Monday, March 15, 2010

Homebrew Digest #5669 (March 15, 2010)

HOMEBREW Digest #5669 Mon 15 March 2010


FORUM ON BEER, HOMEBREWING, AND RELATED ISSUES
Digest Janitor: pbabcock at hbd.org


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Contents:
stuck fermentation ("Darrell G. Leavitt")
Re: Stuck Fermentation (Pete Calinski)
Stuck Fermentation (Matt)


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Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 07:25:56 -0400 (EDT)
From: "Darrell G. Leavitt" <leavitdg at plattsburgh.edu>
Subject: stuck fermentation

Stuck fermentation, I wonder if you used fresh apple juice, or if it had
preservatives in it? I ask in that several years ago I used apple juice
that had preservatives, and it, I believe, killed the yeast.
Darrell

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Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 09:23:38 -0400
From: Pete Calinski <petec.100 at gmail.com>
Subject: Re: Stuck Fermentation

I had a similar problem a few years ago and my local homebrew shop
recommended Amylase Enzyme Powder and it worked like gang busters.

I had a high OG ale that stopped fermenting.
I added more yeast. Nope.
Then champagne yeast. Nope.
Then (something else, I don't remember what). Nope
Then the Amylase and BAMM, it took right off. The end result, after all
that abuse, wasn't bad.

Pete Calinski
East Amherst NY
Near Buffalo NY

http://hbd.org/pcalinsk

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Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 07:23:30 -0700 (PDT)
From: Matt <baumssl27 at yahoo.com>
Subject: Stuck Fermentation

Frank,

How much yeast did you use and how much did you aerate? A
common rule of thumb is to use 1 million *well-aerated* cells
per mL per degree Plato (or 1 billion cells per L per P). If
your batch is 5 gallons (19 L) at 1.065 (16.25 degrees P) --
and if we ignore the apple juice -- this rule of thumb
suggests you use 309 billion cells. With the apple juice you
would of course want even more.

SOME breweries make great beer with 1/2 or even 1/3 of this
pitch rate, because their specific yeasts and processes happen
to allow it. (WY3787 is one such yeast, in my experience, and
indeed it's reported that the Belgian brewers who use this
yeast have pitch rates on this level.) Some other brewers
find they must use a bit more than the rule of thumb suggests,
to avoid stuck fermentation and excessive production of
volatiles (especially the ester ethyl acetate, which in large
quantities smells like nail polish remover).

As for restarting fermentation, I would rehydrate a pack of
Nottingham ale yeast in ~85F water, according to the directions
on the package, then pitch it into your beer. If this does not
work then I think the only stronger approach is to make a
raging starter (again, Nottingham would be good) and pitch that.

Matt



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End of HOMEBREW Digest #5669, 03/15/10
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