Can I use regular old Red Star brewers yeast for a FFT?
Is there any reason that wouldn’t work?
I’m growing up a big starter to pitch into a stalled fermentation and want to run a FFT to see what I might expect.
Yep, that’s fine.
Same thing I use, too.
Fast Fourier Transform?
Seriously though. What is a FFT?
Fast Fermentation Test. Or something similar.
To check for fermentability of your wort with a small sample and ton of yeast.
Thanks!
Yeah, it’s helful to judge whether a beer stalled or is at FG. Also is helpful for knowing when to keg a beer for spunding. Cheap n easy.
Fermenting like mad in the FFT. Stalled at 1.040 in the fermenter. Apparently the bread yeast works just fine.
Weather’s been so crazy here lately I must have had a temp drop in the basement that stalled it out. All I can figure.
I’ve got the fermenter in a warm water bath, but no movement. Active starter going in later today.
That should hopefully help it finish up nicely then.
Here’s hoping.
Can’t this be done without any additional yeast added as well? Just pulling some wort (small sample) from the fermenter and using the yeast present to quickly ferment it out on a stir plate?
Yeah, I’m doing it on brew day now for spunding, unless it’s a recipe I’ve brewed before. But you can do it after fermentation obviously if you think you stalled.
Edit - I use bread yeast for both. I dont see why your method wouldn’t work fine. Force of habit.
After you oxygentate/stir yeast in pull your FFT from that. Easy peasy.
No need to pull it after a couple days of fermentation then? There will be enough yeast in suspension to tackle the small job?
Yup I put mine on a stir plate at room temp. Solid.
I had always used bread yeast because I wanted to be sure I had enough yeast to do the fft. Good info.
Checked my fermenter this morning because I heard it bubbling while I was doing laundry.
The warm water bath woke up the yeast and it’s back at work with no need for the two liters of starter I’ve got upstairs.
FFT came down 20 points. I’d like to get it a little lower, but this is a relatively big beer so it won’t be the end of the world. The bread yeast may have still been working, too. It hadn’t settled out clear yet.
Now the question is what to do with the starters?
Just because it is bubbling doesn’t mean it is actually fermenting. If you warmed up the beer the co2 will start to come out of solution and cause the airlock to bubble even if there isn’t active fermentation.
Right. When I checked it there was a half inch of krausen do I know it’s going again. Overlooked that in my previous post.
Glad I didn’t get lazy and pitch a packet of dry yeast yesterday.
Using extra yeast is a smart thing to do. It accelerates the process.