So I think I may have under pitched my yeast in this Baltic Porter.
OG-1.080
Pitched a 4L starter from 4 pkg’s of WLP820 No stir plate. Aerated. 48 hours before brew day.
Pitched @60* to start. Starter was 64*
Lowered to to 58* for 12 hours, then lowered again to 55* and that is where I left to ferment.
Fermentation was going well until somewhere between the 2nd and today.
That’s 60% AA, where I’d say it’s time for a diacetyl rest anyway if nothing else. I’d let it free rise to ambient temperature. (Maybe it’s not stuck, maybe it’s just about done. That’s a low attenuating strain, and depending on wort composition, there may be nothing wrong.)
I know or at least I think I remember you do not use a stir plate. I, up to this beer, always used one because I was convinced it made a better starter based on articles I’ve read and the quick start time of my fermentations.
That is one reason I thought that I under pitched my yeast. I know 4 Pkg’s in 4 liters is strong but I just wasn’t absolutely certain. So today I made a Kolsch, went back to using a stir plate. Who knows!?!
The stir plate had nothing to do with it. You could have pitched those 4 packs without any starter at all. I think the problem, if there is one, lies elsewhere. What was your recipe? If you’re using a refractometer to measure, are you correcting the reading?
You’re looking at basically a 2 week timeline on your fermentation from 1.8 to 1.32. It also doesn’t look like you’ve had multiple readings at the same gravity, so it may still be dropping.
IME, bigger beers take longer to finish. I think two weeks is too soon to expect final gravity on this beer. Warm it up, give it two more weeks, and see where its at. It wouldn’t hurt to swirl the fermenter GENTLY to get some yeast back in suspension, too.
I’ve said it 50 times before and I’ll say it again.
“WLP820 is a sh** yeast that should not be sold.”
It’s the worst lager yeast on the market today, very laggy with very poor attenuation. Use ANY other lager yeast on the planet and you’ll get better results. I like 2206 or WLP833. Or S-189; see below.
My advice would be to dry hop it (Saaz, Hallertau, or other noble), keep it warm at “diacetyl rest” temperature for a looooong time, and hope for some “freshening power” a.k.a. “hop creep” to introduce some enzymatic activity. It worked for my maibock which got stuck with S-189 but turned out excellent and won me a silver.
Dave - is that the glucosidase aspect of the dry hops causing further conversion of dextrins to fermentables? It was mentioned as such in an article recently in BYO, if I recall correctly. Very interesting phenomenon, for sure and a reason to dry hop big beers.
This diastatic power of hops was well studied in the scientific literature by the 1890s, and from a practical standpoint was understood long before; it was the primary original purpose of dry hopping, along with some clarification due to tannins complexing with proteins, with any flavor and aroma effects (who knows how fresh the hops were) merely a side effect. So it’s a well established strategy with big beers.
Yes, exactly, and it’s very real, and very important for every brewer to be aware of it. That way it can be used as a tool for stopping stuck fermentations, and many other things too I’m sure. This is knowledge long forgotten for a century that now has been rediscovered. For instance the effect is not well described in any recent books that I’m aware of. But it will in near future, I’m sure. And it’s been all over the interwebs in the past year or so.
That is actually a valid comment. I have experienced similar. I think it really depends a lot on terrior, i.e., Saaz grown in the Czech Republic won’t be perceived anywhere near the same as US-grown Saaz, etc.
I recently ruined the third batch of beer with Czech Saaz, twice dry hopped and most recently with a WP addition, all 3 ended up tasting like grass clipping tea. The first 2 times I attributed it to possible old stale hops, the most recent time was an ESB with new hops. I’ll never have Czech Saaz hops in my house again.
Im just wondering here, Germans don’t really dry hop their beers, do they? I mean, between the lacto-fermented foods and the use of spices and herbs in their sausages, maybe they figured dry hopping didn’t pair well with their traditional foods. Now I’m making a huge assumption with that comment but those Germans are pretty sly. IDK
True, dry hopping is not just not done, but really considered outré by German brewers. But there have been exceptions. Prince Luitpold, at his Castle Kaltenberg brewery, dry hops König Ludwig Dunkel. And adds lacto. And naturally draws the scorn and derision of other brewers. Then again when they told him only breweries actually in Munich can pour at Oktoberfest, he “retaliated” by organizing a massive Summertime jousting tournament and Renaissance fair, yeah, that’ll show 'em. So he may just be a little wack.