S04 At Low Temp

[joecast]

hello brewers,
just relaying an experience from today with S04 yeast. pitched yesterday after work at about 18C. this morning it was just starting to bubble and temp had gotten up to about 22C. not wanting to let it warm too much, i put it in the fridge for a bit before leaving for work. as expected, i forgot to take it out and by the time i got home, the strip on the outside of the fermenter was reading about 11C, but it was still slowly bubbling away. before getting home i had images of of having gotten down to 4C and the yeast completely shut down. anyway, took it out and gave it a shake lifted the lid and it smelt better than my normal ferments. really clean and no off smell at all.
anyone use S04 at a lower than 'normal' temp, and what was the outcome?
joe

 

[Screwtop]

hello brewers,
just relaying an experience from today with S04 yeast. pitched yesterday after work at about 18C. this morning it was just starting to bubble and temp had gotten up to about 22C. not wanting to let it warm too much, i put it in the fridge for a bit before leaving for work. as expected, i forgot to take it out and by the time i got home, the strip on the outside of the fermenter was reading about 11C, but it was still slowly bubbling away. before getting home i had images of of having gotten down to 4C and the yeast completely shut down. anyway, took it out and gave it a shake lifted the lid and it smelt better than my normal ferments. really clean and no off smell at all.
anyone use S04 at a lower than 'normal' temp, and what was the outcome?
joe

Use it often Joe, wouldn't keep it at such a low temp if you want it to finish out. Won't produce much in the way of Englisg ester characteristics at that temp. 18 - 20 is good.

Cheers,

Screwy

 

[bradsbrew]

hello brewers,
just relaying an experience from today with S04 yeast. pitched yesterday after work at about 18C. this morning it was just starting to bubble and temp had gotten up to about 22C. not wanting to let it warm too much, i put it in the fridge for a bit before leaving for work. as expected, i forgot to take it out and by the time i got home, the strip on the outside of the fermenter was reading about 11C, but it was still slowly bubbling away. before getting home i had images of of having gotten down to 4C and the yeast completely shut down. anyway, took it out and gave it a shake lifted the lid and it smelt better than my normal ferments. really clean and no off smell at all.
anyone use S04 at a lower than 'normal' temp, and what was the outcome?
joe

I use to regularly use it at 15 but never took it down that low. Will keep it at that temp?

Brad

 

[joecast]

for fear of it not finishing, i'll let it warm to more respectable temp.
18-20 sounds good screwtop, maybe more depending on the weather and SG readings.
joe

 

[Nick JD]

I like S04 really very warm (most will say too warm) - like 24C. I've found there's a "wall" with S04 at 26C where it starts spitting out fusels. US05 can't go anywhere near 25C.

24C is a fruit cocktail, mixed with NZ fruity dry hops and you've got a super estery ale. I like them like that - but megaswill drinkers can't stand the fruit. That suits me too.

To be honest I've never tried S04 down low. Next brew (got a deadshit lager in the fridge at the moment that's leaning on its shovel rolling another smoke).

When does it go to sleep?

 

[sid]

I've have a batch of english brown ale that I bottle a week ago, that used s-04 at around 16-18c, so I'll let you know how it goes, I done a similar thing to you and left the fridge on and went out, it had dropped it down to 10-11c and was still bubbling away..............I did notice this beer finished at FG 1.014 slightly higher than I was aiming for.....maybe this was the reason.

 

[Screwtop]

I like S04 really very warm (most will say too warm) - like 24C. I've found there's a "wall" with S04 at 26C where it starts spitting out fusels. US05 can't go anywhere near 25C.

24C is a fruit cocktail, mixed with NZ fruity dry hops and you've got a super estery ale. I like them like that - but megaswill drinkers can't stand the fruit. That suits me too.

To be honest I've never tried S04 down low. Next brew (got a deadshit lager in the fridge at the moment that's leaning on its shovel rolling another smoke).

When does it go to sleep?

As a rule I don't use S-04 with fruity hops, seems to clash for me and 04 removes a lot of hop aroma. Fine for traditional UK brews using relatively low alpha bittering hops. But not great when you want crisp clean fruity hop aroma. Maybe that would change fermenting it at 16 or so, might be worth a try.

Screwy

 

[under]

Im currently using S04 in a Tooheys old style beer. @ 18c. Hope it turns out nice.

 

[Bribie G]

Off topic, but if you regularly use dried yeasts, try Nottingham at 15 degrees or even a tad lower - goes great in clean pale ale / lager 'crossovers' especially using New Zealand or C-hops. I had a Wood and Stone at the Platform Bar last night and I reckon my Notto Kiwi Pale would have stomped all over it.

 

[Punter]

Im currently using S04 in a Tooheys old style beer. @ 18c. Hope it turns out nice.

I also use s-o4 at 17* in my Tooheys Old recipe. Works very well.

 

[under]

LOL. Ive never seen a krausen in a fermenter so dark. It looks like coffee

 

[joecast]

Off topic, but if you regularly use dried yeasts, try Nottingham at 15 degrees or even a tad lower - goes great in clean pale ale / lager 'crossovers' especially using New Zealand or C-hops. I had a Wood and Stone at the Platform Bar last night and I reckon my Notto Kiwi Pale would have stomped all over it.

will keep that in mind next time i brew this one, or something with nz hops. got plenty of hops and yeast in the fridge, all i need is time!

 

[Bizier]

I used S04 for a stint and found it either spat diacetyl like nobody's business, creates a dusty old yeast profile, or both. I am glad someone is getting good results with the yeast.