Issues w/ London Ale III?

bradyt88

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I'm likely going to end up writing this off as impatience and a new temp control system, but I figured I'd ask anyway.

https://www.brewersfriend.com/homebrew/recipe/view/606817/pina-coladipa

I brewed a NEIPA (recipe above), Saturday, March 17. We brewed this before; however, we had an issue controlling temperature (ambient fluctuated between 65-72), but the beer turned out great. Nontheless, we opted to buy a thermostat, thermowell, and heat wrap (photo attached) and store in an area where ambient is 60 degrees. We pitched a 1.8L starter (justjust of a 2L starter I was trying to make) at 63 degrees (a little low) and turned the thermostat to 68.

Here's my dilemma (all times after pitching yeast):
12 hours - Active fermentation
24 hours - Still very active however noticed some liquid coming through between the gasket/washer and thermowell at the lid (reference photo). Thought nothing of it, wrapped it in a wet paper towel and aluminum foil.
48 hours - No visible fermentation in the blow off. Thought nothing of it. Room smelled like beer, figured it must be leaking at the thermowell. Bumped up the heat to 69 degrees.
60 hours - Decided to take a sample to see how it was attenuating. Gravity at 1.034. Ok.
72 hours - Bumped up the temp to 70 degrees.
84 hours - Was going to dry hop at this time. Took another sample to see if the raise in temp helped move the yeast along. Still 1.034. Now I'm concerned. Moved the fermenter to a warmer room and left the thermostat at 70 degrees. When dry hopping the beer, I noticed a thick krausen which relieved my concern a little.

Am I being impatient? The reason I'm concerned is because I've heard London Ale III finishes fast. I have some lactose in the beer (half pound) so I knew the FG was going to be a little higher than normal, but not this high!

Anyone have a similar experience or can she'd some light on the yeast? Maybe someone can tell me I'm being an idiot and everything will be okay and I'll hit anticipated FG of 1.024.

Cheers!
 

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I've noticed lately that rousing the fermenter slightly (may) help wake up the yeast when it's getting tired. That and rising the temperature somewhat.
 
I'll say it first chill out dude your yeast are well cut out to do their job if you've treated them nicely as in fermenting them at right temp- pitched enough of them-given them the right conditions to party in PH O2 nutrients and warmed them up at the end of their party when they start to get sleepy:)

Don't stress relax do what the other Brewers on here say and crack a coldie:D
 
I've noticed lately that rousing the fermenter slightly (may) help wake up the yeast when it's getting tired. That and rising the temperature somewhat.
I've been raising the temp slowly so hopefully this will keep it moving and they don't drop out.

I'll say it first chill out dude your yeast are well cut out to do their job if you've treated them nicely as in fermenting them at right temp- pitched enough of them-given them the right conditions to party in PH O2 nutrients and warmed them up at the end of their party when they start to get sleepy:)

Don't stress relax do what the other Brewers on here say and crack a coldie:D

Thanks! We hit all out numbers, PH was good, added yeast Nutrient, used pure O2 for about 45 seconds. So going to gradually keep warming it up and hopefully it'll finish strong. I guess my biggest concern is a switch from warmer ambient temps to cooler ambient temps. I have zero experience fermenting at the cooler ambient temperature and keeping the beer warm using the setup we have now.

Gonna raise it to 72 by Thursday and let it ride until Sunday.
 
That is an interesting recipe. I noticed you said you used distilled water. You might be low on mineral content if you didn't add any to it. That said you are only 3 days in, give it some time. If it hasn't moved after another 24 hours then maybe start worrying. I'd first try rousing the yeast, English yeast are known to flocculate hard and fast, it could be they ended up on the bottom to soon. If it still stays stuck at that gravity repitch. You can use any dry yeast to try and restart fermentation, you don't need to buy the same liquid one. The flavor profile should have been set from the initial ferment.
Does the apple flavor come through in that beer? Since it was called pina colada ipa I was surprised you didn't use pineapples, but maybe your getting that from the hops.
 
I've noticed in my beers with lactose that they finish higher than the calculator says, even with lactose entered into a recipe.
 
1318 yeast doesn't attenuate great, so it may be all you get out of it. Your AA is 63%. When I used it, I typically got 68%. Not great but the beer was really good.

Believe it or not, an overpitch on an ale can be a source of poor attenuation. It doesn't seem like that's the problem since you OG was so high (1.092). Poor aeration at the start of fermentation can be a source as well. Usually 1318 explodes in the fermenter and finishes pretty quickly.
 
That is an interesting recipe. I noticed you said you used distilled water. You might be low on mineral content if you didn't add any to it.
I added yeast nutrient to the starter and to the boil. Only calcium chloride and gypsum in the brewing water.

Does the apple flavor come through in that beer? Since it was called pina colada ipa I was surprised you didn't use pineapples, but maybe your getting that from the hops.
No I put the apple in the boil because I reasearched that it helps with mouthfeel. The flavor ferments out completely.

I've noticed in my beers with lactose that they finish higher than the calculator says, even with lactose entered into a recipe.
That's what I figured too but I didn't expect it to be so high.

Poor aeration at the start of fermentation can be a source as well. Usually 1318 explodes in the fermenter and finishes pretty quickly.
We aerated it with pure O2 for 45 seconds. It exploded last time but I didn't have a blowoff. This time we started with a blowoff and it didn't explode. I figured the blowoff must be the reasoning for that. But now I'm thinking it just dropped out and I need to reactivate.

Fingers crossed. I'll keep you all updated.
 
I get between 74 and 78% attenuation with 1318 and works fast. It is usually finished by day 3-4. 1318 is an english yeast and likes higher temps. I have found references and other brewers ( https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/ ) which also noticed that higher temps. are completely safe with this yeast and it will work better in regards to fermentation.

I feel like you might have underpitched in such a high gravity wort. I usually underpitch on purpose both english and belgian yeast, in order to coax more esters out of the yeast. Higher gravity worts will definitely benefit from a " correct " pitch.

But it is possible in your case that the fermentation temps. were too low. I have no problems pitching at 68F/20C and slowly raising temp. in the course of the next 3-4 days. This gets me explosive fermentation every time.

Good luck!
 
I get between 74 and 78% attenuation with 1318 and works fast. It is usually finished by day 3-4. 1318 is an english yeast and likes higher temps. I have found references and other brewers ( https://www.homebrewtalk.com/forum/ ) which also noticed that higher temps. are completely safe with this yeast and it will work better in regards to fermentation.
Interesting... This may be why it came out well when I fermented it at 70 degrees ambient.
 
Gently stirred the beer last night and turned up the thermostat to 73 degrees. Checked the gravity 24 hours later and it got down to 1.028. I'm at about 70% attenuation right now so I think I'll leave it, but it's still a touch high.

I was going to pitch some US-05 tonight to see if I can get it a little lower, but I think it's okay. Should I pitch it anyway? Thoughts?
 
I ended up not pitching dry yeast. After gently stirring the beer to try to activate the yeast again, I turned up the thermostat to 73 degrees. This was on Thursday. On Saturday night, the gravity was down to 1.026. Still a touch high but expected given the lactose in the recipe.

Ended up racking the beer on top of 16 ounces of toasted coconut, 3 vanilla beans, and 2 cups of rum. Looking forward to trying this in a few weeks!
 

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