It’s too bad BSI stopped selling plates, as far as I can tell they have a lot of strains that Wyeast and White Labs don’t make available. I managed to get 4 of the CL strains and I have them banked, but it would be nice to get some other ones.
No surprise the 833 is the Ayinger strain…it is clean and tasty. Both kegs now sitting at 54F after being racked from primary. Planning to check again in a week when I return from a short trip them take back down to 33F.
Based upon my initial tasting, the 833 is a clear winner over 820 so far.
I’ll follow-up…and thanks for the clarification on the yeast strains. Hope to have some fresh German lager this week.
Please post some side-by-side tasting notes when you do try them. I know it might be awhile; you do need to give them a chance to lager.
Will do Gordon. I plan to do just that as I am really curious how the two strains compare. I have this feeling that maybe the 820 just needs a lot more time to hit its peak.
I’ve used 820 many times and have found that I’m not a big fan. It doesn’t attenuate enough for my liking, however it may get better through the generations. I think it does get better with some extended lagering time. I haven’t tried 833. I will give that a shot on a Bock.
Hello all,
I’m having the same issues with attenuation in my Oktoberfest, but with a different yeast strain. I opted to use Wyeast 2633 - Octoberfest Lager Blend.
According to Wyeast, their Oktoberfest strain is a “a blend of lager strains designed to produce a rich, malty, complex and full bodied Octoberfest style beer. Attenuates well while still leaving plenty of malt character and mouthfeel. Low in sulfur production.”
Unfortunately, after 3 weeks in primary (2 at 50 degrees F and 1 at 60 degrees F), I’m at 69% attenuation. The yeast’s purported attenuation range is between 73-77%.
Has anyone had any similar issues with this yeast? I’m not sure of the source. If anyone has info, please post.
As far as fermentablity of the wort, I did a triple decoction, so I don’t think that it’s an issue (see the brewing log for the recipe)
Based on what I’ve read in this thread and from other sources, I have some options:
- Gently swirl the carboy to get yeast back in suspension and wait it out.
- Ramp up the temperature to 65 degrees F to get the yeasties to consume the last of the sugars, swirl, and wait it out
- Take a sample and do a “forced fermentation” to see if the are, indeed, any fermentable sugars left.
- Add a fresh inoculation of an attenuative yeast like US-05 or WLP001, swirl, and wait it out.
- Rack to a secondary to see if any further fermentation will occur. If not, cut my losses.
Thanks,
Geoff
One you Rack off the yeast cake, your done. (In my experiance). What was the OG and SG so far?
Unless there is some yeast remaining in suspension.
As I understand it…some Germans breweries will rack off the primary yeast at 75% attenuation and cold age the beer allowing it to slowly and fully attenuate acheiving that “distinct taste” which we all strive to achieve. I have yet to try it but I am planning to do so soon.
[quote]One you Rack off the yeast cake, your done. (In my experiance). What was the OG and SG so far?
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Thanks wingnut. My OG was 1.058 and the latest reading I have is 1.018.
Since my post I’ve been thinking. Dangerous practice, I know, but nonetheless, I’ve concluded to ramp up the temperature to 65 degrees F and swirl. However, I’m still open to any other ideas…
Geoff
Thanks wingnut. My OG was 1.058 and the latest reading I have is 1.018.
Since my post I’ve been thinking. Dangerous practice, I know, but nonetheless, I’ve concluded to ramp up the temperature to 65 degrees F and swirl. However, I’m still open to any other ideas…
Geoff
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I think that’s a good idea, but some of your options aren’t mutually exclusive. I’d take a sample and get it up to ~75 or even higher, see if it finished out. And you can add some more yeast to the sample if you have some lying around to do your forced ferment. And you can do it while you wait for the rest of the beer to finish at 65F.
Geoff,
Take a drink of the beer… yes, 1.018 is on the high end, but I have medaled quite a few times with a FG of 1.018. If it is not too sweet, then I would not mess with it.
If it needs some help, I would force a small sample and see if you can drop a couple more points (raise temp, add yeast to the small sample, etc) and establish that there is indeed more fermentables left in the beer. If you cannot get it down, then don’t stress the whole batch by forcing it.
If you do get it to drop a few points, then you may try the technique that worked on the whole batch, or try to krausen the batch. To krausen, I would rack the 1.018 beer off the yeast cake, make another similar or lighter beer, and put that on the yeast. Once that new batch gets rocking, I would grab some of the beer and top-crop yeast (if possible) and put that into the 1.018 beer and see if you can get the last few points to go down. The key is to have actively fermenting yeast, and not add priming sugar until the points have been dropped.
My fear with adding some S-05 or other yeast that is not present in your base beer, is that it may add character that is not desirable. If you can keep with the same yeast strain, your results will be more repeatable.
Good luck!
Agreed. I’m going to wait it out for another few days. I have a similar Bavarian yeast in storage, if my FG hasn’t budged, I’ll consider using it to bring things down, possibly using the krausen technique.
Thanks for the help!
UPDATE:
After 11 days at 54F I think my gravities are still about the same (MAYBE a point drop). However, the WLP820 has started to mellow out. Since both batches are in kegs, they have slightly carbonated which is a clear indicator that the yeast that moved over from primary still have some energy left in them. I am simply going to age a little longer at 54, depressurizing the kegs daily then drop to 33F and carbonate/lager for 2–6 weeks. I am sitting around 1.019 on both batches and neither taste overly sweet IMHO.
UPDATE
I racked to kegs for lagering yesterday and the gravity dropped to 1.016. I took a taste and didn’t find that it was cloying. Malty, but not cloying. Nice. After wiping the sweat from my furrowed brow and taking a deep, cleansing, breath, I set the kegs to lagering.
Tap date will be my birthday 10.10.10, the same day I’m brewing something special for the occasion: Ten Cubed. 10 malts, 10 hop additions, and 10% ABV (not to mention 10X2 IBUs and 10 gallons).
Thanks to everyone for their words of advice.
Geoff