Safale Yeast - Did It Go Low Enough?

[Archiguy]

Hi guys

Thanks to BradMCM - Well I put on a mild brown ale - following his recipe posted in the Newbies First Mild forum....

1/2 can Coopers Dark Ale
1 can Morgans Dark Unhopped LME
50g black malt - steeped in 2 litres
Also did 20g of Goldings hops in 2 litres - boiled for 5 mins - cool slightly then put in black malt. Leave to steep for 1/2 hour.

Used Safale S-04, dried made a big healthy starter of 1 litre - made up 2 days before use over Christmas.

Recipe up to 22 litres - hydro read 1034 before addition of yeast. OG was 1034 FG was 1011. Temperature of brew was 18 to 22 for 8 days before bottling - did not rack to secondary 'cause I didn't have one...... ha ha

Questions - did I do right adding entire starter, slurry and all?
- Apparent attenuation comes out at 67% - is this low for this yeast?

Will let you know how it tastes in a couple of weeks - only bottled last Sunday!

Cheers Matthew

 

[sosman]

It is certainly in the ballpark. Kits have a reputation of not being fully fermentable - mileage varies between brands and varieties.

As for making a starter with dried yeast, IIRC fermentis don't recommend it with theirs, check their website - I might be telling a porky pie. Having said that, your results clearly show evidence of fermentation.

 

[Archiguy]

Sosman,

It took off like a rocket - half an hour after pitching we had it bubbling away. Also got static readings for 3 days straight at FG so I'm sure it wasn't going to go any lower - temps for fermentation was 18 to 21 throughout.

Only reason I'd think about doing another starter with dried yeast was that it started really quickly.....

 

[Rubes]

I got around that FG many times with S-04 and kits/extract brews. Infact I never got it down below 1010 whatever the recipe. That particular yeast is so flocculant if often drops out and prematurely ends fermentation. Next time you could try rousing it up with a stir and leaving it an extra few days.