Seven days ago I brewed Dead Ringer and pitched one packet of S-05 into the bucket - first time I’ve brewed wth this yeast.
It took 24+ hours for fermentation to get going, and it’s still bubbling once every 3-4 seconds.
Not worried, just wondering - does this yeast need a little longer to finish than others? Normally by now my beers would be bubbling closer to once a minute.
OK - here are some details:
OG: 1.058; not opening the bucket yet for another reading 
Yeast Prep: sprinkled directly into bucket as I was transferring from kettle; aerated with a whisk for a few minutes.
Starting temp: 60F (brewed outside in Michigan; pulled the chiller @72 but the pellet hops really gummed up my transfer, so it took longer than usual - still no worries, but next time will ask for leaf hops!)
Temp now is 62F as it sits in my basement.
Is the low temp the critical factor in the slow ferment, or is S-05 just a tortoise and not a hare?
I have had some larger lag times with this yeast. That said, don’t count bubbles to determine if fermentation is complete. CO2 will continue to off-gas long after primary is finished. At 62F, I’d give it a 2-3 weeks to finish.
US-05 is a work horse. Its not particularly fast or slow, but it really gets the job done, and can work over a fairly wide temperature range. The 24 hour lag is typical for just sprinkling a pack onto the wort. The steady fermentation one week in seems slow. Do you know if the yeast pack might have been old or gotten too hot before you used it? That could slow down the fermentation, but in those situations I’d expect the lag to be longer as well. The temperature is NOT a factor. I’ve fermented out batches with this yeast in the high 50s with no problems.
[quote=“rebuiltcellars”]The temperature is NOT a factor. I’ve fermented out batches with this yeast in the high 50s with no problems.[/quote]That’s for sure. I had a batch of 1.06 OG brew that seemed to stall at 1.02, I went out to Colorado skiing for a week and turned the heat down to 55° and when I got back it had dropped 6 points.
I have used it at low end temperatures a lot for a clean beer, but I always rehydrate. At a marginally big beer, that may have been the difference. Don’t sweat it, just let it finish. Someone said bubbles are just for show,anyway.
9 days in, I racked to secondary and the gravity is down from 1.057 to 1.027… I still have some distance to go with this one, since my calcs for this yeast point toward a final of about 1.011.
I’m sure patience will pay dividends!
[quote=“tallcoldone”]I’m sure patience will pay dividends![/quote]I don’t know about that, 9 days is pretty short, especially for a beer that hasn’t reached FG. Now that you’ve racked it to secondary there’s much less yeast to finish fermenting. I usually leave my beers in the primary for at least 3 weeks and even then they’re sometimes not done.
Thanks - maybe I will have to be even MORE patient… :oops:
[quote=“tallcoldone”]Thanks - maybe I will have to be even MORE patient… :oops: [/quote]Premature erackulation often leads to unsatisfactory results! Never rack until you have achieved your target gravity and 2-3 weeks in primary will almost always make better beer.
[quote=“Shadetree”]Premature erackulation[/quote]You’re killin’ me! Thanks for the laugh.
:cheers:
Thanks to all y’all for your help - my gravity readings were all using my new refractometer, and I just learned about the correction needed when alcohol is present :oops: .
My racking gravity reading of 1.027 corrects to 1.012, so it’s all good! :cheers:
