1098 Brittish Ale in St. Paul's Porter

Hey Everyone,

I’m very new to brewing, this is my second batch. I used 1098 in a St. Paul’s Porter extract kit. I brewed on Sunday, and noticed last night that fermentation is slowing already, and the krausen already settled.

The carboy is in my cellar, and I’m in Maine, so I’m worried it slowed down due to low temp.

So my question is, is this unusual to slow so quickly, and would it be ok, to bring it upstairs, warm it up a bit and see if things speed back up.

If I warm it, should I stir or agitate the beer to get the yeast going again? There’s plenty of head room, I’m using a 6 gallon glass carboy for primary.

Thanks very much for any help!

Greg

Well, what do you mean by low temp? That yeast is listed at 64-72* so it’s very possible you’re a bit cool which could cause it to drop. If you’re lower than that I would bring it upstairs and just rock it back and forth a bit. Try not to splash, just shake it back and forth to get some yeast up in suspension. You’ll be fine.

But, in five days or so it is also likely that it is finishing up. Still, couldn’t hurt to bump the temp a bit to help it get down all the way.

Thanks for the feedback!

I’m not 100% what the temp is in the cellar. I’m guessing I’m pushing the 64º though.

It just occured to me this morning while at work, so I’ll check the temp tonight. I just wanted to make sure I wouldn’t do any damage by warming it up, and rocking it gently to stir things up.

Thanks,
Greg

It was also still bubbling a few times a minute, so maybe I’m worried for nothing. But I tend to do that. :slight_smile:

Take a gravity reading and warm it up. Note the difference in a few days. If it’s the same, the beer is done and you can probably bottle it. That porter does well with aging, though. I can’t keep mine much past 6 months but it’s really good at that age.

I know I should do gravity readings. But I’m just too greedy, and I don’t want to lose the volume! :slight_smile:

If you brewed on sunday and it’s slowing down on Thursday, I don’t see what the worry is. i’d be more worried if it didn’t show signs of slowing down.

Really Wahoo? Like I mentioned, I’m new, but the instructions mention primary lasting from 1-2 weeks. Why should I be concerned if it doesn’t slow down after 5 days?

Possible infection. With most run-of-the-mill beers, 1.040-1.060 OG, you will see fermentation slow after 3-5 days.

It’s good practice to leave the beer on the yeast for 2 weeks. First of all, to be sure that fermentation is complete. Secondly, it gives the yeast a little extra time to clean up some of the byproducts that resulted from active fermentation.

:cheers:

If you’re worried about volume loss just get another fermentation vessel and start another batch! I usually try to leave my beer sit for three weeks to make sure fermentation has finished and then take a gravity reading.

You don’t drink your gravity samples? Stick it in the freezer after you test it, come back 20 minutes later, drink it down - problem solved. If it tastes passable flat, you know you did good.

A normal gravity beer pitched with enough yeast should definitely show signs of slowing down after 4 days. I see that the St Paul Porter has an OG of 1052. You may want to keep it in the fermenter for 2 weeks, but active fermentation should definitely not take that long unless you have an insufficient population of yeast, or there was insufficient oxygen at the start of fermentation.

If you don’t pitch enough yeast, is it possible it will ferment for like 7 days or more? I have a pale ale that has been slow and low fermenting (slowing now with just sudsy looking bubbles) for over 7 days. It’s at 58° in my cold WI basement, so I’m pretty sure it’s just cold and low on yeast. Pitched from a starter off bottle conditioned yeast. Not too worried, but have not seen this long of a fermentation before.

Sounds fine to me. Colder temps slow things down some, but you should be rewarded with a nice clean ale. You may want to warm it a bit (keep it under 70) as fermentation slows, just to encourage the yeast to clean up after themselves and to ensure good attenuation, but certainly no need to worry about anything you’ve done so far. I’ve had longer ferments at colder temps where underpitching wasn’t an issue.