WLP 029 - Low Activity?

I thought this was supposed to be a vigerous fermenting strain. I did a Kolsch last Sunday and pitched at 60 F. I made a 1.3 L starter on a stirplate - YeastCalc tells me I needed around 193 B, and also told me I’d get 277 B with a 1.3 L starter on the SP so I figured it’d be a nice healthy pitch.

The activity in the fermenter was low - only about an inch or so of krausen. I even used a blow-off tube on this one thinking it would make a mess otherwise. Also, Thursday morning showed the krausen had dropped and the beer was pretty clear on top - just a few bubbles here and there. It was still putting CO2 bubbles in the flask of StarSan my blow-off tube was in - about every 5 or 6 seconds - so I know it’s still fermenting.

Was the seemingly low fermentation activity normal for this strain at 60 F? Or did I miss the mark on the pitch and make too small a starter for such a low fermentation temperature? The thinking here is that as the fermentation temperature decreases, the initial cell count needs to increase… does this make sense?

It’s probably just slow at 60F. If you have a krausen your good to go.

Back when I had a glass carboy there were beers that never got more than an inch or two of krausen.

Also I have used WLP029 and don’t remember it being really fast to ferment.

Wait. The krausen already dropped? Are you sure it’s not finished? Did you take a gravity reading?

Yeah, that yeast is a bit finicky that low. But it sounds fine. A big giant krausen and lots of blow off isn’t ideal behavior especially for a clean crisp style like kolsch. What you are seeing is good. You could safely bump the temp a couple of degrees at this point to help it finish up if you like

Taking the first reading tonight - fingers crossed…

Yeah, I’d already been bumping it up slowly since fermentation slowed down Wednesday - I’m at 66 F now and will let it finish out there.

Thanks for the replies.

Your pitching temperature was too low for that strain.

For White Lab’s website (Yeast and Fermentation | White Labs):

Optimum Ferment Temp.  65-69°F, 18-20°C (Does not ferment well less than 62°F, or 16°C, unless during active fermentation)

yes and no. it gets persnickity below 62 but works and produces a very clean crisp beer at that temp. I’ve heard it will stall below 58 though.

Tell ya what, though; even at 60 F this thing fermented out completely in 5 days. Successive gravity readings on days 6 and 7 showed a consistent 1.007 - done! Dropped very clear, too. Sample tasted very good. Me happy.

I have used this in many Kolsch recipes over the years and it worked for me at 58F - I just left it alone for a month and kegged it from the primary.  Easy peasy good clean ales.