I made a batch of all grain stout using California ale yeast WLP001 on Friday night. It started to bubble Sat morning then progressed to bubble vigorously by Sunday morning (1 bubble per second). By Sunday afternoon at 5 PM it stopped. I had a heat strap on the tub which may have hit 75 degrees then pulled it off Sunday morning. Can a stout finish fermenting that quickly???
The OG and yeast strain would tell a better story, but as soon as I see 75F, I can be pretty sure that is the reason for the quick ferment.
EDIT: I now see your yeast strain. I don’t use White Labs, so I don’t have any experience with that yeast, but I still go back to my original statement. High fermentation temps speed things up.
I omitted the fact that I used enough yeast for 5 gallons in a batch of 2and 1/2 gallons-more reason for quick ferment??
I just tested the OG and it comes in at 1.072 It this a sign of a quick ferment??
I’m confused. Do you mean you tested the OG (original gravity, before pitching yeast on Saturday) or current gravity (as it is now)?
1.072 sounds like a starting gravity.
Pardon me-I tested the gravity this afternoon as 1.072. I forgot to check the OG. thank you for your correction.
With that reading either no fermentation took place at all or there is an error in your gravity reading. What was the recipe?
+1. Something is off. 1.072 would be a starting number. Are you sure you’re reading your hydrometer correctly? And yes, post the recipe too.
The reading is correct Here is the recipe for 5 gallons but we made a 2 and 1/2 gallons and since we used a bag we increased the grains by 20% However we used the entire vial of yeast (supposed to be 5 gallons) Of note…the yeast may have sat in the UPS storage building at for a weekend with ambient temp of 0 F. Ending finall gravity should be 1.022.
Devil’s Chair Porter
Grain Bill (5 gallons) BIAB
Briess 2 row malt 11 lbs 13.75
Briess Carapils 0.62 lbs .775
Caramel Malt 120L 0.37 lbs .4625
Caramel Malt 80L 0.75 lbs .9375
Roasted Barley 1.0 lbs 1.25
Briess Chocolate Malt 0.8 lbs 1.0
Briess Black Malt 0.15 lbs .1875
Mash Schedule: 104 ̊F 20 minutes 145 ̊F 30 minutes, 158 ̊F 30 minutes, 170 ̊F mashout, no sparge.
Prepare water 4.29 gallons
Hops
Nugget ¾ oz 60 minutes
Willamette ¾ oz 20 minutes
Hallertau ¾ oz 20 minutes
Willamette ¼ oz 1 minute
Hallertau ¼ oz 1 minute
Chill to pitch temp: 65-68 ̊F
Yeast: White Labs P001 California ale yeast
1 minute, 100% oxygen with dual diffuser in fermentation vessel.
1 week primary fermentation, 2 weeks in secondary.
When you say you made 2.5 gallons, i assume you mean you cut all the ingredients in the recipe in half? So the recipe you posted is twice the grains you used for your batch?
yes That is correct
Well, something isn’t adding up. If you had active bubbling, then fermentation was happening, but then there’s no way your gravity is still at 1.077. Something is wrong, but I really don’t know what. You’re gravity should be down in around 1.020 give or take a few points either way.
I think you should take another gravity reading and be sure you are reading the correct scale.
PS: Always take a gravity reading before you pitch your yeast too. You need to know your OG to figure out your ABV, attenuation, etc… and it helps when trying to diagnose problems like this.
Rough estimation puts that recipe around your current gravity. It seems there was no fermentation at all. Are you sure any fermentation took place? Did you see a krausen? How long has it been since you pitched the yeast?
There is definately some confusion with the reading. Could you mean 1.007 - only the 2 seems a little too precise for that low on the scale.
Are we talking about a reading close to the end of the hydrometer, or something about half way up?
If it really is 1.072 there is someting wrong, assuming you did see fermentation take place.
OK Thanks for all of the diagnostic help. There appears to be about an inch of Krausen on top and I am sure the reading was correct. It looks like the yeast froze and I need to pitch more??
Thanks
[quote=“rpharm”]OK Thanks for all of the diagnostic help. There appears to be about an inch of Krausen on top and I am sure the reading was correct. It looks like the yeast froze and I need to pitch more??
Thanks[/quote]
If there is krausen it’s probably still fermenting. How long ago did you pitch the yeast?
Ok the epilog There was a crack in the measuring device and of course gave a higher SG. All in all the reading on my new device is 1.018 which gives me a nice number. It boils down to a really fast ferment…Thank you to all for the assistance-I hate to waste beer!
Mark
