Dunkle is gonna turn out well. It will be interesting to see how it turns out at the higher temp. Remember to take notes and let us know how it turns out. Perhaps post in the recipe discussion thread.

No worries. Will do.

 

[pdilley]

+1, good thinking Pete.
I guess you could even dilute the existing wort a tad with cooled boiled water to make a lesser gravity starter.
3-4 hours and a starter could be @ high krausen

Yes you can volumetrically dilute the wort down. For example:
1.5 litres of 1.048 gravity wort (1.5 * 1.048) plus 0.5 litres of no gravity water (0.5 * 1.0) equals a result of 2 litres (1.5 + 0.5) of what gravity wort? (answer of the plus above divided by the final volume of 2 litres wort.

Easy Peasy

Krausen may not happen quick or it may, benefit of the clear flask or juice bottle is getting to see the krausen activity. Then compare your observations with past experience. Use your simple senses of sight, smell, and even some taste and observe what you've grown to judge what you want to do.

Cheers,
Brewer Pete

 

[pdilley]

it's all a learning experience moovet, not a huge loss for gaining experience and knowledge in the grand scheme of things if you lose a brew or two along the way.. If you try your best with what you have and then plan the next one be it same process, different process or new tools or techniques based on what you've learned its all good in my book.

Cheers,
Brewer Pete

 

[moovet]

Saw a bubble this morning so might be on its way. Will check again the SG tonight.

 

[Dazza_devil]

Saw a bubble this morning so might be on its way. Will check again the SG tonight.

A bubble of hope, let's hope it's the yeast that's multiplying.

 

[moovet]

You still get bubbles with bad bugs I guess. The yeast will have a more rapid effect on the SG though wouldn't they?

 

[brettprevans]

Saw a bubble this morning so might be on its way. Will check again the SG tonight.

i hope thats a comment as to seeing a bubble in the fermentor and not the airlock. if this turns into a 'why isnt my airlock bubbling' thread......

and yes dropping SG is a better sign of fermentation that anything else.

 

[Dazza_devil]

You still get bubbles with bad bugs I guess. The yeast will have a more rapid effect on the SG though wouldn't they?

I think infections multiply at a much faster rate than yeast and they also consume the sugars. I'm yet to have an obvious infection so nothing to go on really, others may elaborate for you. I reckon a taste test would be the obvious way to detect infection but maybe hard to tell in a predominately unfermented wort. I reckon remain optimistic and cross the bridge when it happens taking any possible precautions along the way.

 

[brettprevans]

I reckon remain optimistic and cross the bridge when it happens taking any possible precautions along the way.

+1. yup. not much you can do now, except wait. if it fails it fails. cant be helped.

I finally gave up hope that an infected lager of mine would come good in time. 6 months of lagering and the stuff was still terrrible. I wrote it off (ok eventually wrote it off) and moved on.

 

[moovet]

Don't worry moovet. If you are in Melbourne and your temperatures are going to be in the low 20s outside with lower temperatures inside the Mead will do fine outside of the fridge. Your Mead should be done with fermentation in 2 to 3 weeks easy and can start ageing. If you can wait to remove it until then your grain should be fine. If not then taking out the Mead into a cool area of the house will be fine. You have the flexibility of choice. I have a temperature meter that remembers the highest an lowest measured temps which is good for profiling the room beforehand and comparing to the forecasted temperature for the day. But looking at the forecast of 21C, 17C, 17C, 18C I'd say your safe to pull it. You can age outside over winter if you are not bothered and can free up the fridge for more beers and primary fermentations of Meads or whatever have you.

Cheers,
Brewer Pete

The fermentation for the Dunkelweisen picked up and eventually took about 10 days at 19 degrees. As the mead was still fermenting I thought I would put down an extract weisenbock on the yeast cake remaining which I did and it has come out very well with a similar timeframe.
We did have a few cold nights over that time which had me worried about the mead but I put it back in the brewfridge at 21 degrees and after a week of that it is clearing slightly and has gone from 1.054 to 1.052 so I think I may have a stuck fermentation. Last week when I measured the SG the temperature of the mead was around 15 on the stick-on thermometer.

So now I think I have a stuck mead as it has been 5 weeks since I put it down. OG was 1.140. FG should be 1.024.

If I give a gentle stir of the sediment will that crank it back up at that temp or will I need to make up another 71B starter or use EC-1118? I did do all the nutrient additions as per the recipe - did have one boilover during the last aeration though.

Any advice as always appreciated to get this back on track.

Cheers,


M