I recently tried hop-bursting a 1.074 IPA. My schedule was as follows (all Chinook):
1 oz First Wort
1 oz 30 Min
1.5 oz 10 Min
1 oz 1 Min
3.5 oz flame out
After opening the fermentation vessel, I got a reading of 1.020 (9 days; waiting for about 1.017), I tried the beer and noticed that (A) it had a very pleasant apricot/mango aroma, but (B) it was grassy as hell. Now, it wasn’t filtered or anything: I had lots of yeast gunk floating in my measuring tube (hydrometer). But the grassiness bothered me.
Is this something that will fade when I bottle and get in the fridge? Do I need to do secondary (warm or fermentation temperature, 66 degrees)? Cold crash?
Also, I did not use a hop bag; I merely threw in the pellets willy nilly. I also had to scrape the torpedo screen because the gunk was so heavy. Did I inadvertently add too much hop matter to the fermenetation vessel?
Also, and this would be a huge help: How in God’s name can one hop in a 10 gallon kettle and not have to mess with all that gunk?
I’ve never personally had an issue from having excess hop gunk in the fermenter, though I’ve been using a modified no-chill method (partial chill?) for the last 20-30 batches or so, which leaves me with pretty clear wort.
I think the fact that this is all Chinook is probably causing this more so than the method. Chinooks are pretty resinous to not balance out with something like Cascade/Cent or Amarillo/Citra/Apollo.
With hop flavor/aroma though, I don’t believe you can judge it until the beer is finished, off the yeast and carbed. All these things will change the way you perceive the hop character.
At 9 days you’ve still got yeast in suspension and a grassy hop presence wouldn’t be surprising at all. I think you’re on the right track considering what you describe. I bet it’s going to be a good beer in a couple weeks. Even better in a couple months.
I wouldn’t secondary it. Are you dry hopping it? Are you kegging or bottling?
I wouldn’t secondary it. Are you dry hopping it? Are you kegging or bottling?
Thanks for your optimism. I’m in the early stages of home brewing (6 batches in all), and I always run into new experiences.
I don’t plan on dry-hopping, and we will bottle once we reach about 1.017.
But! If the yeast are still going at it (I still see bubbles in the blow-out, tho very seldom), should I keep it on the yeast? I had a thought to do secondary only to let more of the gunk drop out.
What do you think I should do at this point, that the yeast are still active after 10 days?
airlock activity does not equal fermentation activity. Rack or package once gravity has not moved for a week or more. Even if gravity is stable, yeast will continue to absorb intermediate compounds that were created during fermentation that you do not want in your beer.
If you are not dry hopping, just package it. If you are dry-hopping (which I recommend for any hop-forward beer), the common wisdom is that you should do so in a new vessel (like a keg) as yeast cells will bind to the hop oils and reduce the hop aroma (though I have had excellent results dry-hopping in the primary).
Also: the kreusen is still rich and thick and creamy. I’ve heard some folks say, “Wait for the kreusen to drop completely. This means that the yeast have cleaned up by-products.” Other folks say, “When the gravity is steady for about a week, then pull it off the yeast cake.”
Well, in my case, the question is, “If the kreusen is still thick and creamy, should I wait for it to dissipate? Or rely solely on gravity leveling out?”
By the way, I love being a new brewer because I love asking questions. Thanks for all your help. It’s truly helping us be at ease!
[quote=“Pastamassima”]Also: the kreusen is still rich and thick and creamy. I’ve heard some folks say, “Wait for the kreusen to drop completely. This means that the yeast have cleaned up by-products.” Other folks say, “When the gravity is steady for about a week, then pull it off the yeast cake.”
Well, in my case, the question is, “If the kreusen is still thick and creamy, should I wait for it to dissipate? Or rely solely on gravity leveling out?”
By the way, I love being a new brewer because I love asking questions. Thanks for all your help. It’s truly helping us be at ease!
Christophe[/quote]
Yes, wait for it. As to the “grassiness”, the beer is only 9 days old…it’s far to soon to draw any conclusions about it.
it’s been 18 days and the kreusen is still rich and covering the entire top of the beer. I’ll shut up if I can get some words about how this is normal and I don’t have to worry just yet.
The beer started at 1.074, so I’m assuming my patience is needed.
Any chance you used US-05? I have this issue with US-05 all the time, it just wont drop. Cold crash it and it will drop right down, just make sure it’s done fermenting.
I used 1272 and it was steady at 66 degrees the whole time. And no chance of cold crashing. I got a basement and no fridge large enough to handle the large volume of liquid.
I used 1272 and it was steady at 66 degrees the whole time. And no chance of cold crashing. I got a basement and no fridge large enough to handle the large volume of liquid.[/quote]
How about sticking it in the garage overnight? Assuming its cold enough in your area. If not you can gently swirl the carboy a few times a day and it should eventually coax it down.
I used 1272 and it was steady at 66 degrees the whole time. And no chance of cold crashing. I got a basement and no fridge large enough to handle the large volume of liquid.[/quote]
I’ve used 1272 a lot and can’t recall a long lasting krauesen but I would take a gravity reading at this point then probably another in 3 days to see where you are. Looking back through my notes 6 days is the longest krauesen I noted.
I ferment them at 62-63 degrees then raise to 68-70 as the krauesen begins to fall, usually 4-5 days. Mine are usually at FG in 10 days or less and I’ve kegged them as early as 2 weeks.
You could just have a persistent fluffy krauesen that’s really dry and stuck to the carboy. Low amount of CO2 escaping makes you think it’s just off gassing. Have you given it the slightest swirl or tip just to see if it will fall?
