Bleedin' Wild Yeast!

[MyQul]

Just took a gravity sample of a Best Bitter I have in the FV. It was 1.008. S04 doesn't usually go that low afiak especially as I mashed at 69C. I repitched some slurry from a mild and that only went to 1.012. So I can only think that wild yeast may have got in there last time I took a gravity sample last week. It's got another week in the FV so I hope it doesn't go any lower :pray:. Taste's absolutely lovely, think the water adjustment did the trick. From now on no more taking gravity samples until bottling time.

 

[MyQul]

Because this was a re-pitch of some trub and I therefore just chucked 'some' into the wort in all likelyhood I overpitched. This led me to wonder if overpitching would cause a higher attenuatuation. So I googled the question. I found this site

http://sciencebrewer.com/2012/03/02/pitching-rate-experiment-part-deux-results/

And buried on the page it says, "It is my suspicion that the overpitch achieves a lower gravity, as expected, because of the high numbers of cells available to do the work"

So if the attenuation doesn't get to say 1.003in a weeks time, like it did the last time I had a wild yeast infection, overptching may be the reason for the lower than expected FG.

tbh I'm quite pleased with 1.008 as originally I was making an ESB but because I'd been experimenting with overnight mashing/sparging I only got 15L of wort but it had an IBU of 35 so I diluted it down a bit to 17.5L else it would be too hoppy for my tastes, and therfore diluted down the OG too. But now it's up to 1.008 its back at an ESB gravity :party:

 

[LarryF]

If it's a toss up between an infection and over pitching but it tastes nice now are you not tempted to bottle it now and hope for the best? If there is wild yeast in there it could run riot over the next week in the FV but I'm guessing it's effects would be lessened during a secondary fermentation and you may end up with something drinkable. I don't know what your SG was but with and FG of 1008 it's gonna work.

 

[MyQul]

If it is a wild yeast infection I don't want to bottle it yet because I'd end up with beer fountains plus my bottles would have an infection in them. Not really a problem as I always oven my bottles now since the last infection I had and that would deffo kill any wild yeast in them but I'd rather take zero risks but not putting the beer in there in the first place.

I always leave my beer in the FV for 3 weeks now after bottling a beer too early and ending up with fountains unless I put them in the fridge. Then my beer was too cold which I don't enjoy

 

[LarryF]

Sounds like the devil and the deep blue MQ, good luck with it. I really hope it's over pitching and not an infection.

 

[MyQul]

Me too. I really want to try a properly conditioned bottle of this becasue I think I may have sussed out the harshness problem I was having with bitters/pale ales

 

[LarryF]

TBH MQ, I've not dry hopped over the whole summer, I've boiled a hop tea and added bag and tea to the FV and then not cracked the lid for love nor money during fermentation, I'm that paranoid about infection. The first time my beer hits air is through the bottling wand at the bottom of a bottle. What did it was that I read that the Germans banned brewing during the summer months due to infection, now how much of that was infection of their yeasts not liking the summer temperatures I don't know but I'm playing the percentages.

 

[MyQul]

Germans banned brewing during the summer months due to infection, now how much of that was infection of their yeasts not liking the summer temperatures I don't know but I'm playing the percentages.

iirc GW in his book BYOBRA says something similar about not brewing in the summer

 

[LarryF]

iirc GW in his book BYOBRA says something similar about not brewing in the summer

40 pints down the drain??? I've only been brewing since January but I've learned to value my beer (although I'm about to go and pay ten times the price of my beer for a pint of Guinness) and this forum's taught me to, go and learn, investigate, understand all the aspects of what we're doing in the brewing process (and I'm only doing kits, wait until I fire up the 21L pot and bag in the back bedroom). No one's going to drink our beer but us, no one's going to have to pour it down the drain but us. This place is a goldmine for information, look at the hot weather yeasts us two have been using over the summer. My summer beers are stunning, they're taking a while to clear but I might have them all drank by the time they do they're that nice.

 

[MyQul]

Things aren't looking good. Theres a lot of new bubbles/foam on the surface in between the floating bits of trub that weren't there yesterday. Will bottle anyway. Hopefully the large amount of crystal will save it and make it not too dry to drink.

 

[rodabod]

Is it getting sour at all?

 

[MyQul]

No. In fact it tastes fantastic. This happened with my last wild yeast infection. It attenuated down to 1.003 but tasted fine, just a bit dry but as it was a London Pride clone it had loads of crystal in is so not too dry to drink

 

[rodabod]

Amazing. Maybe I'll need to ask you to culture some for me!

 

[MyQul]

The little I know about wild yeast and sour beers it's not actually yeast that sours the beer but bacteria:

"It is common for American brewers that use Brettanomyces to also include lactic acid producing bacteria such as Lactobacillus, and Pediococcus in order to provide sourness to the beer."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brettanomyces

I think this particular strain of wild yeast is my 'house' strain (what floats around my house rather than a chosen strain that I mostly use) as, if this is a wild yeast infection it seems to be exhibiting the same characteristics as the last time I had a wild yeast infection in january. If you really want some I can send some to you :lol:

 

[mirsultankhan]

Because this was a re-pitch of some trub and I therefore just chucked 'some' into the wort in all likelyhood I overpitched. This led me to wonder if overpitching would cause a higher attenuatuation. So I googled the question. I found this site

http://sciencebrewer.com/2012/03/02/pitching-rate-experiment-part-deux-results/

And buried on the page it says, "It is my suspicion that the overpitch achieves a lower gravity, as expected, because of the high numbers of cells available to do the work"

So if the attenuation doesn't get to say 1.003in a weeks time, like it did the last time I had a wild yeast infection, overptching may be the reason for the lower than expected FG.

tbh I'm quite pleased with 1.008 as originally I was making an ESB but because I'd been experimenting with overnight mashing/sparging I only got 15L of wort but it had an IBU of 35 so I diluted it down a bit to 17.5L else it would be too hoppy for my tastes, and therfore diluted down the OG too. But now it's up to 1.008 its back at an ESB gravity :party:

An amazing article that, thanks very much made very interesting reading. I now siphon off about two litres of wort and put it in a demijohn just at the start of the boil and use this as a yeast starter. It cools much quicker in the glass than the hot wort does in the FV and I pitch it usually next day.

 

[serum]

Brettanomyces makes some great beers. Best infection you can get in my view!